One week before the undisputed welterweight championship is settled between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Carlos Baldomir, two other welterweights faced off in a battle for another welterweight trinket. In taking the fight with Baldomir, Mayweather was stripped of his IBF title because boxing is stupid like that. That left a title vacancy that was to be decided between two 27-year-old boxers with little to no world title experience.
Kermit Cintron vs. Mark Suarez – IBF Welterweight Title
Cintron is a Puerto Rican born fighter with serious knockout power. He came into this fight with a record of 26-1 with 24 knockouts. His only loss came last year to Antonio Margarito. Suarez certainly isn’t as powerful as Cintron, as shown by his 25-2 record with 13 knockouts. Both of Suarez’s losses, however, were by decision so he’s not the easiest cat to knockout either.
This would turn out to be a typical Kermit Cintron fight. Cintron took more punishment than necessary but proved too much for Suarez and overwhelmed him with a fifth round TKO. Cintron has never been much for jabs and is even less keen on playing defense. Those should come in time now that Cintron is working with Emanuel Steward. Cintron and Suarez traded big shots early with Cintron getting the upperhand in those exchanges. That’s not really the way Suarez should fight Cintron but it made for an exciting bout. Cintron poured it on heavier in the next few rounds and Suarez took a knee in the fifth to avoid any more punishment. He got to his feet at eight but Cintron left no time for recovery and kept up the aggression until the referee stopped the fight.
This was a nice win for Cintron. There are about a dozen big money fighters hanging around at welterweight and Kermit Cintron now holds a belt in that division. Kermit Cintron has the opportunity to become a breakout star in 2007.
Joel Julio vs. Cosme Rivera
Speaking of welterweights, here are two more. Joel Julio was a can’t-miss prospect in the welterweight division until he ran into Carlos Quintana in June. Quintana handed the 21-year-old Julio his first loss and the Colombian certainly did not take an easy way back into the fight game. Cosme Rivera is no pushover and has fought for a world title. The fight was aired on Telemundo and I learned that my basic cable package doesn’t carry that channel. Apparently Univision is something different. Here I thought all Spanish networks were the same. Shame on me for stereotyping.
All reports indicate the first half of the fight was very close. Joel Julio (pictured above) had a strong eighth round and took advantage of a cut over Rivera’s right eye caused by an accidental headbutt in the ninth. Rivera figured he needed a rally in the final round and that’s just what he did. Cosme Rivera dropped Joel Julio in the twelfth and final round and the younger Julio did everything he could to survive the round. The final result was a split decision. 115-112 Rivera. 115-112 Julio. 114-113 for the winner by split decision Joel Julio. Julio escaped with a big win.
Joel Julio is still a work in progress and his last two fights are indicators that he may be being brought up too fast. He’s working with Buddy McGirt and it would be in Julio’s best interest to take 2007 to hone his skills for what could be an exciting career.
Other Results From The Week
– Javier Alberto Mamani went into Japan and knocked out middleweight Crazy Kim (that’s his name) in the tenth and final round, despite trailing on all scorecards.
– Let me throw another awesome real name at you. Super bantamweight Fashan 3K Battery knocked out Edward Escriber in the fifth round.
– Carson Jones lost to Freddy Hernandez by split decision. That makes me happy because Carson was a cocky prick in a fight on ESPN a few months ago so anytime he loses is a good sign for karma.
– Herman Ngoudjo defeated Donald Camarena by unanimous decision. Ngoudjo is rumored to be the next opponent for Jose Luis Castillo.
– Alexander Dimitrenko remained undefeated as a heavyweight with a first round KO of Omar Basile. The German contender improved to 23-0 (14 KOs).
