ALFREDO ANGULO vs KERMIT CINTRON

Sometimes the result of a fight seems obvious, on the surface anyway, but in the event it turns out to be different to what is generally envisaged. I’m just wondering if Saturday’s junior middleweight 12-rounder between Alfredo Angulo and Kermit Cintron might be one such fight. 

On the surface, this is almost a certain win for Angulo. He is the undefeated fighter and the naturally bigger man, a 154-pounder against an opponent who can still make 147 pounds.


Cintron has been known to wilt under pressure, as he did in two fights with Antonio Margarito — and almost did against Sergio Martinez. Angulo is a fighter who brings intense pressure. Ergo, the bigger, stronger Angulo keeps the pressure on Cintron and breaks him down physically and mentally. 

Will it be quite, that simple though? 

We all love Angulo for his exciting style and fighter’s heart, but the Mexican crowd-pleaser can be hit a bit easily at times. Cintron is a fighter with talent and punching power. If he can catch Angulo flush — and it figures that he can — he can hurt him. After all, Angulo was shaken up by Richard Gutierrez in the fifth round last May, although he came back to overpower the Colombian in the same round, while in his most recent fight he was cut badly over the eye against Cosme Rivera although again he won in five rounds. 

Two of Angulo’s last three fights have been against welterweights, but although Cintron is a 147-pounder he did box at junior middle in his last fight, when he fought a disputed draw with Sergio Martinez, and I thought he looked strong at the weight. I made Martinez a clear winner, and Cintron was fortunate to be allowed to continue after being apparently counted out in the seventh round, but one thing I noticed was that his punching power was getting respect from the Argentinean boxer. Martinez looked flashy with his hands-down style, but he wasn’t inclined to take too many chances.

On Saturday, Cintron meets a fighter who will be right in front of him. If Cintron can hold himself together mentally, and let his shots go, I believe he has a good chance of winning.

Cintron’s only two losses were against Antonio Margarito, and those KO defeats don’t look quite as bad now, in view of his opponent’s well-documented illegal hand wraps issue.

However, it is impossible to ignore the way that Cintron succumbed to Margarito’s stronger will, in the first fight especially.

Angulo might have to take some hard blows, but he will keep coming. No matter how tough things might get for Angulo, he will have the belief that if he just keeps pressing ahead, and keeps punching, he will eventually outlast and outgame Cintron. It is up to Cintron to show Angulo that such a belief is a mistaken one.

“We’re going to make it a very difficult night for him,” Cintron’s trainer, Ronnie Shields, said over the phone from his gym in Houston. “We know he’s a good fighter and he keeps coming, but Kermit’s got to keep his head and box Angulo, he can’t go out there and just go toe-to-toe with him. I think Kermit is just as strong as Angulo, probably even stronger, and he does have that big right hand. We’re working on combinations and not just looking for one shot on this guy because he throws a lot of punches and if you just throw one shot you’re liable to get hit with something.

“Kermit has the potential to knock him out, and that’s what we’ve been working on. I don’t want to see Kermit go to a decision in this fight — I want to see him knock him out and make a big statement in this fight.  The most important thing — and Kermit knows it, too — is that he has to put it all together.

“This is my third fight with Kermit. It’s always hard when you just start working with a guy and you try to get him to fight the style you think he should be fighting, but he’s finally starting to get it that he has to throw combinations, you can’t be a one-shot kinda guy, and he’s getting it. It’s all coming together.”

Cintron probably does indeed have the physical tools to win, but the big question mark will concern his state of mind. If he can’t get Angulo out of the fight, will he simply cave in?

“If Kermit can fight as well as he’s capable of fighting,” I give him a great chance,” Cintron’s former manager, Marshall Kauffman, said from Reading, PA. “I’m not a fan of Kermit, after all we went through, but I don’t dislike the kid.  I think the fight will be decided in the first two rounds. Kermit’s got to let this guy know who’s in charge. He can start boxing later, but it’s important that he gets Angulo’s respect early. If Angulo gets Kermit to keep backing up it will be Angulo’s fight because it’s difficult to punch hard when you’re going back. Kermit will be in shape because he doesn’t abuse his body, and he’s still got that big punch. If Kermit is right mentally, he’s got a great shot at winning.”

I, too, think that Cintron has a very good chance of winning this fight, but his frame of mind when the going gets rough on Saturday is what will decide the issue. If Cintron starts to show weakness, then Angulo will be all over him. Angulo is durable and relentless, and he puts his punches together to head and body. When he gets hit he comes back banging. Cintron should be able to land his right hands and left hooks, but he will be getting hit, too. In a fight that should see heavy punches being landed on both sides, the fighter with the greater physical and mental endurance is likely to be the winner, and this will, I think, be Angulo.

Cintron is Angulo’s most dangerous test so far, though, and, to me, this is far from a formality. I think that Angulo will most likely grind out a win in about nine rounds, but not without having to come through moments of adversity.