Combate Americas will crown a featherweight champion for the first time as Copa Combate winner Andres Quintana will fight Bruno Cannetti in a rematch on June 28 in New Mexico.
Combate Americas will crown their second world champion as Copa Combate winner Andres Quintana will face Argentina’s Bruno Cannetti on June 28 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The fight is a rematch from their bout in the semifinals of the one-night tournament last December. The winner will join bantamweight champion Gustavo Lopez as the only belt-holders in the promotion.
Andres Quintana (18-2) has proven himself to be top featherweight in Combate Americas with five straight victories before the tournament last year. With wins over the likes of Levy Marroquin and Erick Gonzalez already under his belt, “The Bullet” won the tournament as the favorite with victories over Cannetti, Marlon Gonzales, and Alejandro Flores on the same night.
Bruno Cannetti (8-6) looked poised to shake-up the bracket when the public was introduced to him in December. “Aquiles” was riding a three-fight win streak as he made his promotional debut in the tournament and had one of the most devastating finishes of the night with a first-round stoppage of Joey Ruquet in the quarterfinals.
When the two met in the semifinals, Cannetti landed a big right hand that dropped Quintana and had him in serious trouble before “The Bullet” was able to recover and recompose himself. Quintana then went on to drop Cannetti with a big uppercut and followed up with ground-and-pound that led to the referee stopping the fight. Cannetti stood back up immediately to protest it as an early stoppage but the call stood and Quintana went on to win the tournament.
The match-up comes together as the most intriguing bout for the title as Levy Marroquin, the winner of the Copa Combate from the previous year, recently lost to Alejandro Flores in April. Most expected a rematch between Marroquin and Quintana to be the plan had Marroquin been successful last month. With the Flores’ loss to Quintana in the tournament still fresh, an exciting rematch with Cannetti was the next best fight that could have been booked for the title.
The fight will take place at the Santa Ana Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico on June 28. Tickets will go on sale soon.
The promotion will be announcing more fights for the card in the coming weeks.
