Carlos Quintana was bred to be a fighter. Along with his brother Jose, who fought professionally until 2008, Carlos put together an outstanding amateur career prior to turning professional at age 20 on June 14, 1997.
After initially becoming interested in boxing when he was 10 years old, it took Quintana five years before he actually stepped into the ring against another fighter. “I remember the first time I ever fought,” Quintana said. “I was winning the fight and feeling good about myself, but things changed when I got hit in the throat.”
Unfazed by his first boxing experience, Quintana went on to a very successful amateur career. Winning 62 out of 70 amateur bouts, Quintana also was a member of the 1996 Puerto Rico Olympic team. In addition, he was a multi-national champion and recorded an impressive 48 amateur wins by knockout.
Quintana started off his pro career by putting together 23 straight victories, 18 coming by way of knockout. In that time Quintana captured the WBC Latino welterweight title by knocking out Raul Bejerano (25-15-4, 12 KO’s) in February 2006 in Puerto Rico. Bejerano, who had never been knocked down in his career, was caught with a stiff uppercut by Quintana in the 10th-round sending him to the canvas. After Bejerano got up Quintana landed another barrage of punches ending the bout by way of TKO.
Quintana next faced powerful knockout artist Joel Julio (32-1, 30 KO’s) on June 24,2006, at Caesars Palace, in Las Vegas. Quintana scored a unanimous decision over Julio by dominating the young Colombian the entire fight. Julio, who was looking for that one knockout punch, could not match Quintana’s technical boxing ability.
Quintana’s winning streak came to an end on December 2, 2006, in Atlantic City, when he was matched up against world-class welterweight star Miguel Cotto (31-0, 25 KO’s), for the vacant WBA belt. Quintana fought valiantly before he was knocked off of his feet twice in the fifth round, which led referee Steve Smoger to make the decision to stop the fight.
After rebounding with a fourth-round stoppage over trial horse Christopher Henry in Atlantic City, on
September 29, 2007, Quintana achieved the biggest victory of his career upending then undefeated Paul Williams (33-1, 24 KO’s) to win the WBO welterweight title in a unanimous 12-round decision, on February 9, 2008, in Temecula, California. Unfortunately, Quintana would lose his title four months later, via first-round stoppage, in a rematch to Williams.
Once again in pursuit of rebuilding his status in the welterweight division, Quintana scored two consecutive stoppage victories, over Joshua Onyango in four rounds, and the tough Jesse Feliciano in three. Those wins earned Quintana a shot at WBC welterweight titlist Andre Berto, on April 20, 2010, at the BankAtlantic Center, in Sunrise, Florida. Quintana fought competitively over eight rounds before succumbing to a TKO stoppage.
In his last bout, on February 18, 2011, Quintana returned to Puerto Rico, dismantling Yoryi Estrella in nine rounds for the TKO victory, at the 0:38 second mark of the frame.
Returning on May 5, 2012, Quintana opened up the Pay-Per-View telecast to the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto main event, held at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. Facing off against Las Vegas resident, Deandre Latimore, in a battle of southpaws, Quintana got the upper hand early. Maintaining a busier pace throughout, Quintana was outlanding his foe while confusing him with his awkward style. Eventually, his superior power was evident as he regularly tagged Latimore with straight lefts. By round five, Latimore was slowing down and showing that those lefts were hurting him. In round six, Quintana trapped Latimore in a neutral corner and unloaded a barrage of punches, focusing on his straight left that eventually downed his adversary, leading to a stoppage victory at 2:19 of the frame. With the victory, Quintana won the vacant WBO NABO junior middleweight title.
On November 24, Quintana faced off against the young power-puncher Keith Thurman, at the Citizens Business Bank Arena, in Ontario, CA. Initially looking to confuse and outbox his foe early on, Quintana was caught with a debilitating left hook to the liver moments before the bell sounded to end round one. Showing his resilience and true grit, the 36-year-old former world champion rose to his feet to fight on. However, that one body shot effectively altered Quintana’s strategy for the remainder of the contest. Thurman pressured Quintana from then on and the Puerto Rican shifted his focus to doing whatever he could to stay out of range. In round four, Thurman managed to trap Quintana long enough to hurt him with a left hook upstairs from which he never recovered and he subsequently wilted from an ensuing barrage, leading to a TKO stoppage defeat.
Quintana currently resides in his native Moca, Puerto Rico, with his wife and three children. When not boxing, Quintana spends time with his family and has a passion for basketball.
