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Williams' last match going into tonight's Versus show was a rematch with Quintana. Here is the original recap of that match:

Showtime Championship Boxing Recap

June 7, 2008

Mohegan Sun Casino-Uncasville, Connecticut

1. WBO Welterweight (147 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Carlos Quintana (25-1, 19 KO's, 146 pounds) (c) vs. Paul Williams (33-1, 24 KO's, 145.75 pounds) II

Quintana won this title from Williams in their last match in a controversial 12-round unanimous decision on February 9, 2008 at the Pechanga Resort in Temecula, California.

Quintana entered the match roughly an 8-to-1 underdog, because Williams was coming off a great performance in his (Williams') last match to take the title from Antonio Margarito. In that match, Williams threw 1256 total punches in the 12 rounds, for an astounding average of over 100 punches thrown per pound. The average number of punches thrown per round for a boxer at 147 pounds is 58.

However, Quintana was able to get inside and slow Williams workrate to win the title. Williams threw only 552 total punches against Quintana, less then half the number he threw against Margarito. In the first match, Williams was still busier then Quintana. Quintana was more accurate, though. The Puerto Rican native landed 12 more punches throughout the match and was consistently landing the harder punches, which gave Quintana the advantage on the judges' scorecards 116-112, 116-112, 115-113. However, among the unofficial scorecards HBO's Harold Lederman had Williams winning 115-113, and Max Kellerman had Williams winning by a large margin. Quintana is making his first defense of this title. The full recap of the first match can be found on my new website www.number1contender.net. Currently that recap is on page 2.

The champion had a decorated amateur career that culminated, when he was a member of the Puerto Rican Olympic boxing team at the 1996 Summer Olympiad.

Quintana is ranked by The Ring magazine as the number 3 contender at 147 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Williams' was not expected to exercise his rematch clause in the contract to face Quintana, again. The Augusta, Georgia resident added 17 pounds after the weigh-ins, entering the ring at 164 pounds, unofficially, and many observers felt that the extreme weight cut caused the drop in workrate from Williams. However, Williams says the weight cut is no problem and he intends to continue boxing at 147 pounds.

Williams is The Ring's number 4 contender at 147 pounds.

At 26-years-old, Williams is 5 years younger then the 31-year-old Quintana. Williams has the height advantage standing a towering 6' 1.5" tall, while Quintana is a large 147-pound boxer standing 5' 9" tall. The challenger has a gigantic reach advantage with an 81" wingspan, that is a 1" wider wingspan then 6' 6.5" heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, compared to the 72" wingspan of the champion. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, Williams will be the much heavier boxer in the ring. Williams had moved up 3 weight classes after rehydrating prior to both of his last 2 matches. The tale of the tape does not tell the full story of the size differential between these two boxers. Williams is a monster at 147 pounds and could be a large 175-pound boxer or even a good sized 200-pound boxer. In the ring, the size difference makes this look like a freak show match that would be booked on New Year's Eve in Japan. Whatever tape measures they use on Williams appear to be worked, because he appears substantially larger then his listed numbers. Both boxers will employ the southpaw stance. According to ESPN.com, Williams is roughly a 5-to-2 betting favorite.

The unified rules of boxing with one modification, that the doctor or referee can stop the match, are in effect for this event. Two of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Connecticut and the other is from New Jersey. The referee is Ed Claudio.

A straight left from Williams with 1:32 to go in round has Quintana hurt and holding on early. However, Williams does not let his hands get tied up and continues to throw punches. Finally, a left hook against the ropes with 1:19 to go in the round sends Quintana stumbling sideways to the mat. Quintana is stumbling around on the mat trying to get up and appears in real bad shape. The referee is going to let Quintana continue with 1:03 to go in the round, but things look bad for the champion. That is only the second time Quintana has been knocked down in his career. Williams immediately goes to press his advantage and following a left hand from Williams the referee steps in to end the contest with 47 seconds to go in the round. As the referee is stopping the contest, Quintana in a desperate attempt to clinch falls forward and grabs Williams' legs, tackling him to the ground. This is a shocking outcome to this match. It is an amazing showing by Williams. Williams must have silenced his critics that he is not a true elite 147-pounder with this performance.

The official outcome from the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr.: at 2:15 of round 1 the referee has stopped the contest making the winner by way of technical knockout, and once again WBO Welterweight Champion of the World, Paul "The Punisher" Williams. The win moves Williams to 34-1 with 25 wins coming by way of knockout.

The new champion said in his post match interview he said he wants Miguel Cotto, Margarito and maybe Oscar De La Hoya, if the Mayweather match is off. (More on that below.)

Williams was apparently only up to 156 pounds when he showed up to the arena today, but that number was assuredly climbing. He was dominant in this match. Williams used his jab in this match more effectively then he had used it in his previous few matches. He is the obvious choice to face the winner of Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, next.

Quintana could not have lost more decisively. He now has 2 losses on his record. The first was a knockout loss to Miguel Cotto at 3:00 of round 5 on December 2, 2006 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This raises the question of if Quintana's original win over Williams was as Williams has suggested, that Quintana caught Williams on a down night, rather then Quintana is really as good as he looked in that match. It seems unlikely there would be an immediate rubber match in this series, following this blowout. Quintana is probably going to have to prove he can beat top non-title opposition on the undercards of major HBO and Showtime events, before he is in line for a title match, again.