In front of what is sure to be a raucous crowd in Mexico City, Saul Alvarez will defend his WBC Jr Middleweight title against Kermit Cintron in another Mexico versus Puerto Rico battle over a title belt. Alvarez is slowly upping his competition and while Cintron?s behavior of late has been erratic to say the least, he is the biggest name in young Canelo?s career to date.
Alvarez has reached star status and world title contention perhaps a little sooner than his management would have hoped for. But once that belt is around your waist, fans are going to expect bigger fights. He is a well rounded fighter who pays nice detail to body work. Questions are still there about his chin and how he will handle top flight Boxing skills as his struggles with Alfonso Gomez may have underlined. But he does have power and has shown the killer instinct to end the fight when he gets his man in trouble.
Kermit Cintron is as big of an enigma as Boxing has to offer. He has claimed several title bouts throughout his career and is a solid boxer with power in either hand. He is also a mental disaster waiting to happen. From his bizarre sobbing after beating Jesse Feliciano to leaping out of the ring against Paul Williams like someone screamed BOMB! You never quite know what to expect. More and more this kind of behavior has become the rule and not the exception as evidenced by his listless performance against Carlos Molina.
Cintron certainly has the skill set and style to give Alvarez all he can handle. But does he have it between the ears to stick with a game plan and stay in the fight? You would like to hope so as this is probably his last chance to remain relevant on the world stage. But I for one can?t give him the benefit of the doubt and expect him to rise above a hostile crowd and give his best effort. I?d love to be proven wrong and settle in for what could be a great fight. But I think Alvarez will take his will with hooks to the body and that coupled with the crowd will see Cintron wilt as the rounds go by leading to a mid-round TKO.
