Hurricane Margarito strikes hard: Leaves path of destruction on Cintron island.
By Neil Kapin. All Photo: German Villasenor.
Antonio Margarito (32-4, 23 kos) needed less than five full rounds to defend his W.B.O. welterweigth titlte and in doing so he also scored another victory for the country of Mexico against it's heated boxing rival Puerto Rico. Margarito flat out demolished Kermit Cintron (24-1, 22 kos) in what turned out to be the least competitive bout of the evening. Margarito showed improved technique and discipline from the opening round. This highly anticipated welterweight clash was universally viewed as a 'pickum' type fight with media and fans split down the middle regarding who would be victorious.
In the first round Margarito came out boxing well and showing an excellent jab. Although the broad-shouldered Cintron cuts an imposing figure in the ring and appeared to have the faster hands, it was the more experienced champion who won the war of the jabs. In the second round Margarito was outlanding Cintron and putting in hard shots to the body. Cintron briefly dazed the champion with a three punch combination on the inside. Right then and there It seemed as though Margarito knew the fight was his for the taking after he felt Cintron's power and realized he was able to deal with it.
Once the third round began it was all downhill for Cintron. Margarito was raking the challenger to the body, jabbing well and also counter punching Cintron extremely well. Margarito landed a huge left uppercut that hurt Cintron toward the end of the third, and followed with a barrage of shots that caused a cut over Cintron's right eye. Cintron looked weary and beaten when faced with the adversity of seeing his own blood and also the focused Mexican champion standing across from him.
An absolute beating took place in round four. Margarito was beating Cintron from pillar to post. He sent Cintron to the canvas for the first time with a barrage of punches up against the ropes, punctuated with another left uppercut and a right hand while Cintron was on the way down, for good measure. Cintron was knocked down once more in round four and barely beat the count. Round five was a mere formality, it seemed. Cintron tasted the canvas twice more from punches that didnt seem to land with much authority, his legs were clearly gone and his corner threw in the towel after the fourth knockdown of the fight.
Margarito stamped himself as one of the top welterweights in the world. Cintron on the other hand left a lot of unanswered questions. In his first true test he failed badly and was unable to make the bout competitive. Where Cintron will go next is open for debate. He was not prepared for such a leap up in competition and many felt as though he was exposed as a fighter witha built up record.
Undercard action:
Calvin Brock, now 25-0, remained unbeaten and made a strong case for himself as a heavyweight contender with a unanimous decision victory over Jameel McCline. Brock survived a seventh round knockdown and came back in Holyfield-esque fashion to hurt McCline at the end of that same round. Brock showed a lot of guts and helped to salavge the evening for Main Events. Early in the fight Brock was staying underneath McCline's punches and out manuvering his larger foe. The more fluid Brock was landing combinations and going to the body well as McCline appeared winded throughout the bout. Brock was more consistent in his attack where as McCline was fighting in spurts and attempting to save energy. By round five the pace of the fight had slowed considerably. McCline was leaning Brock and doing quite a bit of holding. McCline was attempting to use his freakish size to muscle "The Boxing Banker" around the ring and tire him out. In the action packed round seven McCline landed a right hand followed by a left hook that sent Brock to the canvas for the first time in his professional career. Brock's legs appeared very wobbly, but he managed to weather the storm and finished the round unleashing fierce combinations that had a fatigued McCline in retreat. Brock remained in control in the last three rounds although McCline dug down in the tenth and final round to make it action packed.
'Sugar' Shane Mosley made his return to the welterweight division with a hard fought ten round decision over David Estrada. The fight began with Estrada pressing Mosley and throwing a higher volume of punches. Mosley got into his rhythm in round two, where he was able to catch Estrada with heavy right hands to the head and hard hooks to the body. Estrada's awkward style gave Mosley problems throughout and at times the fight deteriorated into a rough, dirty affair. Mosley hurt Estrada badly in round four with left hooks to the body, but was unable to finish the game Chicagoan. Estrada recovered between rounds and was able to control the action in the following round. Mosley showed several areas of his game that need improving if he is going to defeat the elite welterweights, particularly his punch output and cutting down on some defensive lapses. Mosley fought less consistently as the bout wore on, still showing flashes of the speed and counter punching that once made him a 147 pound force. Shane certainly would not be an easy night for any welterweight, but most observers agreed that he would be a decided underdog against the likes of Margarito.
In the opening bout of the evening Malik Scott improved to 22-0 with
an eight round decision over Shane Swartz. Also, bantamweight prospect
Raul "La Cobra" Martinez won a six round decision over Jose
Tirado and improved to 8-0.
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