By Cliff Rold
Sometimes, it’s just one of those nights. Marlon Starling-Tomas Malinares with its late punch and injured stem? One of those nights. Lennox Lewis-Oliver McCall II? A special one of those nights.
Paul Williams-Kermit Cintron entered such company on Saturday and left fans wanting more. More is only a YouTube away.
On the same Saturday that a tangle of legs led to Cintron falling out of the ring in round four and being stretchered out, two 115 lb. warriors went all twelve rounds in Japan. For Hugo Cazares and Nobuo Nashiro, it was one of those days as well.
Not a Molinares-Starling day…a ‘this is a candidate for Fight of the Year’ day.
Let’s go the report cards.
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Williams A; Cintron B/Post: B; B
Pre-Fight: Power – Williams B; Cintron A/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Defense – Williams B; Cintron C/Post: B; B
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Williams A; Cintron B-/Post: Incomplete
Starting with the Jr. Middleweight inaction in Southern California, Williams (39-1, 27 KO) ended up with a technical decision win and looked almost embarrassed to do so. While the California rules might have allowed for it, the fair verdict would have been a “No Contest.” Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KO) didn’t lose any more than Williams won. A freak accident occurred. No one’s record should suffer for that.
Up to the accident, Cintron was fighting a disciplined fight and looked quicker in the ring than Williams. He wasn’t throwing a lot but he was trying to make it count and was having some success with counter right hands. Williams, as always, was moving his hands a lot but wasn’t really landing anything of visible substance until the third and looked bone dry at the start. It was a slow and sluggish start in comparison to recent outings against Verno Phillips, Winky Wright, and recently crowned Middleweigh king Sergio Martinez.
Probably part and parcel, it was also a technically sloppy outing for Williams. He was reaching with his shots, often extending well over his front foot and leaving himself in range of blind counters. His awkward frame and movement allowed for those dangers to be mitigated but against a faster man than Cintron he might have paid a heavy price.
In the end, it’s hard to assess a fight which was just breaking out when it was broken up and there is little which can be added to a disappointing affair. Williams scored the win but he likely didn’t score many points with viewers who might have seen him for the first time.
Unfortunately for the Jr. Bantamweight highlight of the weekend, only the most devoted fans are certain to know just how many points they scored.
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Nashiro B+; Cazares B+/Post: B; B+
Pre-Fight: Power – Nashiro B+; Cazares B+/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Defense – Nashiro B; Cazares C+/Post: B-; B
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Nashiro A; Cazares A/Post: Same
Let the most important point about this Jr. Bantamweight scrap be said right off the top: They did it again.
Last September, Mexico’s Hugo Cazares (31-6-2, 22 KO) and Japan’s Nobuo Nashiro fought to a draw and produced one of 2009’s best fights. They will have to be remembered at the end of 2010 the same way. They did it again…
…but this time, Cazares did it better.
In terms of action late in the contest, the sequel may well have topped the original. Rounds 9-12 were an escalation of tensions which built to a final round which should be considered right with the final round of Mikkel Kessler-Carl Froch as a leader for round of the year so far.
What made this fight different in the end, and what will probably make a difference in its candidacy for Fight of the Year, was the first eight rounds. The two scorecards which favored Cazares as having won nine rounds were spot on. Nashiro had his moments but Cazares had minutes at a time.
In the first fight, Nashiro’s accurate bombs offset the greater activity of Cazares. This time, the former World Jr. Flyweight champion kept the activity but straightened out his arsenal. He couldn’t miss at times, virtually jabbing with uppercuts as he switched between orthodox and southpaw stances. Nashiro seemed in a trance, shocked by the change, and his offensive output suffered for too long, a hole on the scorecards building by the frame.
Making it more difficult, Cazares was also harder to his this time, his defense tightened and held higher than the first time around. Nashiro conversely was wide open for right hands, constantly resetting.
Despite that, Nashiro joined Cazares in again creating a memorable display of guts. Both men were stunned at various times, Nashiro more often, and they simply fought harder. There are occasionally fighters whose styles just mix, whose temperament and pride help to define them as rivals. They take the measure of one another. On Saturday in Japan, both Nashiro and Cazares measured up.
Looking Ahead
For the little guys, there is always the option of a rubber match. Having taken Nashiro’s WBA belt, Cazares could also look for a high profile opponent in the western market…like, say, World Champion Vic Darchinyan. Belts are nice, but Darchinyan won the WBA’s first and only shares the honors because of a sanctioning body eccentricity which defines champions and “Super” champions based on unification accomplishments. Cazares is a titlist. If he wishes to be the king at Jr. Bantamweight, he must defeat the real king and that’s Darchinyan (34-2-1, 27 KO).
Is it realistic?
Well, the long awaited rematch between Darchinyan and his first conqueror Nonito Donaire has apparently imploded leaving Vic with fewer options at 115 right now. Another test of the Bantamweight waters could happen. If it does not, can anyone imagine anything less than a violent classic in Darchinyan-Cazares? It’s the sort of battle worthy of a grass roots call to arms.
Get calling readers.
If it does come ultimately to a rubber match, so be it. Watching Cazares and Nashiro trade leather is a joy. Nashiro would likely welcome it, a chance for personal and national vindication. It’s been a rough stretch for Japan’s best pugilists recently with Flyweight champion Koki Kameda upset by Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Bantamweight titlist Hozumi Hasegawa busted up by a Fernando Montiel (whose father happens to manage Cazares).
Moving up the scale, about the only positive to be taken from Williams-Cintron is that the official verdict broke this scribes picks losing streak over the last few weeks.
For Cintron, one hopes his reported personal assessment that he could have continued, was correct and that he is okay. If he is, a rematch with Williams could be hoped for but the boo birds the fight brought out in the crowd likely preclude it. Perhaps a rematch with Alfredo Angulo (18-1, 15 KO) could be made. Cintron scored the upset last May.
Williams, despite his saying he can make the Welterweight limit of 147 lbs., should probably accept physics. At 152 lbs. for Cintron, he was by more than a pound the lightest he has been since November 2008. At 28 years old, he might be able to squeeze down the scale but he didn’t look like the same fighter for trying.
While the whole ‘fight anyone from Welterweight to Middleweight’ is a cool gimmick, the Welterweight limit hasn’t been seen by Williams now since June 2008 and his 6’1 body might say, if it could talk, “for good reason.” Williams earlier exploits at Welterweight against Antonio Margarito and in the Carlos Quintana rematch laid the groundwork for what he’s done since. At Middleweight, he has looked like one of the sport’s best. In the fight prior to Cintron, weighing 157, he beat Martinez in a classic.
He can make the case off that win that he’s the ‘uncrowned’ Middleweight champ. It’s the case he should make and the fight he should be after. It would be wonderful, for boxing purists and Williams’ accountants, if a Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao accepted his challenge but if Williams isn’t willing to regularly campaign at Welterweight, there is no pressure on those men to bother with him.
There is every reason for Martinez to bother. The Middleweight championship still holds cache; it still matters. Williams should do whatever he has to do to get his crack at it and give himself the best chance on the scale to be his best that he can.
Report Card Picks 2010: 13-8
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
