Kermit Cintron stopped by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez POWER
Photo Credit: HBO SPORTS
By: FRANK RIVERA
We saw one of boxing young rising stars, WBC Junior Middleweight Champion Saul Alvarez (39-0-1 29KO’s) over power Kermit Cintron (33-5-1 28 KO’s) in last night’s title fight in Mexico City, Mexico. This fight with Kermit Cintron was considered to be Saul Alvarez’s first “real” test. Alvarez won his title on March 5th of this year when he fought Matthew Hatton for the vacant WBC Junior Middleweight Title. Since then he has faced two other opponents for his title in Ryan Rhodes and Alfonso Gomez. Both title defenses ended in a Technical knockout with one happening in the 12th round while the other was in the 6th. Alvarez really has not faced any top level fighters in his young career and Kermit Cintron, no longer a top level fighter as he once was, is Alvarez’s “toughest” opponent to date.
Alvarez looked like a seasoned veteran in the ring with Cintron losing his composure as the fight went on. He would sit and wait to throw his hooks to the body and overhand right to catch Cintron every time he got close. Alvarez’s overhand right was the major difference in this fight as he was able to land it often and hurt Cintron each time. Cintron had no answer for Canelo’s overhand right that was causing major damage. In the 4th round, Alvarez caught Cintron with another overhand right hurting Cintron badly and making him take a knee. Cintron was able to beat the count but again was rocked by Alvarez’s power punch as the round came to an end.
As the 5th round started Cintron attempted to launch an offensive attack despite still being badly hurt from the previous round, but he was quickly shut down by Alvarez’s power and forward pressure. Alvarez was able to force Cintron into the ropes throwing his power punches hurting Cintron again. The referee, seeing that Cintron was not returning punches, stepped in and stopped the fight with :09 seconds remaining.
Alvarez looked good against Cintron, but we all know Cintron is a shell of his former self. Max Kellerman said it best at the end of the broadcast when he said “they placed the right person in front of him tonight”. During his post fight interview Saul “Canelo” Alvarez called out Floyd Mayweather Jr. in hopes for a fight in May. This is a bold move from the young champion who is yet to really fight a real top level opponent. I feel that if Golden Boy Promotion puts Alvarez in the ring against an elite level fighter as Mayweather Jr. , Alvarez could end up being another Fernando Vargas. A fighter who was rushed up the rankings early in his career.
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