MARVIN QUINTERO vs WES FERGUSON

After making a fine impression on ShoBox in January, Mexican southpaw lightweight Marvin Quintero is back with an eight-rounder against slick-boxing Wes Ferguson on Friday’s show.

Quintero looked sharp and classy in January when he punished Nick Casal so severely that his opponent retired after three rounds. He was, though, meeting an opponent who was right in front of him and available to be hit. Wes Ferguson is an entirely different type of fighter — a speedy, smooth boxer with good hand speed. Quintero has never faced a smart African-American fighter, and it is not unknown for Mexican fighters to struggle in this situation — I’m thinking mainly of Fernando Montiel being befuddled by Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson — so it will be interesting to see how he copes with Ferguson's style.

Ferguson has won three in a row after being knocked out in the sixth round by Edner Cherry in their rematch, a result that surprised me, not because Cherry won but because in their first meeting Ferguson had fought almost on level terms for 10 lively rounds.

This is by far Quintero’s toughest test. Ferguson was a national Silver Gloves champion in the amateurs and has an ace trainer in Roger Mayweather. He has beaten a number of solid Mexican fighters, with by-far his best win being a split decision over tough boxer-fighter Josesito Lopez, which looks even better after Josesito’s subsequent fine win over two-time Venezuelan Olympic representative Patrick Lopez.

Quintero isn’t a slugger type, though, but more of a classy boxer-puncher on the lines of another ShoBox lightweight discovery, Antonio DeMarco, although not as tall.

This isn’t a fighter vs boxer meeting but rather a match between two intelligent, talented boxers, with Ferguson perhaps being a bit faster and more seasoned and Quintero probably harder hitting — but a knockout defeat that the Mexican fighter suffered a few years ago does concern me, and an industry source tells me that Quintero’s chin is considered suspect.

This is a fight that I think can go either way, with a case made for either man. I’m leaning in Quintero’s direction — I think he can box probably equally as well as Ferguson but I think the Mexican prospect’s harder punching can make the difference in a well-matched contest.