Franchise Thoughts on... Adamek-Arreola, Williams-Cintron, Khan-Malignaggi and More

Dan Rafael of ESPN was nice enough to use his blog entry for today to spell out exactly what HBO had planned for the second quarter of 2010. At this point, just about anything would be better than the network's first quarter boxing schedule, though the cancellation of its biggest fight (Shane Mosley-Andre Berto) was obviously not HBO's fault.

Here are my thoughts on what is supposedly on tap:

April:

I was a little surprised to see that Berto will be matched with Carlos Quintana on April 10. There have been quite a few names kicked around for Andre, including everyone from Paul Malignaggi to Zab Judah. Berto himself sounded off on Twitter about a week ago and didn't seem too interested in either one of those guys. Also on that card will be personal favorite Tavoris Cloud facing Glen Johnson in what should be an action-packed fight. I like Cloud in that one, but Johnson will make it a tough night as always.

The next week on April 17 is planned to be a split-site doubleheader that features Lucian Bute-Edison Miranda in Montreal and Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City. Miranda is always dangerous and should be good for some entertaining trash talk if nothing else, but the most recent version of Bute we saw was also the best one. He should win. Pavlik-Martinez is a fascinating study in contrasts; I'm withholding my thoughts on the outcome until both guys actually sign on the dotted line.

Tomasz Adamek-Chris Arreola is apparently official for April 24, much to my dismay. Don't get me wrong, because I like the match-up. But Showtime just moved the Super Six fights to that date, and now HBO is putting a card on that date. That is bad for fans and the sport in general. Alfredo Angulo vs. Joel Julio is the co-feature, which doesn't do a whole lot for me.

May:

Paul Williams will be the headliner on May 8. Rafael says his most likely opponent will be Kermit Cintron at 154 pounds. I'm biased toward Cintron because he hails from a town about 30 minutes from the hometown of the BoxingWatchers. Nevertheless, I give the edge to The Punisher if he brings his 'A' game. Assuming Martinez really does face Pavlik, this is a good bout for Williams, so I hope it gets made.

Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi on May 15? Yes, please! Frankly, Malignaggi never made much sense to me as a foe for Berto, and even though I was intrigued by the possibility of Khan taking on Juan Manuel Marquez for the obvious "youth versus experience" storyline, this is better. Khan seems to be on the fast track to superstardom, but we've seen what can happen to young boxers who are tagged as the next big thing. Speaking of those guys, Victor Ortiz is likely to be in the co-feature against Nate Campbell. That's not too shabby either.

June:

There's nothing official for June as of yet. But there is growing talk about Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman fighting, either on June 5 in Yankee Stadium or June 12 at Madison Square Garden. I wrote about that potential title fight in more detail elsewhere, but to sum up, it should be one of those rare matches where we learn something about both men. If Cotto's losses to Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao took something out of him permanently, Foreman seems good enough to let us know. Regardless, NYC is the perfect spot for this fight, indoors or out.

Posted by The Franchise

20-20 Hindsight: Cintron Not Done Yet, Berto Needs to Find Balance

Going into this weekend's Boxing After Dark card on HBO, it was easy to see Kermit Cintron as someone being served up as a credible opponent for Alfredo Angulo to beat as he continued his evolution into a rising Mexican star.

Cintron was, after all, just 1-1-1 in his previous three fights, including a vicious knockout at the hands of Antonio Margarito and a draw against Sergio Martinez in a fight that many people - myself included - thought he deserved to lose.

As we all know, though, boxing often doesn't play out according to the script. The Angulo-Cintron fight was proof of that, as the previously floundering veteran emerged looking like a new man and the no longer undefeated young gun was left searching for answers.

Cintron looked so sluggish against the mobile Martinez back in February that one expected he'd be there for Angulo's power to find its mark. He was definitely the bigger man, but after fighting most of his career at 147, it wasn't out of the question to wonder if 154 was just too heavy for him.

Yet there he was, flipping the script and becoming the one moving well and setting up power shots with the jab - the very things he was unable to do last time out. The pressure that Angulo usually applies wasn't a factor against someone he couldn't pin down, though Perro had his moments in the later rounds.

What made it all the more unlikely is that we'd heard Cintron declare that he'd be making these adjustments before. He had me convinced before his rematch with Margarito that he'd be a different fighter than the one who got starched the first time, and if anything, he was even less effective in the second bout.

Kermit has always been an excellent athlete, but it took a while for his overall package of boxing skills to develop. They came together at the best possible time on Saturday, and his future suddenly looks much brighter.

It's not like the loss will ruin Angulo either, as he's young enough to rebound. He simply needs to make the same adjustments that other fighters have made (Manny Pacquiao, for one) once they start running into foes they can't beat by constantly coming forward.

Dougie Fischer summed it up best, as usual, on The Ring Blog: it was too early to expect Alfredo to carry the flag for Mexican fighters. He may get to that point someday; until then, that duty may still fall back on Juan Manuel Marquez - especially if he upsets Floyd Mayweather this summer.

I did not get a chance to catch Andre Berto's easy decision win over Juan Urango, but apparently I didn't miss much. Though my fellow BoxingWatchers were as impressed as ever with AB's blazing fast hands ("He's faster than Mayweather," texted Spartan117), they were also frustrated with what they saw as excessive and unnecessary amounts of running and holding.

The last thing Berto wants to do is turn into another Chad Dawson, even if there's something to be said for being smart enough to realize a Luis Collazo-style war every time out isn't a bright idea. Fortunately, there is a happy medium between a total slugfest and a fight plan that's overly cautious.

Andre just needs to find it, and the sooner, the better. The big name welterweights aren't going to be around for rich fights forever.

As a final thought for today, I'd like to recommend Steve Kim's latest on MaxBoxing.com, as he chats up Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy CEO, to get more insight into the next move for Shane Mosley. Sugar is now on the record as saying he'd fight Pacquiao at a catch weight, but does that mean we'll actually see it happen?

The answer is... maybe. It could be Mosley and Pac-Man, or a rematch with Miguel Cotto, or a fight with Floyd Mayweather. But it's apparently big money fights or bust for Sugar Shane.

Posted by The Franchise

Live Andre Berto-Juan Urango and Alfredo Angulo-Kermit Cintron Round By Round Updates Tonight

There's some drama here at BoxingWatchers.com as we get ready for another night of boxing on HBO at 9:45 Eastern time tonight.

Will Spartan117 get his cable and internets hooked up at his new place in time to chronicle the action? Or will one of the other BoxingWatchers have to step up in the clutch?

Since Andre Berto is the headliner and is one of Spartan's favorite boxers, we hope it works out for him. If not, someone else will be doing live round by round updates here for all of the unfortunate souls who aren't able to watch Berto face Juan Urango and Alfredo Angulo collide with Kermit Cintron tonight.

Look for new posts with running recaps out on the main page as the fights happen.

Posted by The Franchise

Sergio Martinez vs. Kermit Cintron: Round by Round

Both men unofficially weigh 164 pounds, so we will have an even fight for this one in terms of weight.

I don't know a lot about Martinez, other than he is supposed to be very good. Cintron I have seen fight probably a dozen times. He is strong and hits hard.

Interestingly, these fighters have a combined three losses, all to the recently disgraced Antonio Margarito. It's a nice subplot. Could mean nothing, could mean these guys have zero legit losses. Make your own conclusion.

Round 1
Martinez is a lefty and is doing the circling. Not much punching happening, just the usual feeling out in the first round. Nice left from martinez. Not much aggression. Martinez is picking his spots here and there to jump in. and they grab when that happens. There's a left hook counter attempt by cintron to the body. If I could, I would score this 0-0.

Uatu: 10-9 Martinez

Round 2
Lennox Lewis says Margarito is a disgrace. He compares it to using brass knuckles. He isn't buying that Tony didn't know. Second round looks the same as the first. If Tony did cheat against Cintron, then I feel especially bad for Kermit. It really has damaged his career, as Max Kellerman has said. Nothing of significance landing either way. There's a 1-2 from Kermit. Some more clinching. The clinch fest brings some scattered boos.

Uatu: 10-9 Cintron

Round 3
I guess it's too early for either man to really go for broke, so Martinez goes back to lots of movement. Right to the body from Kermit. I think Cintron could stand to be more aggressive. Martinez isn't really throwing much. There's a cintron jab. Martinez may have gotten a left in there. He tried a combo but he isn't really committing. Perhaps Martinez respects the power. Martinez looks quicker on his feet. He is doing a lot of dancing and he isn't getting hit, but he isn't doing much to hit Cintron either. Hard to score these rounds.

Uatu: Martinez 10-9

Round 4
Harold Lederman likes Cintron 2-1 right now. It's a feasible score. So would three 10-10 rounds. I am not a boxer, but I always find it odd when fighters pump a range-finding jab when they are so far apart that even if they both leaped in simultaneously like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon there is no way they could hit each other. Cintron shuffles his way in behind jabs to throw a combo, but Martinez is doing a ton of grabbing. Lennox asks for an uppercut from either man, and I have to agree. There are some hard shots from Martinez. He lands a nice solid right that was easily the best punch of the night. It's not life changing, but it still counts.

Uatu: Martinez 10-9

Round 5
Cintron is trying to to press but Martinez knows how to move. A cut forms over Cintron's eye from a left from Martinez. He is somewhat pot-shotting but isn't really sniping away either. Martinez is too mobile to all out blitz him. Cintron jabs. There, Lennox says Cintron needs to cut off the ring and I agree wholeheartedly. Martinez is looking like a supreme ring general right now but is minus the clean effective punching to go with it.

Uatu: Martinez 10-9

Round 6
The ref calls the cut a butt, but the announcers point out that it was a punch. The refs have blown both calls tonight so far. Probably a very difficult to make on the fly. Replay would be helpful. Kellerman agrees with me, saying it was an easy call to miss. More of the same. Cintron is showing patience. He tries the uppercut to no avail. Maybe Martinez could tire of the movement, but Cintron needs to get some of those punches in the bank to help push Martinez that way. Some more talk of how crucial those Cintron losses to Tony were for his career. He should be more mad about that whole wraps thing than any other fighter out there. Nothing different happened this round from the last few. No big punches landed either way really.

Uatu: Martinez 10-9

Round 7
Harold has it 4-2 Martinez, including the last four in a row. Harold is incredulous over the fact that Cintron's trainer is not telling him to cut off the ring. One-two from Martinez and out. These are not hard shots, and they are going to the body. Martinez seems more concerned with bailing out than hitting hard. Will cintron go all out at some point? There's a right over the top, but nothing to go with it. Martinez is doing enough to keep Kermit honest. Oh my! Something happened. Cintron goes down. The count goes to 9. He gets up at like 9 1/2. He says it was a headbutt. This was a strange turn of events. Kermit backed up to the ropes oddly. Was it a butt? No sir. That was a "good crunching left hand" as Bob Papa said. That was legit. The ref said he saw no butt. Kermit is sure it was a butt, but the announcers say he was fooled by Martinez. Now the fight is back on! Kermit argued his way to get to keep fighting! The ref says he was up at 9, so even if it was a punch, it's not over! The ref says legit knockdown. Okay, we are back on.

Uatu: Martinez 10-8

Round 8
There has been over 2 and 1/2 minutes now between rounds. Confusion abounds, but the HBO crew says it was the right call. Legit punch knockdown, Cintron got up at 9. Craziness. But now the crowd and the fighters are slightly more into the fight. There's a nice right from Kermit. Martinez is into this too. Both men are throwing a little harder. Another awesome left from Martinez and Cintron hit him hard at the same time. And another nice left from Martinez. Maybe Martinez knew what he was doing all along.

Uatu: Martinez 10-9

Round 9
Martinez is circling. Martinez seems to win when they are in range with one another. He is just a little too quick for Cintron. Cintron throwing some hard shots but Martinez dodges and moves. Nice jab from Kermit. One-two-three from Martinez but none land well. Martinez likes to stand back with his hands down and then lunge in.

Uatu: Martinez 10-9

Round 10
Max and Lennox both think Cintron got his knee up by the slimmest of margins after that knockdown. Harold has Martinez winning 7 rounds in a row. Harold believes the ref makes the call, and he said 10, and the fight was over. Oh well. Very nice right from Kermit - maybe his best punch. And a left backs Martinez up a little bit. Both men score to the head. I like what I'm seeing from Kermit. He gets another nice shot in. Martinez gets a warning for grabbing or something. Kermit is pressing a bit, finally. A right from Kermit.

Uatu: Cintron 10-9

Round 11
Harold agrees, giving the last round to Cintron. The usual grabbing ensues. Martinez is back to his old tricks. Cintron gets a nice shot in, then a 1-2. Cintron is dipping back slightly when Martinez dives in and is making him miss too. Martinez is still putting in work though too. Martinez got in a decent combo. Martinez is just more active. Can't really give cintron this round. Martinez is looking strong and is still throwing hard. Even though he moves around and in and out, it's not like he punches softly. He has some zip on his punches.

Uatu: Martinez 10-9

Round 12
Martinez lands a left and talks trash and mugs for the crowd. He is super confident right now. He has enough energy and speed. Oh my - a one point deduction for Martinez for grabbing and Lennox is not liking it. Max thinks Cintron has been grabbing more, actually. Cintron goes down, but it was a slip. Now Cintron is moving around like Martinez, which is odd. Martinez is the aggressor in the corner. Cintron backs to the ropes. Martinez looks no different in this round than the previous 11. He is in excellent condition. And that's it.

Uatu: 9-9

Uatu scores it 117-109 Martinez. The judges score it 116-110 Martinez and 113-113 twice. The fight ends in a majority draw!

The announcing team thinks Martinez won, and Max says the deduction was absurd. CompuBox has Martinez landing more punches at a higher percentage than Cintron, with a 98-52 edge in power shots. CompuBox doesn't mean a lot to me, however.

I thought Martinez won clearly, but it wasn't like he steamrollered Cintron. There was a lot of ineffective punching from both men for large periods of this fight.

Now both men have still not lost to anyone but Margarito.

Live Boxing After Dark Round By Round Updates Tonight: Angulo-Rivera, Martinez-Cintron and Campbell-Funeka

Happy Valentine's Day! And really, what says romance more than a Boxing After Dark tripleheader featuring rising star Alfredo Angulo, a 154-pound battle between Sergio Martinez and Kermit Cintron and recently deposed former lightweight champ Nate Campbell?

If that's not your significant other's idea of a good time, may I suggest upgrading? Failing that, you can always join us here at BoxingWatchers.com, where some combination of Uatu and myself will escape from our loved ones and hit the keyboards for live round by round updates. Just remember if you're finding us through the magic of search, the updates are out on the main page, not in this post.

The fun begins shortly after 10 pm EST, and I have no idea about the order of the fights. Join us tonight and find out!

Predictions: Campbell-Funeka, Martinez-Cintron and Angulo-Rivera

The Franchise says...

Much as I was looking forward to seeing Ricardo Mayorga get pounded by rising star Alfredo Angulo this weekend, there's still some intrigue in HBO's Boxing After Dark tripleheader from Florida.

Lightweight champion and BoxingWatchers favorite Nate Campbell moves up to the main event, defending his belts against Ali Funeka. I don't know much about the South African, but Campbell broke him down for MaxBoxing's Steve Kim this way: tall and rangy but straightforward.

Style questions aside, Campbell's biggest obstacle could be inside his own head. He hasn't fought in almost a year, but his 2008 did include getting married, declaring bankruptcy and having his fight with Joan Guzman fall apart at the absolute last minute.

Nate says he's raring to go, so maybe he'll use the distractions as motivation a la Shane Mosley. I think he will, so I like Campbell to win by unanimous decision.

Before the main event is a 154-pound scrap between two men whose only career losses have come at the hands of the recently suspended Antonio Margarito. For Argentinian southpaw Sergio Martinez, the loss came back in 2000, which may as well have been a lifetime ago.

Kermit Cintron fell twice to Margarito, most recently to a devastating body shot last April. But now that there's at least a chance that the punch was aided by the loaded glove wraps that got the Tijuana Tornado suspended, Cintron has to be holding his head a little higher.

There are plenty of reasons to pick Martinez, including his 44-1-1 record and Cintron having to step up from his usual 147. I just can't shake the feeling that The Killer is a little bit of a different animal than most of the guys Martinez has tangled with over the last couple years, so I'll stick my neck out and pick the upset with a late-round Cintron KO.

And Angulo? He's on his third different opponent after Mayorga and Danny Perez apparently both decided it wasn't worth what they were being offered to become Perro's latest victim. It might take him a while to whittle down tough veteran Cosme Rivera - who's only been stopped once in 45 career fights - but Angulo is coming away with another knockout and continuing his ascent.

UPDATE: Viewers of Friday Night Fights found out that Campbell failed to make weight for his fight, coming in over the 135-pound limit twice. All three sanctioning bodies have stripped him of their belts, though the fight is still going forward and Funeka can claim the IBF and WBO straps if he wins.

Report: California Suspends Margarito Until Hand Wraps Tested

Apparently I just needed to wait a few days until the controversy over the "plaster-like substance" found and removed from Antonio Margarito's gloves before his fight with Shane Mosley took off.

ESPN boxing guru Dan Rafael is reporting that the California State Athletic Commission has suspended Margarito and trainer Javier Capetillo until the substance found in the wraps can be fully analyzed. Hey, I hear Gil Grissom is available!

All joking aside, I raised the issue of whether or not Miguel Cotto's camp would wonder whether Margarito and Capetillo did something similar before their fight. In the same vein, Rafael notes that people representing Kermit Cintron and Joshua Clottey - two relatively recent Margarito victims - are watching the developments in the hand wrap saga carefully.

And while Yahoo's Steve Cofield may be overstating things (no surprise there) when he wonders if this may spell doom for Margarito's career, it's more understandable to read that Mosley trainer Nazim Richardson is outraged - both for the potential danger posed to his man and the pall it could cast over the sport if it's decided that Margarito and company were knowingly cheating.

Boxing fans don't agree on much, but I think most would concur that there is a portion of the media and the sports-watching public just waiting for any opportunity to pile on boxing. Here's hoping this gets resolved quickly and decisively.

Round by Round: Cintron v. Margarito 2

Part 1 of tonight's Welterweight double header is between Kermit Cintron v. Antonio Margarito. This fight is the second chapter between these two fighters. These fighters are relatively young in boxing terms. Cintron is 28 and Margarito is 30. Margarito is 35-5 with 25 KO's. Cintron is 29-1 with 27 KO's. In their last bout, Margarito was victorious being the only person ever to beat Cintron. It should be a great fight.

During their first fight Cintron was a much younger fighter. After a cut opened on Cintron's eyelid early in the fight, he folded and took punishment throughout the remainder of the rounds. Many believe he will be better prepared for tonight.

The crowd sounds pro Cintron. They have made their way to the ring and it is time to fight.

Rd 1: Cintron comes out with a hard right hook. Both fighters start off pretty aggressive. Margarito lands a hard right and Cintron answers back with a hard uppercut. Neither fighter looks phased. Margarito lands another hard right hand. Margarito turns up the punching output. Margarito establishes his jab to set up other punches. Cintron lands 4 hard punches upstairs with a combination.

Spartan: 10-9 Margarito
Uatu: 10-9 Margarito

Rd 2: Cintron starts swinging early and chooses he punches. Margarito blocks a few but many land. Now Margarito backs Cintron into the ropes and lands 4 hard shots. Cintron looks a bit wobbly. Cintron's defense looks ineffective. Now both fighters trade hard uppercuts. Margarito goes to work at the body. Margarito lands a combo at the bell.

Spartan: 10-9 Margarito
Uatu: 10-9 Margarito

Rd 3: A slight cut opens over the eye of Margarito. Cintron comes out throwing more in round 3. Margarito answers back with a combo upstairs. Cintron lands a hard right hook. Cintron throwing many uppercuts throughout the fight and many of them land. It looks like this fight may be decided by who has the better chin. They are fighting toe to toe in the middle of the ring, both fighters taking a lot of punishment. The ref warns Margarito about a punch to the back of the head. Cintron turns to complain to the ref and Margarito takes advantage with a vicious right hand.

Spartan: 10-9 Margarito
Uatu: 10-9 Margarito

Rd 4: Both fighters keep up the intensity early in this round. Cintron gets backed into the ropes and pays for it, but fights out. Margarito is doing a good job getting through Cintron's defense. Cintron gets clocked with another hard right. Margarito landing more flush punches. Cintron continues to bend at the waist and sometimes gets caught with his back to Margarito.

Spartan: 10-9 Margarito
Uatu: 10-9 Margarito

Rd 5: Cintron now tries to get the jab working. Margarito's defense looks strong. Contron takes more punches. His footwork looks like it could use work. Both fighters now exchanging very hard punches to the head. Cintron keeps taking lots of hooks upstairs I don't know how he is staying up. The Ref stops the action to warn again for punches to the back of the head. Now a cut opens over Cintron's eye. Cintron gets back on his game but Margarito comes right back and lands punches at will upstairs. Easily Margarito's round.

Spartan: 10-9 Margarito
Uatu: 10-9 Margarito

Rd 6: According to compubox Margarito has landed more punches than Cintron has thrown. Cintron comes out with the jab again. Cintron's cut is now flowing. Cintron continues to look towards the ref after getting hit with clean shots. Cintron finally goes down after getting tagged hard against the ropes with a vicious left body shot. He can't get up. It's over. Another fight ended by a hard liver shot.

Margarito in the 6th round by knock out.
Margarito is the new champ.

Live Round By Round Updates Tonight: Cintron-Margarito, Woods-Tarver, Cotto-Gomez and Dawson-Johnson

If you can't make it to a TV - or even better, two TV's - tonight, you're definitely going to want to bookmark us here at BoxingWatchers.com. We're doing double duty once again, with Spartan117 doing live round by round updates of the HBO card, featuring the highly anticipated rematch between Kermit Cintron and Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto stepping in against Alfonso Gomez.

Meanwhile, I'll be doing round by round duties on the Showtime card, which shouldn't be overlooked thanks to two intriguing scraps in the light heavyweight division. Antonio Tarver takes on Clinton Woods while Chad Dawson goes up against Glen Johnson.

Make this your place for updates and reload often tonight to get the scoop on all four fights.

HBO Predictions: Cintron-Margarito and Cotto-Gomez

The Franchise says...

I'm actually a little jealous that Spartan is covering these fights because the Kermit Cintron-Antonio Margarito scrap should be a good one. Of course, I thought that the first time they fought back in 2005, and Margarito had very little trouble disposing of Cintron in five rounds.

Kermit has rebounded nicely since then, posting five knockout victories in a row. The Killer lived up to his nickname for sure in 2007, blasting out Walter Matthysse and delivering all kinds of punishment to Jesse Feliciano. It's kind of cliché to say he's a different boxer than the first time they met, but in this case that certainly looks to be the case.

But Margarito can also claim a bit of a rebirth after his late rally against Paul Williams fell short last July. Tony annihilated Golden Johnson in one round in November, something that had to be good for his psyche.

I'm loathe to pick against Margarito because I respect his talent and this seems like it might be a case where one boxer just doesn't have the answer for the other's style. Even so, I must be drinking the Killer Kool-Aid (or just being a homer since he represents nearby Reading, PA) because I'm going with Cintron to avenge the defeat by a hard-fought decision.

There isn't as much need to do in-depth analysis of the co-feature between Miguel Cotto and Alfonso Gomez. Cotto is simply one of the best boxers in any weight class right now, combining power, toughness and underrated skill into one great package.

He's also fought and defeated some big time fighters, a category that doesn't include Gomez. Alfonso may have some good early rounds, but Cotto is too good and too strong. Even if Cotto is looking past Gomez, I don't think there's any reason not to pick Cotto by mid-round KO.

Uatu says...
That there's nothing to say.
Cotto by KO. Eh... Round 8.

Update: After seeing the weigh-in, Gomez is a bit bigger than Cotto. Not heavier, but taller. Something to keep in mind. Just in case. . .

Since the first Margarito fight, Cintron has kicked the butt of a lot of guys he should have kicked the butt of. Those fighters are not Margarito. Margarito is serious business. But, what Cintron did show in a great action fight against Estrada is that he can take and dish now. So, Margarito is not going to KO Kermit this time. Since Uatu sees Cintron making it to the end this time, this means Cintron will have a greater opportunity to work his offense as well. Margarito though will come out aggressive again too because of the Williams decision going against him. This has all the makings of a great fight to watch.

Margarito UD 12.
lots of fun, lots of action, tense moments both ways, both men give it their all and make fans all over the world.

It's On, Part II: Margarito-Cintron Rematch On Cotto-Gomez Undercard April 12

April is shaping up to be a sweet month for boxing fans. First we had Calzaghe-Hopkins announced for April 19. Now, Steve Kim of MaxBoxing.com is reporting that Antonio Margarito and Kermit Cintron will meet again April 12 in Atlantic City as the main undercard fight before Miguel Cotto takes on Alfonso Gomez in the main event. Throw in "Bad" Chad Dawson versus Glen Johnson, also slated for the 12th, and we've got ourselves quite a month.

Cintron simply wasn't ready for Margarito the first time they fought back in April of 2005, getting knocked out in five fairly one-sided rounds. The Killer bounced back from his lone career loss in fine fashion, knocking out five straight opponents including David Estrada and Walter Matthysse. He did have a little trouble dismissing his last foe, Jesse Feliciano, but if you saw that fight you know that was due mostly to an incredible display of chin and heart on Feliciano's part. Manager and trainer Emanuel Steward thinks Cintron is a better boxer now, and frankly, so do I.

That's not to say I expect the outcome to be different, because Margarito is coming in with some momentum of his own after destroying Golden Johnson in less than a round his last time out. I'm hedging on making a call on this fight until it gets a lot closer.

For Cotto, who seems to have inherited the title of "most ducked man in boxing" for the time being - something Margarito can relate to - he has to fight someone. So why not former Contender contestant Gomez? He's good enough to give Cotto a bit of a fight, but ultimately I expect the champ's power and underrated boxing skills to be enough to get Gomez out of there.

Edit: BoxRec.com and a few other places are reporting that the Cotto-Gomez card will take place on April 26, so keep an eye on the date. As long as it stays in April, my comment about it shaping up as a heck of a month for boxing fans still stands.

Weekend Wrap-Up, Nov. 26, 2007: Vargas-Mayorga, Cintron in a Tough One and More

I like to think I'm the first one to admit it when I'm wrong, so let me put this on the record: I was wrong about this weekend's pay-per-view.

Granted, I'd still be a much happier boxing fan if the powers that be would stop charging for fights between boxers who are past their primes, but I thought the Vargas-Mayorga bout would either be:

a) A complete waste of time

or

b) The sporting equivalent of a train wreck

Turns out it was neither. It won't be making Dan Rafael's list of ten must-watch fights, but it was unexpectedly well-fought and, dare I say it, entertaining. There was no knockout, a fact that surely would have lost me money had I been in Vegas for the fight and been able to bet on the fight ending with one.

Mayorga, especially, turned out to be a bit of a revelation, still showing some wild tendencies and doing some unnecessary showboating, but also somehow discovering the ability to pace himself. Unless my eyes deceived me, El Matador even blocked some punches with his gloves and dodged some others.

It's hard to imagine that a professional athlete could be washed up at age 29, but it sure looks like Vargas's decision to hang up the gloves - if he really does go through with it - is the proper one. Even in his new, relatively improved form, Mayorga provided Fernando with the best chance to go out on a winning note. He didn't look as overmatched as he did the last time he fought Shane Mosley, but he did get knocked down twice, and it appears his heart is the best thing he still has going for him. Let's applaud him for that and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

And while we're on the subject of heart, a big BoxingWatchers.com shout out goes to Jesse Feliciano. He turned what was supposed to be a cakewalk for Kermit Cintron into a touch scrap fought primarily at close range. That neutralized The Killer's immense advantage's in hand speed and skill and made it a much longer night than anyone could have predicted. The sight of Feliciano out on his feet while TKO winner Cintron was writhing in pain on the mat - the result of an injury suffered during the fight - was a strange one, for sure.