Alvarez-Cintron 11-26-2011

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez v.Kermit "The Killer" Cintron for the WBC Light Middleweight Title

Round 1: Both fighters go to the center of the ring quickly. Both seem focused. No hesitation or apprehension. Cintron throwing the majority of the punches. None are landing. He’s measuring the distance and gauging Alvarez’s reactions. Alvarez staring to react. Combination and shots to the body by Alvarez. Combo by Alvarez. Left and right connect to Cintron’s head. [De la Hoya is in the front row looking like an 80s Mexican drug dealer straight out of Miami vice. ]. Cintron misses a good opportunity for a counter as Alvarez throws a punch and lets down his guard.  Alvarez (10-9)

Round 2: Alvarez lands a left to Cintron’s head. [RJJ talking some nonsense and distracting me from a good exchange.] Cintron to the body. Left upper cut by Alvarez and then a right to the body. Left jab by Cintron. Alvarez answers with a combination. Two left jabs by Cintron. [These left jabs are not going to cut it.]  Alvarez (20-18)

Round 3:  Alvarez counters wild and misses. Both fighters swing wild and miss. Left jab by Alvarez. Left jab by Cintron. Combination by Alvarez connects to Cintron’s face. Left uppercut by Alvarez.  Alvarez missing several punches. Both fighters have great rhythm. They both also have great head movement. Right to Alvarez’s head. The fighters trade left jabs as the bell sounds. Alvarez (30-27)

Round 4: Right uppercut by Cintron. Left to Cintron’s body. Jab by Cintron. Fighters are trading jabs. Now trading upper cuts. Trading jabs. The boxers are mirroring each other. Alvarez to the body. Great left hook to Cintron’s head. Left jab by Cintron. Three rights to Cintron’s head. Cintron goes down and gets up. Cintron can’t put up his gloves after the standing eight so the ref does it for him. Alvarez attacks. Cintron slips. Body shot by Cintron. Left hook to Cintron. Cintron is hurt at the bell. Sits on the ropes. There is a cut on the bridge of Cintron’s nose.  Alvarez (40-35)

Round 5: Cintron legs look stiff. Not good. Hook combination by Cintron, but he’s wobbly and swinging wild. Left by Alvarez. Right by Alvarez. Hard right by Cintron to Alvarez’s head. Right hook by Alvarez. Left jabs by Cintron. Light, not really connecting.  Left hook by Alvarez. Then a combination. Cintron answers. Alvarez can take a punch. I am seriously worried about Cintron.  Combination by Alvarez. And the ref stops the fight. TKO for Alvarez

Would everyone please stop asking for Mayweather? Unless you’re ready to take the money and retire, there are other, better fighters. Stop indulging that ignorant a-hole and pissing off true boxing fans. It’s like any boxer within two weight classes of Mayweather has Tourettes and can only say “Mayweather.” Ugh.

Cintron’s descent is a little sad. He participated in one of the greatest nights of boxing for me: July 14, 2007: Paul Williams whooping on Margarito; Cintron versus Matthysse; Gatti’s last fight (I teared up); and I think it may have been Amir Khan’s HBO debut. It was such a beautiful night of boxing. I feel bad about Paul Williams’ career, too, but I’ll save that for another article.   

Now, as to whom Alvarez SHOULD (could) fight next . . . Sergio Martinez? Paul Willams? The winner of the Cotto-Margarito fight? Julio Caesar Chavez, Jr.? Yes, some of those match ups would require someone to change their weight class, and it would be a rematch with Cotto, but so what? Do it. I want to see a good (big name) fight (that doesn’t include Mayweather).

Manfredo-Chavez 11-19-2011

Peter Manfredo, Jr. v. Julio Caesar Chavez, Jr.

Middleweight Championship Fight – WBC Belt

Going into it, it seemed like an evenly matched fight. Two boxers who have something to prove. One a former reality show contestant. The other the son of a legend. Manfredo’s previous notable fights include Joe Calzaghe and Jeff Lacy. He lost to both. I was impressed by how many professional fights Manfredo has had, especially at his age (43-0-1).  It showed during the fight.

Round 1: Right away, I dislike Manfredo’s trunks. I’m of the Mike Tyson school of boxing wear: less flash, more punching people in the face. Chavez is the aggressive. He gets in a good shot at the body. Chavez showing great head movement and great timing early on. He’s quick, but not overeager. Not at all like Freddy’s other protégé, Amir “King of Nothing” Khan.  Chavez easily bats away Manfredo’s jabs. Chavez connects with two jabs. Manfredo swings wild to end the round going for a good showing at the end, but fails. Chavez (9-10)

Round 2: Chavez connects with a jab. Then a left hook.  There are a lot of punches being thrown, but not a lot are landing. Both have good defensive styles. Hard right by Chavez. Some more exchanges that are defended. Hard counter right by Chavez. Manfredo to the body. Manfredo needs to pace himself. He is going to get tired. Left upper cut by Manfredo. Jab by Manfredo.  Chavez (18-20)

Round 3: Hard right by Chavez. Another hard right by Chavez. Exchange of jabs. Manfredo is losing his patience and moving in with his hands down. He’s lucky he didn’t get knocked out. Chavez to the head. Manfredo to the body. Chavez with a right to the head. Manfredo with a left to the head. Manfredo’s tape around his glove becoming undone. Time out by the referee to fix it. Hard left and then the bell and then a hard right by Manfredo. Even (28-30)

Round 4: Missed the first 30 seconds (long trip to the refriderator). Chavez charges in. Exchange of jabs. Crowd is chanting Chavez. Hard right to the head by Chavez. Manfredo swinging wild. Chavez swinging focused. Body/head combo by Manfredo. Chavez taunting Manfredo.  Right roundhouse by Chavez. Very exciting round. Chavez brawling a bit. A risky endeavor that pays off. Chavez can mix it up. Hard left jab by Manfredo. Right to the head by Chavez. Chavez (37-40)

Round 5: Left jab by manfredo. Manfredo blocks a combo, but his counter misses. Manfredo has a great left jab. He just needs to follow up like his corner suggested. Left jab by Chavez. Left to the body by Manfredo. Hard Right by Chavez and Manfredo wobbles. Manfredo against the ropes. Chavez is going to town. Manfredo moving side to side along the ropes. He’s not throwing punches. He’s not protecting himself. Manfredo tries to clinch at the same time the Ref jumps in to stop the fight. If it had been later in the round, I would’ve called it a bad stoppage, but there was still over a minute left in the round.  TKO for Chavez

Punch stats show that Manfredo threw much more, but landed much less.

Chavez has great timing. He can box and he can brawl. He’s focused and calm in the ring. Seems like a much mature fighter. I would think that the son of a legend would be flashier than someone with Amir Khan’s background. You can’t tell at all that they have the same trainer.

Manfredo’s corner told him to work his combinations off of his jabs. Excellent advice.  Classic boxing. Too bad he didn’t take it. I think Manfredo is going to be one of those boxers that up and comers fight and beat on their way to the top. And “Pride of Providence” has to be one of the worst nicknames ever.

Roy Jones: “I saw a very, very good young fighter.”  It’s nice that he’s expanded his vocabulary.  I think he’s heard all of the taunting of his “really, really bad” comments from my friends Chris and Preston. It’s nice to know that you can make a difference as a fan.

I love that Julio Caesar Chavez, Sr. eschews the uniform of his son’s corner for a tux. Now that’s really, really classy.