"We're trying to put a rematch together between Paul Williams and myself. I wanted to fight one of the other big names in the division, but none of them wanted to fight me so we decided to make this fight happen," stated newly crowned WBO welterweight champion Carlos Quintana as he talked about his future plans to give former champion Paul Williams an immediate rematch. Check out what he had to say about his upset win over Williams, his thoughts on Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Antonio Margarito, Kermit Cintron and the possibility of a rematch with Miguel Cotto.
JA: Congratulations Carlos in your win over Paul Williams last month. How does it feel to be a Champ after so many people counted you out after the Cotto fight?
CQ: I'm very happy that I was given the opportunity to fight for a belt after the Cotto fight in which so many people where saying that I did not look too strong. I'm glad that I got chance to prove to all the doubters that I still belong amongst the best in the division.
JA: And on top of that, you got to do it against Paul Williams, a guy that everybody was saying was going to be the next big thing. You were definitely the underdog going into the fight, but I remember in the moments leading up to the fight, you had a look of quiet confidence about you; almost like there was something that you knew that nobody else knew. What was that thing that you knew going into the fight?
CQ: In reality, people didn't give me a chance going into this fight because of how I looked in the fight against Miguel Cotto where I looked weak. Because of that defeat, people didn't give me a chance in this fight, but I came into this fight well-prepared and I corrected some mistakes that I had made and some of the mistakes that have made in the past. On top of that, I have a good understanding of southpaw fighters. I am very comfortable fighting southpaws because I grew up fighting them my entire life. And I also do very well against taller fighters.
JA: There are rumors going around that there was going to be a fight between you and Shane Mosley. We all know now that the rumors were not true since Shane is now fighting Zab Judah in May. What was your knowledge of the fight, if you even knew anything about it?
CQ: Yes, it was presented to me that Shane wanted to fight me, but then he decided to take another route. I would have loved to take that fight because it would have been a great stepping stone for my career. It would have been a great fight.
JA: As I said, Shane is fighting Zab in May. How would you feel about a potential fight with Zab, who coincidently is another southpaw?
CQ: That would be a great fight that I wouldn't mind taking at all. He's a different kind of southpaw than Paul. Zab is shorter, faster and more explosive, but I believe that it would still be a great fight.
JA: Do you have any preference as to which one of these guys you would like to fight?
CQ: Not really. I would fight either one of them because they are both great fighters.
JA: What I'm going to do now is name a fighter and I want you to tell me if you would like to fight him and what your strategy would be in a fight with them. The first fighter that I would like to name is Antonio Margarito.
CQ: I would love to fight Margarito. He's another guy that was supposed to fight me, but the he got cold feet and decided that he wanted to fight Cintron instead. I understand that it would be a hard fight for me, but I think that I would outbox him.
JA: How about Kermit Cintron?
CQ: I would want to wait to see the outcome of Margarito-Cintron before I fought him. Cintron is a very strong fighter, probably the strongest in the division, and I know that a lot of people underestimate him because of his last performance, but I think he is a great fighter and I'd like to fight him one day.
JA: I would like to ask you about Floyd Mayweather next. If you were going to take that fight, what would your strategy be if you were to fight someone that's as good as he is?
CQ: Well, Floyd is obviously the best in the division and in boxing right now and it would be a difficult fight for, not just me, but for anybody that would fight him. But I would love the opportunity to fight Floyd. I would have to be very prepared if I were to fight Floyd. The thing with Floyd is that you can't just fight him one way. I would have to box sometimes and just fight at others. I would try to fight every kind of fight at the same time with Floyd and try not to let him get into any kind of rhythm. I would try to put a lot of pressure on him and before he got comfortable with the pressure, I would box him. You have to try to keep a fighter like Floyd confused in order to beat him.
JA: The last fighter that I want to ask you about is a guy that you obviously have history with...Miguel Cotto. What would you do different if you were to fight him a second time around?
CQ: The biggest thing is that I would be very well-prepared as far as my conditioning goes and once that's set, it's going to be a fight. It will not be a boxing match at all and that would be the difference if we were to fight again. I would love to take that fight if it were presented to me again.
JA: We all see that all the other Champions in the division have fights or plans lined up for the future. What are your immediate plans?
CQ: We're trying to put a rematch together between Paul Williams and myself. I wanted to fight one of the other big names in the division, but none of them wanted to fight me so we decided to make this fight happen.
JA: I personally think that you would beat him again.
CQ: There are still some doubters and that's the reason for the rematch.
JA: Has any thing been signed?
CQ: No, not yet. We are still in preliminary negotiations, but hopefully we will have something finalized within the next couple of weeks.
JA: Well, with that said, I want to wish you the best of luck in the future and thank you for your time Carlos.
CQ: Thank you. It was my pleasure.