By Cliff Rold

The main event didn’t look in doubt enough to merit a pre-fight report card but the results of both HBO Boxing After Dark displays have implications on two intriguing divisions worth a deeper look.  In the main event, we saw the furtherance of America’s most touted young Welterweight while one of the most exciting young Jr. Middleweights on the landscape hit his first bump in the road.

What does it all mean?

We start with the main event. 

Andre Berto-Juan Urango

It wasn’t always pretty but it proved effective for 25-year old Welterweight Andre Berto (25-0, 19 KO) to use a healthy mix of clinches, movement and well-timed punching to outpoint Juan Urango (21-2-1, 16 KO) on Saturday night.  The battle of beltholders (Berto holds the WBC belt at 147, Urango the IBF strap at 140 lbs.) played out much as the odds would have predicted but Urango made it interesting in the second half with consistent work to the body.

Since the 2004 Olympics, where he competed for Haiti even as a U.S. citizen, Berto’s positives have been clear.  He’s got tremendous speed of hand and foot and pop against the right guys.  There have been hints of a shaky chin but outside of a brief shake up in the fourth, Berto handled what rare shots Urango could land upstairs all night.

That was one of the problems for people looking to be entertained on the night.

Showing off his impressive speed, Berto picked his spots and landed largely when he wanted to while smothering and slipping the offense of Urango through the first half.  He also held.

A lot.

It’s not to say the action was lacking in intensity.  Urango didn’t come to lay down but, just as was the case when he challenged Ricky Hatton for the World Jr. Welterweight title in January 2007, Urango couldn’t find the right hook he needed to win.

Don’t let the announcers or even the final scores (117-11, 118-110 twice) fool though.  The fight wasn’t uncompetitive and in the second half was well contested.  Urango earned half (and made a case for two more) of the final six rounds.  Berto’s activity dropped a bit in the seventh and Urango used it to his advantage, pressing for most of three minutes and landing enough to the body to cinch a clear round in his favor while Berto largely moved and held until opening up in the closing seconds.

Urango followed his effort in the seventh with a solid eighth.  Berto too would have his moments with some flashy blows up top but increasingly in the clinches Urango was landing two and three to the body and slipped in a counter right hook in the final thirty seconds.  It was this sort of action for most of a four-round stretch.

Distressingly during this span, while the TV people talked about what Berto was doing while not throwing many punches, Urango was outworking the young titlist by committing to the ribs.  It appeared one of those times when the action in the ring wasn’t flowing correctly with what looked like was going to happen, and shaped the ongoing narrative, earlier in the night.  It’s not that Urango ever looked imminent to threaten Berto but he was doing enough to win rounds.

It’s not the first or last time for this to happen on HBO.  Over the years, there has always been an affinity for speed fighters.  The night Meldrick Taylor lost his dramatic 1991 classic to Julio Cesar Chavez, the athleticism of Taylor had so overwhelmed the announce team that they sounded almost surprised to realize Taylor’s face looked like it had been hit by a train in the late rounds. 

Berto-Urango offered nothing as dramatic, and Berto certainly deserved the win, but the difficulty present in a fight where one man is landing single flashy head shots and the other is grinding out body work was clear.  Urango was fighting; Berto wasn’t…for awhile anyways. 

Entering the championship stretch, Berto opened the eleventh with fluid combination punching and then outworked Urango at close quarters as well where Berto again found an eye catching left uppercut along the ropes.  Two more lead lefts set the pace for the round as Berto dominated all but the last few seconds, moving and punching in equal measure and never letting Urango get any momentum. 

It removed any remaining doubt about Urango’s chance for a late rally but the overall result of the action left some doubt about where Berto is immediately headed.  After the bout, Berto stated of his future, “I’m turning into a complete fighter now…I’m just here.  Like I said before, I’m young.  I got a lot of energy so whoever they want to put me in there with, I’m with.  I’m gonna’ be here for a long time.  Definitely.”

Whether he’ll have to wait a long time for the bright lights at Welterweight like WBA titlist Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO) and WBO titlist Miguel Cotto (33-1, 27 KO) remains to be seen.  Chances are he may still be on the outside looking in until 2010 at least.  There can be a case that he’ll be avoided because his youth and speed present challenges not on the level of the economic pull Berto brings to the table so far.

It’s a fair case.

The stronger case is that he still hasn’t quite earned the stage with the big guns.  While Urango was not a step back he was at best, as noted in a column earlier this week, a lateral move.  Berto remains a fighter with a belt who still has only one win over a universally recognized top ten fighter in his weight class (Luis Collazo earlier this year).  He has work to do and is right to note his own youth. 

Berto has time on his side and will probably get where he wants to go.  He is talented and his improved head movement on Saturday was a positive.  Veterans like former World Welterweight champion Zab Judah, former titlist Carlos Quintana, or even a rematch with Collazo would help him show those improvements even more while also giving him something else he needs. 

Berto needs foes who make him look exciting.  Unfortunately, Urango wasn’t the right man for the job.

Kermit Cintron-Alfredo Angulo

The chief support bout on B.A.D. made up for any of the often lacking action in the main event.

The great Billy Conn has been quoted as saying fighters don’t learn how to fight until they lose.  If true, 26-year old Jr. Middleweight prospect Alfredo Angulo (15-1, 12 KO is officially enrolled in school.  Conversely, 29-year old former Welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron (31-2-1, 27 KO) showed the lessons of previous setbacks, holding off the younger man late to capture a unanimous decision victory.

It was a damn good scrap.  It happens that way often when Mexico (by way of Angulo) and Puerto Rico (by way of Cintron) are paired together in the sweet science.  Unlike Cintron’s two battles with now-disgraced former Welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito, where Kermit seemed to catch a frog in his throat if he wasn’t plastered, Cintron was all guts on Saturday.     

And he set it up largely with his jab.  While he tired visibly late, Cintron boxed better than he has for most of his career and countered enough to use Angulo’s aggression against him.  Even in the twelfth, as Angulo frantically sought a knockdown if not a stoppage and landed blows which seemed to push Cintron to the edge, the veteran found single hard shots to survive and push back.  His courage and grit brought a roar from the crowd in the closing seconds and as each man headed to their corners at the bell it was Cintron who leapt on to the ropes while Angulo, “El Perro,” wore a hangdog expression, eyes towards the ground.

He knew what was coming. 

The unanimous scores tallied at 116-112 for Cintron give him a new lease on fistic life.  The Margarito losses may be clouded now but the highly controversial draw with WBC Jr. Middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez in February was a bout most saw him losing period.  Now he’s in a position to get a mandatory rematch with Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KO) and if he continues to exhibit the growth he showed this weekend, it’s possible he could clear that blemish on his resume away.  It’s certainly a fight worth seeing again now.

Angulo will be worth seeing again as well.

Cintron was a bold choice for the young Mexican and ultimately turned out to be a bite more than Angulo could chew.  Angulo took a step back but one which may help him in the long run.  Cintron is a proven puncher and, while Angulo was stunned a few times, he never looked like he was headed towards the floor.  Angulo knows now, as does everyone who saw the bout, he can take a serious pro shot.  He can now take possession of a tape which will reveal to him the aspects of his game he’ll need to improve.   

There is a propensity to over react to losses for hot prospects.  Sometimes it’s well founded.  Usually it’s just a stupid obsession with undefeated records.  Angulo took on a tested pro and came up just a little short inside of his first twenty fights.  It happens. 

To his credit, Angulo produced yet another HBO appearance which in the end was a happening on its own.  At the end of the night, watching him lose was more entertaining than watching Berto win and that’s why fans should expect to see Angulo back on the fast track in short order.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com