BOXING Quintana tops Barrett after l4-month layoff

Austintown's Chris Koval beat Mark Johnson to stay undefeated.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CHESTER, W. Va. -- Thursday's Carlos Quintana-Vinroy Barrett welterweight fight was a battle to the end.
After 10 rounds, Quintana (14-0, 11 knockouts), who was coming off a 14-month layoff caused by legal wranglings, won by unanimous decision before approximately 2,500 fans at Mountaineer Gaming Resort.
What made the fight interesting was the gameness of Barrett, who not only went the distance, but also landed some good shots with his right.
In other action, an eight-round fight ended abruptly when Ireland's Ben Dunne knocked out Alabama's Mario Lacey with a left hook at 1:31 of the first round.
Dunne (8-0) decked Lacey with a lightning-like left jab and a short right combination set up the finishing touch.
Local connection
Two of the undercard fights featured good performances from two local fighters going in different directions.
Austintown heavyweight Chris Koval, 21, improved to 9-0 when he stopped Mark Johnson of Detroit in the final round of a four-round bout.
Lenzie Morgan, 37, of Youngstown, went the distance in losing a six-round decision to Miami's Sherman Williams (25-7).
Koval registered his eighth knockout in what was his toughest test since turning pro in March.
His opponent has been in the ring with four of the top 10 heavyweights in the world and was just 30 seconds from going the distance in a bout that Koval dominated.
In the early going, Koval did a lot of things well as he worked up and down to the head and body with good combinations.
He closed the first round by nailing Johnson with two solid rights to the head.
He picked up the pace in the next round, landing several right uppercuts.
But with all the punches that were connecting, the 233-pound Johnson didn't seem to be fazed.
"In round three, I was working to the body and was tagged with some wild hooks that took something out of me," Koval said.
Putting it away
In the early going of round four, Koval used his left jab well. With an apparent second wind, Koval drilled Johnson with a solid right that sent Johnson down for an eight count.
Seconds later, a well-timed right-left-right combination sent Johnson to the canvas and stopped the fight at the 2:30 mark.
"I feel good tonight because I got good work in and still closed the show," Koval said. "Early on, I was depending on my right too often, but I settled down and began working quick combinations.
Pat Nelson, Koval's manager, said Johnson was "a right opponent for Chris at this stage of his career as Johnson is a tried veteran who is very competitive and Chris handled himself well."
Morgan, fighting in only his third bout as a heavyweight, weighed 214 pounds to his opponent's 247 pounds.
Despite boxing well at times, Morgan (12-25-3) lost by unanimous decision.
"This guy was big and strong, but I thought I controlled the fight with my jab," Morgan said. "He forced the fight, taking me to the ropes a lot, but he never hurt me. I may have looked tired at times, but I wasn't and I really thought this fight was a lot closer than the voting."
Several of Morgan's victories have been against top middleweight and lightheavyweight contenders. He also was a former sparring partner of Sugar Ray Leonard, the show's promoter.
"This was a natural transition for me," said Leonard, who was besieged by fans. "I always promoted myself well during my boxing career and I still want to have an impact on this sport that I obviously love."