World Championship Boxing returns to HBO this Saturday when Andre Berto defends his WBC Welterweight title against Carlos Quintana in Sunrise, Florida. Also on the televised card, Celestino Caballero will fight for a featherweight title against Daud Cino Yordan. The card is a part of “Fighting for Haiti” as some proceeds will go to Berto’s fund for relief efforts. The action begins at 10:30pm ET and will be preceded by Mayweather/Mosley 24/7 at 10pm.
Andre Berto vs. Carlos Quintana
WBC Welterweight Title
Money Line: Berto -600;Quintana +400
Andre Berto, 25-0 (19 KOs), will be fighting for the first time since pulling out of a fight with Shane Mosley earlier this year after the earthquakes ravaged his home country of Haiti. His career was building with a great momentum leading to the Mosley fight. Berto had consecutive wins over Steve Forbes, Luis Collazo, and Juan Urango heading into his biggest fight yet. After the devastation to Haiti and the loss of family members to the disaster, it remains to be seen how Berto will be affected in the ring. Berto is a big, strong welterweight but it may be his mental and emotional toughness that will be his biggest asset in a fight that will help raise money for Haiti.
Carlos Quintana, 27-2 (21 KOs), is a tough matchup for Berto. Berto’s toughest fight to date was Luis Collazo, a southpaw. Quintana is also a southpaw but a better tactical boxer than Collazo. Collazo was able to hurt Berto with his power and Quintana has enough pop to do the same. Quintana will have to deal with Berto’s speed and power advantage but there is a possibility the Puerto Rican can outbox the American champion. Quintana’s two losses came to Miguel Cotto and Paul Williams and both were stopped early. Quintana needs to be focused and mentally strong in order to have a chance to pull of the upset. Quintana is no stranger to the upset either. He defeated Paul Williams in their first fight in 2008 to become a world champion. This Saturday Carlos Quintana vies to become a two-time world welterweight champion.
Staff Predictions
Trent: I don’t believe the money line is indicative of how close this fight will be. Carlos Quintana is no stranger to world title bouts and as a southpaw creates matchup problems for a lot of fighters, Berto included. Berto, on the other hand, is stronger. He’s faster. He’s younger. Maybe this is an easy pick after all. Berto will have a lot of emotion coming into this fight and you have to believe he’s going for the knockout. After three straight decision victories, it would make for a nice return to the ring for Berto who has been away for 11 months. I expect Quintana to keep it close, maybe even record a flash knockdown of an aggressive Berto, but the speed and power of Berto will prevail. Quintana will wear down in the late rounds and I’ll call it an 11th round TKO for Berto.
Corey: To date, Berto’s toughest opponent has been Luis Collazo, who he just edged with a competitive decision a year ago. A slick southpaw like Collazo, Quintana presents a similar challenge and will show whether Berto has matured since that fight. Two things to keep in mind: Berto was originally going to fight Shane Mosley in January, and he has also been inactive since May. The elements for an upset are all in place; however, I see the emotions of not getting to fight Mosley, combined with the devastation the earthquake brought to his immediate family in Haiti, coming together for Berto, who will turn it up over the course of the bout and stop Quintana in the 9th. The fight is billed as “Fighting for Haiti.” Expect Berto to do just that.
