In a fight from Mexico City?s Monumental Plaza de Toros this past Saturday night on an HBO split city telecast from two countries, defending WBC junior middleweight titlist Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez 39-0-1 (29 KO?s) of Juanacatl?n, Jalisco, Mexico remains unbeaten, sending former world champion Kermit ?The Killer? Cintron 33-5-1 (28 KO?s) of Carolina, Puerto Rico to certain defeat, courtesy of a left hook straight right hand combination that would result in a fifth round TKO stoppage at the 2:53 mark. In an instance in which supposedly ?Canelo? would be put to the test in one of his biggest fights to date, I am not so sure the case can be made that he was tested at all, as Kermit Cintron has seemingly lost his killer instinct, unable to inflict any damage on the young champion, while proving to be the recipient of blows which he would not respond to well at all. The challenging Cintron was not only a victim of the hand speed of Alvarez, who?s sharp, tight combinations were too much for the Puerto Rican anytime they engaged, but Kermit? low left guard was a recipe for disaster, as the champion?s right hand would find the mark on more than one occasion to rock the challenger?s world, resulting in a fourth round knockdown, as well as send Kermit to his knees one final time in the fifth. Some may have argued that the stoppage by referee Hector Afu was a bit premature, but when you consider the fact that at the end of round four after receiving another solid right to the head that Cintron was seemingly out on his feet and unable to remove himself from the ropes for several seconds after the bell, which perhaps could have been called the second knockdown of that round, then the stoppage was well warranted. Once Kermit did finally return to his corner at the end of the fourth, alert chief second Ronnie Shields would immediately ask Kermit, ?do you know where you?re at.? This was the state of affairs at the time. However, sensing he didn?t have much time left, the challenger came out swinging for the fences to open round five in an attempt to land something significant. It would be to no avail however, as the poised and deliberate champion Alvarez would pick his spots and fire in between the wide shots of the challenger, proving to be by far the better technician in this round, as well as in previous rounds to land the more accurate and effective shots from start to finish. After speaking with Kermit via teleconference in which I would pose the question that he was perhaps selected to fight Alvarez because he is quite possibly not the fighter he once was, he reasoned that he wasn?t a shot fighter, or a fighter past his prime. But in this performance, Cintron? reflexes, as well as his poor balance, may have indicated otherwise. It is hard to tell whether he didn?t respond well because of blows he took, or if he is indeed a fighter on the decline. But for whatever reason, the simple fact remains, Cintron was a non factor in this fight. At one time considered one of the hottest prospects in boxing, Kermit may in fact have become a damaged fighter at the hands of Antonio Margarito, who is widely suspected to have been wearing loaded hand wraps when he defeated Cintron not once, but twice, with Kermit stating in relation to these encounters that he had never felt that kind of power before. When Miguel Cotto seeks to avenge his loss to Margarito next weekend, who is suspected to have also wore those same loaded hand wraps at the time he pounded Miguel into submission, the end result could be quite revealing. Be that as it may, what is for sure this night is that Kermit was the slower handed fighter who would have been better served by utilizing his slight height and reach advantage by way of a stiff jab, rather than a pawing jab, to keep the Mexican fighter at bay, which he did not do. As well, Kermit? tendency to carry his left guard low or not snap it back to a defensive position, as evidenced in a previous bout with Alfredo Angulo where Angulo landed many a right hand, this would prove to be a mistake by Cintron for which he would pay dearly with the defending champion landing repeated thudding right hands to the head, finishing the veteran fighter convincingly. Good win for Alvarez, who once again put on another solid, consistent performance, demonstrating excellent defensive head movement along the way to avoid any meaningful return fire from Kermit, who perhaps somewhat dangerous early, would soon afterwards begin to fade, an indication that the challenger?s conditioning, amongst other things, seemed to be at issue as in other of his recent past performances. Can?t wait to see young ?Canelo? in his next title defense as there is already talk of him meeting fellow Mexican and undefeated WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. This may indeed come to fruition as I am not so sure ?Canelo? is ready just yet to take on what appears to be his WBC mandatory challenger in whirlwind fighter James ?Mandingo Warrior? Kirkland, who is no less than a machine at this point in time. Another option is that Alvarez takes on the winner of the Cotto-Margarito fight, in what would be a unification bout at the junior middleweight level. What is for sure is that Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez is a huge star amongst his compatriots, and Mexican fans will demand that he fight no less than the best when he is ready. And that time is soon approaching.
