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REPORT

SEPTEMBER 27, Saturday

Local’s first pro fight eye-opening
Quintana, 20, loses four-round decision
By Chris Uumpierre, Ft. Myers News-Press on September 28, 2003[1]
Jessie Quintana turned professional because amateur boxing was becoming boring. It seemed as though he
was fighting the same opponents, ones he would typically pummel. The 20-year-old wanted a new challenge.
Quintana got one Saturday as he stepped into the world of professional boxing for the first time. 
The Fort Myers native fought in “The Brawl at the River,’’ a local card, at the Harborside Event Center in Fort Myers. 
Tomas Cusano Rojas, who entered the bout with 10 pro fights, beat Quintana by unanimous decision in a four-round, junior-welterweight contest. 
“It’s like I just learned to box,” Quintana said afterward. “That was the first time I fought with no head gear. 
The first time I boxed with an 8-ounce glove. I had never been hit in the head without head gear before. 
“Amateur is one thing but pro is a whole different level.” 
Admittedly anxious about making his debut in his hometown, Quintana got off to a rocky start. 
Using his jab to perfection, Rojas dominated the first round. Then in the second, Rojas (7-4) 
landed a vicious left hook flush on Quintana’s left cheek. Quintana wobbled, clutched the ropes
and dropped to one knee. 
Welcome to professional boxing. 
“That was a good punch,” said Quintana, who got up after an eight-second count. “Obviously, he’s
a world-class fighter.” Quintana’s trainer, Larry Willis, believes that Rojas, a native of 
Delacruz, Mexico, had more than 10 pro fights. “I think the boy had more experience than he told us,” 
Willis said. After the knockdown, Quintana didn’t back down. He was the more-aggressive fighter in
the third round. 
Then, in the fourth, the crowd got behind its hometown fighter. 
“Jessie, Jessie, Jessie,” the crowd of about 600 spectators yelled in unison.
In the fourth and final round, Quintana responded with his best round. At one point, 
he landed a right hook that rocked Rojas. The crowd erupted in applause. 
“Yeah, I heard them,” Quintana said. “That’s why I fought so hard at the end. Usually
when somebody gets knocked down, they say, ‘Forget it’ and stop fighting. 
“I couldn’t do that. Not here. I can’t look bad in my hometown.” 
Quintana, who was 30-10 as an amateur and won four state championships, plans to stick with boxing. 
“Now we go back to the drawing board,” he said. 
Another Fort Myers resident, Lonnie Jones, had a more-memorable night. 
Jones beat Raymond Betancourt by unanimous decision in a welterweight fight. 
One look at his trunks revealed Jones’ personality. He was decked out in gold, glittering trunks. 
Jones played to the crowd the entire bout. Late in the fight, he waved to the crowd and mocked his opponent by shuffling his feet before punches. 
Afterward, he leaped out of the ring and slapped hands with several spectators. 
“You have to put on a good show,” Jones said. “What’s the use of going to a boxing match and not seeing a show? 
“It wasn’t like I planned to do that. It just came out.” 
Jermaine Gibbs, also of Fort Myers, lost his heavyweight bout to James White by a technical knockout in the first round. 
The 6-foot-4 White pinned Gibbs into a corner early and began pummeling Gibbs’ mid-section. 
Then White unleashed a thunderous right hand that dropped Gibbs. 
The 20-year-old got up, lost his balance and crashed into the ropes. The referee stopped the fight. 
The Brawl’s main event between Riverdale High School graduate David “Diamond D” Armstrong and Derrick Wilmore was scratched at the last minute. 
Wilmore failed to make weight. The fighters had agreed to come in at 145 pounds. Wilmore tipped the scales at 151. 
The Florida Boxing Commission suspended Wilmore for a year because of his failure to make weight.