Quarantillo laughs, over a year removed from the bout as he prepares for his return on Saturday against Alexander Hernandez. It’s been a long break for the 34-year-old, one that included an injury-induced withdrawal from a summer bout against Bill Algeo. But on the positive side, there was the arrival of his son, William Jr., and the opportunity to now come back in front of another full house at T-Mobile Arena. As for everything else, he didn’t get to capitalize on the Burgos fight, but he’s ready to get that momentum back this weekend.
“Coming off the Burgos fight, even though I lost, it was a huge opportunity and opened a lot of people’s eyes to where I was,” he said. “It got a lot of people excited for my next fight and this sport is always, who’s next, who’s up, who’s this, who’s that, and anytime you take time off like this, people kinda forget a little bit. They say, Billy put on a crazy fight, but that was a year ago, and I miss the excitement that people would get continuously. That dies down a little bit as time goes on, so I’m just excited to get back in the driver’s seat, get the momentum going back on my side, seeing all the fans, being in a big crowd, and my whole family getting to come together.”
Quarantillo expects to have 30 family members and friends in attendance, and while they welcome him back to the Octagon, he’ll be welcoming Hernandez to the featherweight division for the first time, and he’s not too sure “The Great Ape” will enjoy it.
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“Him coming down to featherweight, he’s gotta be cautious with his gas tank and cutting the weight correctly because I put a pace on people that’s different, and most of my fights, I’ve won from just breaking them, putting the pressure on, and making them dig really deep,” said Quarantillo. “I’m expecting him to have a really great cut and I’m expecting the best Alex Hernandez, but, at the end of the day, we haven’t seen him at 145 yet and I’ve had my last 10 fights at 145, so it’s gonna be a whole different look that I don’t think he’s gonna be prepared for because there’s really no way to prepare for the type of pace that I run at 145.”
And if Billy Q has his way, maybe there will be a Performance of the Night bonus in his future, regardless of where his fight sits on the card.
“I know I’m able to push that three-round pace hard for 15 minutes,” he said. “I’ve done it pretty much every fight, but I’m going to make sure I don’t make any mistakes, and he’s in for a very long night of fighting.”
