By Jake Donovan (photos Craig Bennett/FightWireImages)
“The Weight Is Over” was the theme selected for HBO’s televised card from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, but the wait lingers on for frustrated junior middleweights Paul Williams and Kermit Cintron.
Two of boxing’s most unwanted agreed to meet each other on Saturday night after little interest was expressed by anyone else in the industry. Fireworks were expected, but the fuse never had a chance to be lit.
A freak injury forced Cintron to quit early into the fourth round, forcing the bout to go to the scorecards, where Williams was deemed a technical split decision winner in their junior middleweight non-title bout.
Williams weighed in at 152 ½ lb, his lightest weight in nearly two years; Cintron weighed in at the contracted limit of 154 lb.
Both fighters had their moments in an active first round. Williams tried to work behind his jab, but Cintron was timing it well with his own stick as well as a counter left hook that often found its way home. As the round wore on, Williams was able to develop his power game, landing a right uppercut to momentarily stun Cintron, even if not enough to steal back the frame.
A spattering of boos filled the arena during several points of the second, a much slower paced round that proved to be more of a chess match than a shootout. The crowd grew more hostile in the third round, though the fighters responded late in the frame after spending most of the first two minutes in a posing contest.
Action finally picked up in the fourth, much to the delight of the crowd – only for it to literally come to a crashing halt.
The boos ceased from the moment Williams connected with a straight left hand early in the round. Cintron took the shot well and returned with a straight right that momentarily shook Williams. The two began trading punches as the crowd cheered on the action.
Then came the sudden and anti-climactic ending.
Both fighters were a little too aggressive for their own good, resulting in a stumble and a clinch. Williams attempted to punch his way out, but missed wildly with a right hand before stumbling to the canvas. Cintron’s own momentum carried him forward, where he went sailing through the ropes, landing the wrong way on a ringside monitor before falling to the floor beyond the ring apron.
Time was immediately called as Cintron was given five minutes to recover, but it was evident that the fight would not continue as the Puerto Rican puncher was encouraged by ringside physicians to lie still.
A gurney eventually made its way to ringside, officially signaling the end of the evening for both fighters, much to the crowd's dismay.
Even more disappointing - though to be expected these days - was the scoring by the officials appointed by the beleaguered and inept California State Athletic Commission. Under the rules of the CSAC, incomplete rounds are scored, which meant this fight would go to the cards since the bout extended into the fourth round.
In just four rounds, two judges managed to have an eight point swing between their cards, further extending the running joke that the CSAC has become in recent years. Cintron won 40-36 on one card, while Williams was given the same score on another card. The tie was broken with a scorecard of 39-37, giving Williams the decision win.
Despite having his arm raised in victory, the night felt like anything other than one in which a winner was produced. To his credit, Williams didn’t exactly perform backflips over the verdict.
“Not like this,” was the reaction from Williams when asked about whether or not he was satisfied with the sequence of events which led to victory. “I just hope Cintron is alright. It was just getting heated up in there and I was getting warmed up.”
Dissatisfied or otherwise, it still goes in the books as a win for Williams, who improves overall to 39-1 (27KO). He has now won six straight fights spanning three separate weight classes, though the 152 ½ lb he weighed on Saturday was his lightest in nearly two years, when he regained a portion of the welterweight title.
Williams still insists that he can make 147, although sticking with his recurring theme of fighting anyone, any place (and weight) at anytime. The list of opponents he’d next like to face is indicative of that.
“Right now, the top of the list is Mayweather. If I can’t get Mayweather, I want Pacquiao. If I can’t get Pacquiao, then I’d love to get Martinez. If he wants the fight, all he has to do is call me out and it’s a done deal.”
The lack of action in the early going may not have fans screaming for a rematch with Cintron, although perhaps the way the fight ended warrants a return go, if at the very least for closure.
Until that happens, Cintron is forced to live with his first loss in two years. Even more disappointing than his falling to 32-3-1 (28KO) is that he had to hear the official verdict while being wheeled out on a gurney, despite the fact that he was willing to continue.
Where the former welterweight titlist goes from here is immediately unclear, only because he’s a man without a country in terms of network backing. Gone is a four-fight unbeaten streak as he officially loses for the first time to someone not named Antonio Margarito.
Despite scoring an upset win over Alfredo Angulo a year ago, Cintron was never in consideration for the A-side of any given major network card, which means he’ll be forced to wait out another opportunity such as the one he accepted on Saturday evening.
Whatever fight he and Williams next land, boxing fans can only hope for a more conclusive ending and a clearer future for both fighters.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com
