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Thursday's Versus' boxing event is being main evented by Paul Williams moving up to 160 pounds to face Andy Kolle. The first recap we have of a Williams' match is his title victory over Antonio Margarito that can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/7/26/recap-of-cotto-and-margaritos-last-match.html

Here is a recap of Williams' first title defense following his victory over Antonio Margarito:

HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

February 9, 2008

Pechanga Resort & Casino-Temecula, California

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

Paul Williams (33-0, 24 KO's, 146.75 pounds) (c) vs. Carlos Quintana (24-1, 19 KO's, 146.75 pounds)

Williams won this title in his last match defeating the then champion Antonio Margarito in a narrow 12-round unanimous decision on July 14, 2007 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The resident of Augusta, Georgia was a blur of motion in the win, that many observers saw as much more one-sided in his favor. Williams threw over 100 total punches in each of the first 4 rounds. (The average number of total punches thrown per round for a boxer at 147 pounds is 58.) Williams finished the match throwing 1256 total punches, for an average of over 100 punches thrown per round.

The champion had a short and unimpressive amateur boxing career. Williams compiled a record of 20-25, before turning pro at 18-years-old with a 4-round decision win over Jeremy Mickelson on July 21, 2000 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Williams began his pro career defeating a litany of weak opponents. However, during that time Williams developed a style built around using his amazing physical gifts for a boxer at 147 pounds. The champion has an 82" wingspan, which is longer then any of the 4 current heavyweight champions. (Williams has a 1" wingspan edge on 6' 6.5" tall Wladimir Klitschko, and a 2" longer wingspan then "The greatest of All Time" Muhammad Ali.) He uses that huge reach and has developed amazing cardio to produce a workrate that CompuBox has never scored for anyone in the division. In round 5 of a 6-round technical knockout victory over Santos Pakau on November 4, 2006, Williams threw 154 total punches and connected on 81 of them. At the time the 154 total punches thrown was the seventh most total punches ever thrown in a round by a boxer at 147 pounds, and the 81 connects was the second most total connects in a round by a boxer at 147 pounds. In the match, Williams also landed what at the time was the second most power connects in a round for a boxer at 147 pounds (73) and that was the seventh most power connects landed in a round by a boxer at any weight class. In each of Williams' last 3 matches he has averaged throwing over 100 punches per round.

Williams is the number 2 ranked contender at 147 pounds by The Ring to its champion in the weight class, Mayweather.

Quintana had a stellar amateur boxing career. He compiled a record of 62-8 with 28 wins coming by way of knockout. Quintana would cap his amateur career by being a member of the Puerto Rican boxing team at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympiad.

The native of Moca, Puerto Rico is a good defensive boxer with good power. Quintana has 1 quality win on his record, a 12-round unanimous decision victory over the then undefeated Joel Julio on June 24, 2006 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The other quality opponent on his record is Miguel Cotto. That is the only loss of Quintana's career and it came via stoppage, when Quintana quit on his stool after round 5 on December 2, 2006 at Boardwalk Hall. Cotto had scored 2 knockdowns in round 5, and Quintana did not want anymore of the power puncher. That could bode poorly for his chances in this match, because Williams will hit him hard, frequently.

The challenger's last match was a technical knockout victory 2:46 into round 4 against Christopher Henry on the untelevised portion of the same card that saw Berto last compete on September 29 at Boardwalk Hall. Henry is currently ranked by boxrec.com as the number 450 boxer at 154 pounds, and going into that match had never beaten an opponent coming in with more then 3 wins in their last 6 professional matches. That was Quintana's only match since the loss to Cotto and earned him this title shot.

Quintana is unranked by The Ring at any weight class, but the number 25 ranked boxer at 147 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 26-years-old, Williams is 5 years younger then the 31-year-old Quintana. Williams stands a gigantic 6' 1" tall, while Quintana is a large 5' 9" tall. The champion officially has a 25.5" arm length, and challenger has a 25" arm length. After rehydrating, unofficially Williams is larger having moved up 3 weight classes and ready for Joe Calzaghe at 164 pounds. Quintana has rehydrated to 158 pounds. Both boxers will box out of the southpaw stance. Williams is the heavy favorite, with Quintana being about an 8 to 1 underdog approaching match time.

The referee for this match is Jack Reiss. Two of the official judges scoring this match from ringside are from California. The other judge is from Florida.

A smiling champion enters the ring to cheers and some disco music to entertain the crowd. He seems happy to be in the ring, rather then angry and intense. That is very unusual, but it is his style and it works. The staredown helps show why, because whatever measurement devices they are using on Williams appear to be wrong. In the ring he looks to be at least 6 inches taller then the challenger and each of Williams' arms appear a foot longer then Quintana's.

Quintana wins round 1 solidly, 10-9. In round 1, Williams had a very low punch output for him. The champion was trying to feel out the round and did not seem to be in gear to go until he got hit with a solid wake-up call punch to head in the middle of the round. Lederman scores round 1 for Quintana, 10-9. Quintana lands at will in round 2 and wins it on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Round 3 is Williams best of the match, but still probably not good enough to win. Quintana wins round 3, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 30-27. Through 3 rounds, Williams has landed 38 of the 177 total punches he has thrown, for a 21% total connect percentage. Through 3 rounds, Quintana has landed 57 of the 161 total punches he has thrown, for a 35% total connect percentage. Lederman scores round 3 for Williams, 10-9, but has Quintana ahead in the match after 3 rounds, 29-28.

Williams right eye appears to be swelling shut during round 4. Williams wins round 4, 10-9. Lederman scores round 4 for Quintana, 10-9. Close round 5 that Quintana wins, 10-9. Quintana is beginning to get tired at the end of round 5. Williams wins round 5 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Williams wins round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds, Quintana leads on my scorecard, 58-56. Lederman scores round 6 for Williams, 10-9, and after 6 rounds has the match scored a draw, 57-57. Williams advantage in conditioning is already becoming a factor early in the match.

Williams is starting to bleed slightly out of his nose with over 1:30 to go in round 7. Williams wins round 7, 10-9. Quintana looks exhausted at the end of round 7, and is becoming an easier target for Williams. However, Quintana will occasionally respond with heavy power punches that could win him the round or knock Williams out. Lederman scores round 7 for Williams, 10-9. With over 1 minute left in round 8, there appears to be a cut directly above the left eye of Williams. Close round 8 that Quintana probably wins, 10-9. Lederman scores round 8 for Williams, 10-9. Quintana landed some good punches in round 9, but Williams still wins round 9, 10-9. Through 9 rounds Quintana leads on scorecard, 86-85. Through 9 rounds Williams has landed 124 of the 599 of the total punches he has thrown, for a 21% total connect percentage. Quintana has landed 150 of the 455 total punches he has thrown, for a 33% connect percentage.  Lederman scores round 9 for Quintana, 10-9, but has Williams winning the match after 9 rounds, 86-85.

Quintana wins round 10, 10-9. The challenger wins round 10 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9.  Close round 11 that Quintana wins, 10-9. At the end of round 11, Williams is bleeding from a cut near his right eye that had opened up early in the match. Lederman scores round 11 for Williams, 10-9. After 11 rounds, my scorecard has Quintana winning, 106-103. After 11 rounds Lederman's scorecard had Williams winning 105-104.

Going into round 12 on color commentary for HBO Max Kellerman has Williams ahead by a wide margin. Lewis believes the winner of round 12 will win the match. The former heavyweight champion also, pointed out earlier in the match that to take a champion's title a challenger has traditionally needed to defeat the champion decisively to win a match on the judges' scorecards. Williams wins a close round 12, 10-9. Quintana wins the match on my scorecard, 115-113. Lederman scores round 12 for Williams, 10-9, and has him winning the match, 115-113. Lewis may have scored round 12 for Quintana.

The final decision as read by Buffer is that the judges have scored the match: 115-113, 116-112, 116-112, all for the winner by unanimous decision and new WBO Welterweight Champion of the World, Carlos "El Indio" Quintana. Quintana is crying tears of joy in the ring, while his son has come in the ring to hug him. The new champion's wife quickly joins her family in the ring to celebrate the moment. The win moves Quintana to 25-1, with 19 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Williams landing 160  of the 552 total punches he threw, for a 29% connect percentage. That is fewer punches attempted then the average number attempted for a boxer at 147 pounds and less then half the punches he threw in his victory over Margarito. Williams landed 101 of the 293 power punches he threw, for a 34% power connect percentage. Quintana landed 172 of the 482 total punches he threw, for a 36% total connect percentage. The resident of Moca, Puerto Rico won the match by landing 147 of the 322 power punches he threw, good for an impressive 46% power connect percentage.

In Quintana's post match interview he said nothing of note.

Williams said in his post match interview that he never executed his game plan and never got into his rhythm.

The next obvious opponent for Quintana is a rematch with Williams. It is probably his best opportunity to get a big money match. Quintana is not in line for a rematch with Cotto, because of how thoroughly he was dominated in that match. It does not make sense for Cotto, because people would be unlikely to pay to see it again, and any loss would reflect be much worse for Cotto then Quintana. It is also unclear if Quintana would even want to see Cotto standing across a ring from him, again.

Williams showed a lot of flaws in this match, primarily defensive lapses. However, Quintana still had to have the performance of his life to narrowly take a decision. The lack of activity may have been a problem for Williams. Williams lack of time in the amateur ranks may have made him unable to adjust on the fly and that was exposed in this match. He will benefit from more time in the gym, and potentially a tune up match before a likely rematch with Quintana. It is critical that Williams stay active, though. He is only 26-years-old, and will be forced to get his amateur training on the pro level. Long layoffs will only stunt his growth as a boxer.