By Armando Paz: The stock of Paul Williams (38-1 27 KO’s) has continued to rise since his majority decision win over Sergio Martinez who is now the current middleweight champion. Williams who is called “The Punisher” has finally got some of the respect he deserves. The former WBO Welterweight and Junior Middleweight champion is now in the top 10 pound per pound list on most boxing publications.

Williams has been named by many as the most “avoided fighter” in boxing today. He was scheduled to fight Kelly Pavlik last year for the Middleweight championship but that was canceled due to Pavlik’s staph infection in his hand. Many cynics were dubious since Pavlik missed doctor appointments and eventually ended up fighting a mediocre contender shortly after the cancellation. Pavlik will be classified by many as just another fighter who ducked Williams. Williams has called out the two pound per pound kings Mayweather and Pacquaio, but none of them have returned calls with the nearly 6 feet 3 and 82 inch reach Williams.

Williams is called the punisher for a reason. He is a relentless aggressor in the ring. He throws often in excess of 100 punches in a round. His laser jab seems never to take a vacation. For fans, he is one of the most exciting fighters due to his activity.

The cancellation of the Pavlik fight resulted in a fight with Sergio Martinez that was candidate for fight of the year 2009. I totally anticipate his fight on May 8 with Kermit Cintron (32-2-1 28 KO’s) to be reminiscent of an old western gunslinger affair for the duration of the fight. Both fighters will trade and showcase some of their best ammunition.

Kermit “The Killer” Cintron the former IBF Welterweight champion has a brutal right hand, and history shows he is not shy in using it. Cintron has 18 Knockouts in four rounds or less. Cintron is a former wrestler that took the sport of boxing late in his career. As a result, he really didn’t have an extensive amateur career. This is demonstrated with some of his technical mishaps, and his over reliance on athleticism oppose to craft to win fights. Cintron is often wide in his shots and his footwork leaves him open to be countered. His former trainer Emmanuel Steward has talked about his frustrations trying to instill discipline on Cintron. Cintron would later point to Steward spending more time with other fighters and his other commitments than helping him. The technical limitations of Cintron were evident on how Sergio Martinez out boxed him in their fight. Martinez used angles and speed to neutralize Cintron’s power. In fact, Cintron was actually knocked out until the referee continued the fight after counting him out; to add insult to injury the one sided fight was declared a draw.

The only two losses in Cintron’s career were on the hands of Antonio Margarito via body shots on both Occasions.

Of course, Cintron now believes the infamous Plaster of Paris was used with extreme prejudice to knock him out on both occasions. He has stated now “I never felt being hit like that before or ever since.” We don’t know if Margarito had loaded gloves but both fights were slugfests in the classic sense and were wars of attrition. Each fighter traded shots with some of their best artillery. Expect this upcoming fight to be no different. This will be non stop action as boxing will be thrown out the window.

Paul Williams has already stated “He will come at me but I will fight and break him.” Williams even added “Cintron will know what it feels like to fight a dog with rabies with he fights me.” There is something personal about this fight indeed. Williams is not happy about the fight happening in the west coast location of Carson, California in the Home Depot Center. That is well over 2,000 miles from the east coast location of Atlantic City, New Jersey where Williams wanted the fight. Paul Williams is from South Carolina and wanted to be near the east coast to spend time with his son during his birthday. All of those plans are scratched as he fights in California. There is also a chip on his shoulder as Williams is still upset he never gets the big money fights and often is reduced to fighting boxers as Margarito and Martinez that are also avoided.

For Kermit Cintron he has the opportunity to shock the world and make headlines other than his allegations about Manny Pacquiao taking performance enhancing drugs. Cintron can look at fellow Puerto Rican boxer Carlos Quintana as a source of optimism for the fight. As Quintana is the only fighter to ever beat Paul Williams by winning a close decision. That only loss was avenged by Williams via a brutal first round knockout.

Sometimes a fight never fulfills the billing. When two boxers are called “The Punisher” and “The Killer” you expect a war as styles make fights, and this should be the war as it is promoted to be. For Williams, this fight at Junior Middleweight is simply a springboard for his likely rematch with Sergio Martinez for the Middleweight championship. The fight for Kermit Cintron is a final opportunity to prove his critics and former trainers wrong. He wants to prove he is simply more than a great athlete with a great right hand but a fighter who has the discipline and heart to once again be a world champion.