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In The Hard Hitting Cintron,
Canelo Alvarez Faces His Toughest Test Yet
By Nat Gottlieb Courtesy of HBO.com
Sugar Ray Leonard said, “Like a lot of things in life, when
you put the gloves on, it's better to give than to receive.”
Saul Alvarez should heed that advice, because if he’s on the
receiving end of Kermit Cintron’s powerful right hand, the
Mexican’s express train to superstardom could come off the
rails.
The overriding question about this fight is whether the
largely untested Alvarez can stand up against blows from the
first legitimate power puncher he has faced. Cintron is
definitely a step-up for the 21-year-old, unbeaten Alvarez.
At 32 Cintron may be a trial horse in this matchup, but he’s
a pony with kick. Of his 33 victories, Cintron has knocked
out 28, although none since 2007. How far Cintron has slid
from peak is open to debate, but just two years ago he
fought Sergio Martinez to a draw, and then handed Alfredo
Angulo his first defeat. Often his own worst enemy who tends
to lose focus, should Cintron (33-4-1, 28 KOs) find a way to
bring his “A” game, Alvarez will be tested.
There are seemingly no marks on Alvarez’s record (38-0-1, 28
KOs) other than a 2006 four-round draw with club fighter,
Jorge Juarez, when “Canelo” was a mere 16. But there is
something that doesn’t show on the record which should give
the Alvarez camp some pause when he gets in the ring Nov. 26
with Cintron.
In May of last year Alvarez nearly went down in the first
round against Jose Miguel Cotto, but managed to survive with
more than a little help from the ropes. Many top fighters
experience rounds like that. What was disturbing about this
one was that Cotto was a 32-year-old blown-up lightweight
who stands just 5’5 1/2 and began his career as a
featherweight. Yes, Manny Pacquiao started out as a
flyweight, but Cotto, the older brother of Miguel, is no Pac
Man.
This also wasn’t a fluke, one-shot blow by Cotto that
Alvarez quickly shook off. With 1:15 to go in the round,
Cotto caught Alvarez with a counter left hook that staggered
Canelo back into the ropes. Alvarez was unable to get his
hands up, and Cotto pummeled his uncovered head until the
Mexican slipped off the ropes and began backpedaling on
wobbly legs. Had the rope not been there, it’s possible that
Alvarez would have gone down.
Enter Cintron, who can throw hard shots with the best of
them. His trainer, Ronnie Shields, said recently that
“Kermit will probably be the biggest guy Alvarez has fought
in his career…he hasn’t fought a big, strong guy that can
push him around.” Not only is Cintron strong, but he is
athletically gifted and has excellent boxing skills, which
he demonstrated against Angulo by constantly circling and
popping off shots from a distance. Although Alvarez is not
as slow on his feet as Angulo, he is hardly swift. Cintron
at his best could outbox Alvarez for 12 rounds, and if
Canelo should get frustrated, he might leave himself open
for a bomb.
Other than the Cotto near fiasco, Alvarez has not been
tested by fire. At 21 he is still a mere baby in boxing
terms. Perhaps remembering that awful first round, his
promoter, Golden Boy, has carefully chosen his last three
opponents, all relatively light hitters in Matthew Hatton,
Ryan Rhodes and Alfonso Gomez.
Some say that Alvarez is just a strong young kid with
promising talent who has been pushed into the limelight way
too soon. He has good technique, is more of a boxer-puncher
than typical Mexican fighters, but in any other situation he
would still be learning, not holding an alphabet belt. Like
Marco Antonio Barrera, Alvarez started fighting
professionally when he was 15, and has been getting the
boxing equivalent of on-the-job-training. If Alvarez can
school Cintron, a former champion, he will graduate into a
higher class.
Of course this all boils down to what Cintron brings to the
ring. Since beating Angulo, Cintron has not given any
indications he is still in his prime, having lost two of
four fights. The first loss was a bizarre fourth round
technical decision to Paul Williams last year in which
Cintron appeared to be fighting very well when their legs
got tangled. Cintron stumbled backwards about four steps
before diving headfirst through the ropes and onto the
scorer’s table and then the floor. He was ruled unable to
continue. There are those who think Cintron looked for a way
out of the fight, and question why he didn’t grab the ropes
to keep himself from falling.
Cintron took a year off from boxing after that disaster to
spend time with his four kids, hoping the break would
rejuvenate him. But in his first fight back against Carlos
Molina, who had an undistinguished record of 18-4-2, Cintron
dropped a unanimous decision. That defeat, after 14 months
out of the ring, could be chalked up to ring rust, although
he did have a six-week training camp and for the first time
worked with a strength and conditioning coach.
His last fight in August did nothing to erase the doubts.
Cintron won a lackluster unanimous decision over Antwone
Smith, whose previous two bouts came against boxers with a
combined record of 26-35. The common link between Molina and
Smith was that both worked Cintron’s body hard and slowed
him down. Alvarez also goes to the body well, and unless he
gets careless and is caught with a counter bomb, should be
able to wear down Cintron and emerge with his unbeaten
record intact.
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