12.02.07 – By John Way: Since his humiliating loss to Carlos Quintana last summer, super-prospect Joel Julio has struggled to reestablish himself as a viable contender in the welterweight division. Previously touted for his dynamic combination of speed and power, the Colombian bomber made a name for himself with thrilling wins over durable journeymen Robert Kamya and Carlos Vilches. Going into 2006 he was named Prospect of the Year by most publications and was largely expected to win his first world title before the year was over..
Making his HBO debut amidst much hubbub against Quintana, he got off to a good start by dropping his Puerto Rican rival with a pair of solid punches in the first round. But when Julio when straight for the kill with a wild attack, rather than pursuing his usual fight plan, he allowed the shifty southpaw to escape, recuperate, and eventually, to dominate the fight. Slipping, sliding, and giving all sorts of head feints, Quintana made Julio look one-dimensional by comparison, exposing all sort of defensive liabilities. By the tenth round, Julio was lagging badly in the heat, looking battered, discouraged, and fatigued. Although he lasted the distance in the face of a royal whipping, critics were disappointed with his lack of creativity down the stretch. Even after it became clear that Quintana had his style figured out, Julio, clearly frustrated, only offered the same jab/hook/cross style, without any lateral movement whatsoever. Long story short, Quintana by a wide unanimous decision.
In his first comeback fight, four months later, Julio’s flaws were further exposed in a split decision win over top ten contender Cosme Rivera. Rivera’s last major fight had been a third round TKO loss to welterweight champion, Zab Judah, and most fans expected a similar result against Julio. Instead, crafty Rivera dropped the crowd favorite late in the fight, and nearly pulled off the upset. In his most recent outing, Julio scored an easy win by bashing Francisco Campos in three rounds. Although the performance was devastatingly efficient, the Colombian did little to erase question marks about his conditioning, showing up almost seven pounds above his ideal fighting weight. Still, he managed to destroy a fighter who had been in with men like Cesar Bazan, Victoriano Sosa, Edgar Santana, and, interestingly Quintana.
So the question is: what’s next for Joel Julio? It’s clear, for the moment at least, that he still isn’t ready for men like Paul Williams or Miguel Cotto, but he’s also established his indisputable supremacy over men like Wilmer Mejia and Chris Henry, so it’s important that his handles make an appropriate match to ensure further development in his abilities.While his promoter Hernan Gomez has yet to make an official statement regarding his fighter’s future, rumors have circulated about possible match-ups against Golden Johnson or Thomas Damgaard. A fight withonce-beaten Damgaard would prove particularly profitable, and would be, stylistically, a very winnable fight against a well regarded opponent.
Since fights against Johnson and Damgaard haven’t made it past the negotiation table however, it seems safe to conclude that fans won’t be treated to either showdown in the near future.Cornelius “K-9” Bundrage is another name being kicked around by industry insiders. Since his loss to Steve Forbes in the semi-finals of Sugar Ray Leonard’s “Contender” series, Bundrage has established himself as a solid fighter on the fringes of contention. Riding high off wins over NorbertoBravo and Chris Smith, his status as a crowd-pleasing overachiever is certain to earn him a big payday against an elite fighter he can’t possibly beat. A lucrative brutalization at the hands of Julio would serve that purpose, and makes as much since as a thumping against anyone else in the world, so why not?
Regardless of whether his next test comes against Johnson, Damgaard, or Bundrage, fans will tune in, because win, lose, or draw, when Joel Julio is fighting, someone is going to get hurt. Comments and questions are welcome below.