On ShoBox, Carlos Abregu Wins A Wild, Knockdown-Filled Brawl; Marvin Quintero Wins A Pretty Good Battle, Too

Now that’s entertainment.

Welterweight prospect Carlos Abregu got dropped in the 1st round by Irving Garcia’s straight right; came back to stagger Garcia in the 2nd with a right uppercut and batter him so badly it’s unfathomable how he remained on his feet, not to mention that in the middle of his daze, he staggered Abregu in return; and after a less crazy 3rd that was nonetheless marked by the trade of blazing rights, came the 4th. Garcia connected on a wonderful flush left hook, knocking Abregu down at 1:27. Abregu looked really hurt, but he recovered, landed a right of his own that hurt Garcia, put together a flurry and decked him at 0:15. With Garcia flat on his back, the referee stopped the bout. Garcia was about to try to get up at about the count of five, and if it were me, I would have let him try. But Garcia was very hurt, and as always, I defer to a referee erring on the side of caution on borderline calls.

Fight of the Year, as Showtime’s Nick Charles suggested? Nah, but top-5ish, perhaps. Ultimately, though, it was a wild, rollicking brawl with surprises at every turn. Abregu had trouble with David Estrada in his last fight out, so Garcia seemed like a step back, but Garcia freaking brought it. Abregu probably isn’t going very far, not with that chin or defense, anyway, but it’s like I said in the post just below: He can be a fun fighter. As of Friday night: And how.

In the lead-in bout, lightweight prospect Marvin Quintero also got a tough test against Wes Ferguson, whom I’d been more than skeptical of just cuz he was a Mayweather Promotions product, but he fought with serious determination for a guy who can’t punch very hard. Ferguson won the first two rounds, I thought, outboxing Quintero and even stunning him with a straight right in the 2nd. From there, despite moments of competitiveness from Ferguson, Quintero showed a diversified attack that made it hard for Ferguson to use his slickness. Ferguson helped him with some of his flaws, like balance, but Quintero forced Ferguson into a slugfest, and by the late rounds, Ferguson needed a knockout and fought like it, so it stayed a sugfest. Quintero’s defense is very weak, but improved compared to his last outing, and his knockout ratio is deceptive, because although he hurt Ferguson in the 6th, he never really had him in trouble. If he moves down to junior lightweight as planned and keeps showing improvement, maybe he can make a little noise. Maybe. A little.

Forget about who’s going where, though. All four men on the show fought with great spirit, and produced compelling bouts for the fans. I hated to see the losers lose, but I loved the guts they showed in losses; and the winners, despite being rough, demonstrated their mettle, too, albeit in different ways. I want to watch all four of these guys again. Good show. Made me wanna holler.

About Tim Starks

Tim is the founder of The Queensberry Rules and co-founder of The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (http://www.tbrb.org). He lives in Washington, D.C. He has written for the Guardian, Economist, New Republic, Chicago Tribune and more.

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