By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com has been advised the former welterweight champion Kermit Cintron (32-4-1, 28KOs) is shaking off his last fight and getting right back into the ring on August 12th against Antwone Smith (20-2-1, 12KOs). The fight will headline ESPN's Friday Night Fights. A real gut check move by Cintron, who on July 9th returned from a 14-month layoff and dropped a ten round decision to Carlos Molina at the Home Depot Center.

The ESPN date belongs to Lou DiBella. He advised BoxingScene that a deal for Cintron-Smith is very close and both sides want the fight.

"If we can pull this off, I think it's another great fight for ESPN. They both want the fight. I think it says a lot about Kermit Cintron to take a fight like this on short notice, and Antwone is hungry. I think the winner of this fight factors right back into the mix of the division," DiBella told BoxingScene.com.