Talented, once beaten prospect Marvin Quintero (16-1, 12 KOs) hopes to continue his ascension through the ranks with a win over hard hitting veteran Tyrone Harris (23-5, 15 KOs) in a 10 round junior lightweight bout on Friday, July 31, live on ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). In the co-feature, undefeated bantamweight prospect Chris Avalos (10-0, 8 KOs) will take on knockout artist Andre Wilson (11-2-1, 9 KOs) in an eight round bantamweight bout. The event is promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, and will originate from Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif.
Quintero has won his last two fights on ShoBox and 12 in a row, including 9 by knockout, since his lone professional loss on Aug. 9, 2005. The 22-year-old has registered knockouts in more than 70 percent of his fights.
Quintero, who is from Julio Cesar Chavez’s hometown of Culiacan, Mexico, is a speedy southpaw with solid boxing skills. But the hard hitting Mexican may have a weak chin; his sole loss came via first round knockout in his fifth professional fight. Since then he’s won 12 fights, 9 by KO.
“Quintero is an aggressive, hard punching lightweight prospect from Mexico who fights more than he boxes, often to the displeasure of his handlers,’’ said ShoBox expert analyst Steve Farhood. “In that sense, he reminds me of Antonio DeMarco, who slugged his way to a few wins on ShoBox and is now preparing to fight for a version of the 135-pound title.
“This will be Quintero’s third appearance on ShoBox, so we’ll be able to gauge in rate of improvement. One thing I’ve learned about prospects: You need to see them a few times before making sweeping conclusions. The first time I saw Quintero was in an off-TV fight, and he looked average. Since then, he’s stepped it up.’’
“He’s the quintessential ShoBox prospect and a fighter I always look forward to seeing in action.’’
In his last fight on May 1, on ShoBox, Quintero dominated Wes Ferguson over eight rounds winning an easy decision by the scores of 79-73 and 78-74 twice.
At the end of the second round Ferguson staggered Quintero and then swung big, missing and slipping to the canvas.
“I had my opportunities to knock him out but I wanted to prove to people that I could box,” Quintero said. “It was a very tough fight but none of his punches ever hurt me. I give myself a nine out of 10. I could have worked harder training for this fight.”
In his first ShoBox appearance and just his second in the United States, Quintero registered a third-round TKO over Nick Casal on Jan. 16, 2009.
Now, Quintero has a difficult challenge against the more experienced Harris. Eight of Harris’ 15 knockout victories have come in the first round, so Quintero, who has proven he is vulnerable early, has to watch out for the flash-KO.
“I know I have to keep winning if I want to climb up the division,” Quintero said. “This is a big fight for me. I want to be a world champion, but first I have to beat this Harris. Believe me, I’m ready.”
The 28-year-old Harris, of Lansing, Mich., is looking to bounce back after a tough loss to No. 1- ranked World Boxing Council (WBC) and No. 3 ranked World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight contender Urbano Antillon on May 1, 2009.
“This is a must win for me,” Harris said. “A win over a good prospect like this guy is exactly what I need to get my career back on track. “
ShoBox’s veteran play-by-play announcer Nick Charles agrees this is a fight that Harris needs to win.
“I’ve always thought Tyrone Harris has talent,” Charles said. “He stepped up and failed on ShoBox. There’s no doubt he’s the opponent, but I’m interested to see if Harris can turn his career around.
“The hope is he won’t treat this like a payday, but rather like the last opportunity to really make it in boxing.”
***ShoBox Presser***
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