By Rick Reeno
ESPN is jumping into the boxing pay per view market in a big way. The boys over at ESPN have put together one of the better pay per view cards in recent memory. Even with the Juan Diaz vs. Ebo Elder being cancelled due to an injury suffered by Diaz, the pay per view still has three very attractive bouts. Let's not forget to mention that the price tag for this event is $20 dollars less then the average boxing pay per view.
The main event features the hot undefeated prospect Kermit Cintron facing Antonio Margarito for the WBO welterweight title. Some experts are really high on Cintron and give Margarito little to no chance to win this bout. I really disagree with Cintron being the favorite to win this bout, I hold Margarito as the favorite in this bout.
Margarito has by far faced a better level of opposition in his career. Margarito is not some old fighter ready to get beaten by the young guy coming up. Margarito is only 27 years old and still has many years of boxing ahead of him. The reason this fight is so hot is because both guys can hit and neither has the greatest defense. Neither man has ever been stopped and to my knowledge, neither fighter has tasted the canvas. There is a very high chance that one of these fighters if not both of them, will taste the canvas tonight. The chances that one man will get stopped for the first time in his career is very high as well. Margarito has a big edge in experience and has an edge in stamina. If Margarito can survive the early rounds of the fight and take Cintron into the late rounds, he stands a very high chance of not only beating Cintron, but stopping him. The stamina of Cintron has appeared suspect and Margarito is a huge step up in class.
In his last fight, Margarito almost knocked the ear off of his opponent. Cintron is going to have to put the pressure on early and take it to Margarito from the start. Cintron cannot get too wild and waste powershots, he needs to save some fuel in the tank fo the late rounds.
Shane Mosley returns to the welterweight division in a do or die fight against David Estrada. Mosley has not won a bout since September of 2003 and Estrada's career is on fire. Estrada has beaten two undefeated prospects back to back and wants to land a title shot with a win over Mosley. Estrada is being trained by one of the greatest trainers of all time, Angelo Dundee. Dundee feels that Estrada has the style to beat Mosley and fans should expect an upset. Mosley has the edge in every category, but if he doesnt take Estrada seriously, he could see a loss that will end his career. Estrada is planning to take it to Mosley early. Shane has not fought a pressure fighter like Estrada in ages and I'm not sure how Shane will react to Estrada trying to push him back.
Jameel McCline is facing rising undefeated heavyweight prospect Calvin Brock. This fight can either be exciting or boring, it really depends on what Jameel McCline shows up. The cautious McCline that fought Shannon Briggs and Wladimir Klitschko or the fierce McCline that fought Chris Byrd and Michael Grant. Brock has knocked out 20 of his 24 opponents, he is sure to be looking for a knockout in this bout. McCline brought his career back from the dead once when he defeated rising prospect Cedric Boswell with a late round TKO in 2003. McCline will need to be brave in this fight, if Brock senses that McCline is scared, he will pick McCline apart. Either McCline will show that he still has what it takes to be a contender or Brock will show that he is the real deal.
***Due to unforeseen circumstances, tonight’s round by round coverage of the ESPN Pay Per View has been cancelled. There is a cable power outage which has disrupted the pay per view from being broadcast, thousands of subscribers are unable to view the event tonight. I am unsure at the moment of how this problem will come into play with the final pay per view buyrate numbers. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.***
