Doug Fischer

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Margarito Stops Cintron in Five, Mosley and Brock Notch Wins
By Doug Fischer (April 24, 2005) Photo © German Villasenor

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LAS VEGAS, April 23 - Antonio Margarito's experience and Tijuana toughness was too much for Kermit Cintron, a strong young fighter who had tremendous punching power but not enough seasoning to take the WBO welterweight belt from the underrated Mexican title holder.

Margarito improved to 31-4 (22) with a fifth-round technical knockout of Cintron, dropping the Pennsylvania-based Puerto Rican four times - twice in the fourth and twice in the fifth - before Cintron's corner did the right thing and stop the fight.

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"We were confident that we could take the fight right to him and beat him that way," said Margarito, who stood his ground against Cintron despite being buzzed by a right hand in the second round. "I always said that a puncher can be knocked out at any time."

After a series of good exchanges in the third round, Margarito landed a right uppercut that produced a nasty cut over Cintron's right eyelid. From that point on, Cintron, who fell to 24-1 (22), seemed to fight in desperation.

In the fourth, Margarito landed a right hand that backed Cintron to the ropes where he raked the Puerto Rican's ribcage. The body shots hurt Cintron and brought his hands down for accurate head shots that produced the first knockdown. From that point on, Cintron, who fought bravely but was on unsteady legs, looked like a novice boxer in over his head against a seasoned pro fighter. Although Cintron was still throwing punches after each knockdown, he reacted to every shot that Margarito landed. The end mercifully came at 2:12 of the fifth round.

"[Cintron] had not fought anyone even close to the level that I have fought," Margarito said.

And that ultimately was what made a fight that looked like an even-money barnburner on paper into a
one-sided beating.

Luckily for the fans in attendance at Caesars Palace's Roman Plaza outdoor arena (and those watching the ESPN
pay-per-view telecast), the two supporting bouts to the Main Events-promoted card were entertaining and
competitive distance scraps.

THE UNDERCARD

Shane Mosley showed flashes of the brilliance he once displayed as a lightweight titlist and 147-pound champ - quick hands, nimble footwork, head movement and a killer left hook to the body - in scoring a unanimous decision over David Estrada in his first welterweight bout since 2002. Mosley, who improved to 40-4 (35), won by scores of 97-93, 98-91 and 99-91.

Mosley's body looked more natural and fluid at 148 pounds and he moved around the ring well, but Estrada, who fell to 18-2 (9), asserted himself in almost every round, testing the veteran who entered the bout with only one official win in the last three years.

After three competitve rounds of Estrada walking Mosley down with wide hooks and crosses while the former three-division champ stepped around him to land single power shots, Mosley got the younger man's attention with a sharp hook to the body. Mosley doubled Estrada over with another hook to the side before the round ended.

In the middle rounds, Mosley proved too quick and too versitile for the straight-forward fighter, but he was not able to put Estrada away or take total control of the fight because there are still pieces missing from his old game. Mosley's jab was not sharp (he mostly pawed with it), and he didn't put his punches together. He also made the mistake of backing straight out numerous times during the bout. Estrada would sometimes catch Mosley backing out, but he didn't possess the pwoer to put him down.

After a lot of two-way brawling and mauling in the late rounds, Estrada let it all hang out in the 10th. Both fighters got their licks in to the thrill of the crowd.

"David's a tough guy and he fought like hell," Mosley said after the fight. "I told him to keep his head up because he can fight with anyone in the division."

That also holds true for Mosley, who made the right move going back to the welterweight division, but he still needs time with his new trainer John David Jackson to get back to his old form 100 percent.

Mosley said he will be back in action sometime in July. Perhaps in one or two fights, he'll be ready for
the likes of Margarito.

Calvin Brock made the jump from prospect to contender by pounding out a tough unanimous decision over Jameel
McCline in an entertaining 10-round heavyweight bout. Brock, who improved to 25-0 (20), had to get up from a knockdown to win by scores of 96-94, 96-93 and 97-93. McCline, who dropped to 31-5-3 (19), fought gamely
throughout the fight but could not discourage Brock, even after dropping the smaller young heavyweight in a memorable seventh round.

"He hurt me but I was alright as soon as I got back up," Brock said of his knockdown after the fight. "That was my first time being down in my professional career, but I fought back and made a 10-8 round into a 10-9 round."

Brock came out fast in the first round, shooting sharp right hands behind a jab, but his aggression woke up McCline who retaliated with clubbing right hands, lefts to the body and his usual power jab.

Brock's legs were momentarily stiffened by a right hand mid-round and he sustained a cut over his left eye, but he gained confidence in the second round after snapping McCline's head back with two right hands followed by a left hook-uppercut combination and began to back up the bigger man.

McCline asserted himself in the third by swarming Brock with a variety of wide sweeping shots to the body and head as the 6-foot-2 heavyweight covered up. Brock weathered the storm and buzzed the 6-foot-6 giant with a right hand near the end of the round. They traded jabs and body shots on even terms in the fourth.

Rounds five and six exhibited a lot of mauling on the inside from McCline as he began to appear weary, but the bigger man struck in the seventh, landing a big left hook on the inside that put Brock down hard. Brock beat the count and held on to clear his head before landing a series of hard hooks and right hands that repeatedly stunned the tiring giant in the final minute of the round, which had the crowd on its feet. (Brock rallied hard enough to earn a 10-9 round on two of the judges score cards.)

Brock dug deep in rounds eight and nine, taking the fight to McCline, and landing a series of right hands. The two heavyweights brawled on the inside for much of the 10th round, both landing their share of power punches. As far as heavyweight bouts go, this one was a keeper and more than made up for Friday night's snoozer between Dominick Guinn and Friday Ahunanya.

In the first bout of the pay-per-view telecast, bantamweight prospect Raul Martinez remained unbeaten with a hard-fought decision over Jose Tirado, a game fighter from Mexico. Martinez, who landed the harder punches in the fight but caught his share of leather, improved to 8-0 (6) with unanimous scores of 59-55.
Tirado fell to 6-6 (6).

Martinez, a former amateur standout from San Antonio, Texas, landed well-timed lead right hands and loaded-up hooks to the body and head in the first round, but Tirado took them well, and fired back. Martinez hurt Tirado with a hook in the second round,
but the tough Mexican journeyman came back to nail Martinez repeatedly in the third. Martinez worked hard to regain control of the bout in the fourth, but Tirado fought back until Martinez hurt him at the end of the round. The bantamweights traded hard shots until the end of the competitive bout that should help Martinez grow as a professional fighter.

In the opening bout of the evening, Philadelphia heavyweight prospect Malik Scott stayed unbeaten with another pedestrian eight-round unanimous decision, this time over Shane Swartz, a stocky journeyman from Colorado. Scott improved to 22-0 (10) by unanimous
scores of 79-72. Swartz dropped to 16-3 (11)..