I am fairly new to the boxing game, but those who have been around for more than a decade agreed that what happened during the scheduled 12-round Super Welterweight fight between Paul “The Punisher” Williams (39-1, 27 KOs) and Kermit “The Killer” Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KOs) was rare, to say the least.

The beginning rounds of the fight were not pleasing for those in attendance. Both men were going at a fairly slow pace, particularly Williams, who was not fighting the type of fight the fans wanted from him. In round two the booing began, and only escalated in round three.

Things were just starting to heat up in round four. Cintron landed a couple of good shots on Williams when Paul fell, tripping up Kermit. This caused Cintron to fall out of the ring, hitting both the table at ringside and then the floor. And even though he wanted to, the medical personnel on hand would not let Kermit continue the fight.

This is where it gets even trickier. The fight was under California State Athletic Commission rules. These state that at the end of three rounds you go to the score cards, and a decision. The fourth round, for as long as it lasted, was also scored. Those scores were 40-36, Williams; 40-36 Cintron; and 39-37 Williams, giving Paul the victory. This really sat poorly with Cintron’s promoter Lou DiBella. “That’s a stupid rule! Having a very peculiar California rule determine the outcome of something like that in my view is just wrong. How can you say who won a fight in three-and-a-half rounds?”

“I don’t know what to say,” Williams stated at the post-fight press conference. “Of course I think I won the fight. He caught me with a nice little shot, but I was just getting into my rhythm.”

He also made a rather interesting statement. “The game plan was to just sit back. I heard the boos, everyone that knows me sees me fight, fight, fight,” he said. “But he (trainer George Peterson) put the choke chain on me, and I couldn’t go out there and just blaze, I had to follow the game plan. It most definitely was going to heat up in the later rounds when he’s let me off the chain,” he laughed.
 

The fight right before this one was Martin Honorio (28-5-1, 14 KOs) going up against Argenis Mendez (16-1, 9 KOs). This fight was for the USBA Junior Lightweight Championship. The biggest thing that I was happy about here was that Honorio wasn’t fighting Wilton Hilario, as he did the last time I saw him. Man, Honorio/Hilario – that got confusing!

Anyway, this was a pretty good fight that did go the 12-round distance. For the most part there was a lot of action in here up until the last couple of rounds. I don’t know if they both got tired or what, but those rounds got pretty sloppy. In all though, it did appear that Honorio landed the better punches, but the judges disagreed. The score cards had the fight 116-112 twice, both for Mendez, and a 114-114 draw. This gave the majority decision and the Championship to Argenis.

Have to mention here that as Mendez and his corner were trying to celebrate their victory, they were hurried out of the ring. I’m talking rushed, now. Before all of them had even cleared the ring the fighters for the next bout were already in. It was obvious that they were pushing that next fight, a four-rounder, in before the televised main event. I get the time crunch, but still felt it was a bit unfair to Mendez.
 

That fight they were jamming in was between Walter Sarnoi (6-0, 2 KO’s) and Adrian Aleman (6-7-3, 4 KO’s), and was a Super Bantamweight bout. Love these little four round fights, because there is so much action. No time for the fighters to stall around and see what will develop. This was a good fight, and Sarnoi was able to keep his undefeated steak alive, but he did not get that unanimous decision he is used to. This time he won a majority decision with the scores being 40-36, 39-37, and 38-38.
 

Stan Martyniouk (9-0, 1 KO) faced off with Brian Ramirez (5-3, 3 KOs) in a scheduled six round Super Featherweight fight. Yet another good, action-packed contest here. Ramirez fought much better than his record showed and hung in there pretty well with the tough Martyniouk. In the end though, it was Stan who won and kept his record clear of losses. It was a split decision, with the cards reading 57-56 Ramirez, and 57-56 twice for Martyniouk.

Bantamweight Michael Ruiz, Jr. (2-0) easily put away Jose Pachecho (2-13-6). The fight, scheduled for four rounds, only went a little over one. Pachecho was down once in the second, and almost immediately knocked back down and out by a mean right hook. Victory to Ruiz 1:37 of round number two.

In a six round Super Welterweight fight that never slowed down, Jeremiah Wiggins (8-0-1, 3 KOs) defeated Juan Diaz (9-10, 6 KOs). This fight was fun to watch, with both men punching and hitting the entire time. The unanimous decision went to Wiggins – 59-55, 60-54, and 59-55.

The first fight of the night was also a quick ending one. Michael Dallas, Jr. (14-0-1, 4 KOs) made easy work of Daniel Gonzalez (9-29-2, 3 KOs). Rather than go the four rounds it was scheduled for, this Welterweight fight went only into the second. The fight was stopped with 2:03 of the second round.

So another enjoyable card at a nice outdoor venue in Carson, California. The Home Depot Center is a nice place to be, especially on those upcoming summer nights.


Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.