Is Cintron another easy win for Alvarez?

By Boxing News - 10/21/2011 - Comments

By John F. McKenna (McJack): World Boxing Council (WBC) light middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (38-0-1, 28 KO’s) will be defending his title on November 26 against Kermit Cintron (33-4-1, 28 KO’s) in Guadalajara, Mexico. The fight will be aired on HBO.

Cintron has not been the least bit impressive in his two outings thus far this year, losing on July 9 by a wide margin to Carlos Molina on July 9. He defeated Antwone Smith on August 12, but was unimpressive.

It appears at this point that “Canelo”, as Alvarez is known to his fans, is being looked upon by those guiding his career as a future cash cow and therefore in his last couple of fights has not been tested by stiff opposition. On September 17 Saul stopped an overmatched Alfonso Gomez in the sixth round. Prior to that Alvarez stopped Ryan Rhodes in June in the twelfth round after winning the previous eleven rounds in a row.

Cintron has all the earmarks of a badly faded fighter and there is some question as to whether or not he really wants to be in the ring.

It could be argued that Cintron is a stay busy fight for Alvarez, but at some point “Canelo” needs to face a legitimate opponent, one that can push him to the max. It is not a given that the twenty one year old budding superstar will continue to advance in his career. Many a fighter seemingly on his way to fistic stardom had his career short circuited when finally placed in the ring with a tough opponent, after previously facing mediocre opposition.

Way back in the early 1950’s when television was in its infancy, there was a fighter named Chuck Davey who was being groomed to be a matinee idol. He defeated every fighter put in front of him and the TV fans loved him. He defeated a number of faded former champions such as Rocky Graziano and Ike Williams. Davey won an impressive thirty nine victories in a row and was maneuvered into a title shot. Unfortunately the man he faced was the great Cuban welterweight Kid Gavilan. After facing weak opposition up to that point, Chuck Davey was not prepared for the “Cuban Keed” and was destroyed in ten rounds in a fight that should have been stopped sooner.

The point is that fighters do not advance unless they face meaningful opposition. That is also one of the reasons that David Haye appeared to be lost when he fought Wladimir Klitschko. He paid the price of not having faced quality opponents.



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