Ringside reports by Mike Sloan and Trinidad Guzman
Photos by Chris Cozzone

Margarito defends
by Mike Sloan

Las Vegas, NV: Puerto Rican sensation Kermit Cintron entered the battlefield at Caesar's Palace tonight as one of boxing's brightest rising contenders. He was chosen by many as the warrior who was supposed to take his career to the next level by handing defeat to one of boxing’s most feared opponents. In achieving such a lofty task, he had to topple rugged and determined Mexican warrior Antonio Margarito. That in itself is a daunting task, but many boxing insiders predicted that Cintron, of Reading, PA, would accomplish the feat and trudge his way toward the undisputed welterweight championship.

However, especially in the sport of boxing, not everything goes according to plan as Cintron was easily dispatched by Margarito in the fifth round. The pre-fight hype was that this fight was supposed to be a contender for fight of the year, but it unfortunately wound up being one of the biggest mismatches thus far in 2005. Cintron was able to crash a few of his patented right hands onto Margarito's jaw in the second round, but once Margarito retaliated with some lethal strikes of his own, the end was unexpectedly just around the corner.

Cintron was lacerated early in the third round after he was tagged by a sinister left uppercut and from there, it seemed as though Cintron had become frustrated, nervous and eventually lost. Margarito continuously snapped the tough Cintron's head back and once Margarito found his groove, it was all over for young Kermit. Cintron tried his best to keep the aggressive Margarito off if him, but his power shots had little to no effect on the native of Tijuana.

Cintron fell victim to a crippling left uppercut midway in the fourth round and after Margarito peppered him with a few follow-up shots, Cintron fell to the canvas for the first time in his career. From there, his undefeated record was sent spiraling down the stairwell, never to be seen from again. Cintron barely was able to arise from the knockdown and once he was allowed to continue from referee Kenny Bayless, the relentless Margarito never stopped punching in his quest to retain whatever alphabet belt he possesses. Margarito sent Cintron down once again moments later and it was evident that the challenger needed a divine intervention in order to hope for survival.

Margarito eventually closed the show in the following round, dropping Cintron twice more with moderately stinging shots. Once Cintron was felled for the fourth time in the contest, his corner had intelligently motioned to Bayless to halt the mugging. The official time of the stoppage came at just 2:12 of the fifth round. The almost too easy TKO victory allows Margarito to soar to 31-4 by scoring his 22nd knockout while Cintron falls for the first time in his career; he now stands at 24-1 with 22 KOs.

It seemed as though Cintron was both still woozy from the abuse he had received in the previous round and was too awe-struck from being brutalized to pull himself together and survive. Most of the punishment that he absorbed in the minutes succeeding the initial knockdown didn't appear too vicious, thus resulting in many among the media to question whether he was maybe out on his feet or just in shock from being staggered so quickly and so frequently. Others questioned whether Cintron mentally quit once he felt he was in over his head.

Those are questions only Cintron can answer, but the "experts" involved within the Sweet Science shouldn't count him out just yet. It was obvious that he wasn't quite ready for elite of his weight class and after he licks his wounds and rethinks what his strategy will be, it's doubtful that Cintron will be out of the spotlight for long.

However, one person who should be ashamed of himself and who should not be allowed near another boxing event anytime soon is Cintron's co-manager Joe Pastore. In the few minutes following the announcement of Margarito’s victory, Mr. Pastore became involved in a verbal altercation with a Margarito supporter sitting ringside in the crowd. Pastore then proceeded to flip the patron off and within mere seconds, he jumped out of the ring and ran over to the heckler. From there, Pastore shoved Caesar's Palace stage manager Ron Harmon to the ground, severely injuring him. Pastore then quickly attacked the man and pummeled him until the police and security intervened.

Mr. Harmon badly injured his hip and was escorted from the arena on a stretcher. No word as of yet as to how his condition is, but Pastore should learn to take a loss like a man. No matter how badly a crowd member is cheering or jeering, there is no excuse for leaving your fallen fighter's corner and becoming involved within a brawl. This is supposed to be a respectful, professional sport. Hopefully he is banned from Caesar's Palace, serves his time and is fined heftily.

Mosley victorious in return to welter!

 by Trinidad Guzman

After having fought at 154 pounds for the past two years, a span in which he went 1-2 with 1 no contest, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, 40-4, (35) finally realized that the jr. middleweight division was not the right place for him and returned Saturday night to the welterweight division, scoring a unanimous decision win against little known opponent David Estrada, 18-2 (9)

  Mosley opened the bout a bit tentatively, moving around the ring, but offering little in the way of offensive production. Mosley’s lack of punch output would not last long, finally letting his hands go in second frame of the bout, ripping vicious body shots on the advancing Estrada.

  In the third round Mosley’s left jab and quick footwork began to frustrate his foe, as Estrada began to engage in some rough inside fighting whenever he got close to “Sugar” Shane.

  The fourth round saw the return of the famous “Sugar” Shane Mosley body attack, almost flooring Estrada with a flush left hook to the liver. Estrada grimaced in pain as the hook landed and immediately took a few steps backwards in hopes of catching his breath. Mosley went right on the attack, landing another crushing body blow at the ten second mark of the round, knocking Estrada backwards, almost sending to the canvas for the second time in the round.

  Estrada survived the round, and in the fifth frame continued to press forward after Mosley. Estrada had some success throughout the fight landing straight right hands to the head and body of Mosley, but those shots were to far and few between for him to do serious damage to the former champion.

  Mosley continued to control the pace of the bout in the middle rounds, and although his timing appeared to be a hair off, in the seventh round he was able to land a thunderous right hand to the head of Estrada that had him on unsteady legs.

  It was evident as the fighters marched towards the tenth and final round of the contest that Mosley was just too quick and talented for Estrada to overcome. Scoring the lopsided unanimous decision win by scores of 97-93, 98-91, and 99-91.

 Although Mosley controlled the tempo in the fight, stunning Estrada several times over the course of the bout, most ringside observers agreed that Mosley looked “ordinary” inside the ring, doing enough to win the rounds, but not providing that extra “Sugar” we are accustomed to seeing from a fighter of his caliber. Only time will tell if “Sugar” Shane Mosley will once again be a force to be reckoned with at welterweight.

Brock hits the "Big Time!"

by Mike Sloan

In, arguably, the most intriguing matchup of the evening, the heavyweight crossroads battle between Jameel McCline and Calvin Brock lived up to pre-fight expectations. For starters, not many people predicted that this fight would be the second coming of Foreman/Lyle, but those same insiders doubted it would be a carbon copy of, say, Moorer/Bean. What most figured this fight to be, however, would be a competitive, sometimes dramatic clash between two heavyweights at two ends of the title spectrum yet striving for the same pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

McCline, on the one hand, desperately needed a win tonight to stay afloat within the title picture. A loss at the hands of the younger undefeated Brock would have spelled doom if McCline was to ever grace the ring with a major belt on the line. After losing a close decision to his good friend in Chris Byrd several months back, McCline simply couldn't afford to lose this encounter. Brock, meanwhile, was finally taking that crucial next step up in his level of opposition and victory over the well-known and experienced McCline would pay dividends for his still relatively young career.

The question surrounding this contest, however, was how exactly would each of the combatants perform under such intense pressure, even though a title and a million dollar contract was not at stake?

The answer to said question was that each heavyweight contender performed admirably, even though the fight itself won't be a candidate as the fight of the year. Both pugs kicked off the fight trading vicious punches from every angle, eliciting cheers from the sold out outdoor arena. While the action pretty much hit a wall in the midway point of the fight, McCline was able to score a sizzling two-punch knockdown of his off-balance foe in the seventh. Once Brock arose back to his feet, he was dealt a series of clubbing punches from the heavier McCline. But on the strength of courage and determination, Brock was able to not only withstand the onslaught from the Clifton, NJ, resident, he also impressively fought back and staggered McCline not once but twice, saving himself from a 10-8 round on two of the three judges' scorecards.

From that point forward, the two giants took turns swatting away at each other, bringing the capacity crowd to the edge of its seats on numerous occasions. McCline eventually grew weary from the amount of punishment he dished out, allowing his nemesis to reel off impressive combos and steal the almost too-close-to-call final few rounds of the contest. As the fight drew to an end, it was abundantly clear that McCline had to win the final round to at least settle for a draw, but Brock had the answers to whatever it was that McCline attempted.

Brock, a native of Charlotte, NC, was able to nullify McCline's visible power advantage and advanced to the next stage in his career in fashion. Brock was awarded the unanimous decision victory via tallies of 96-94, 96-93 and 97-93 after a moderately thrilling heavyweight tussle. Fightnews.com also favored Brock 96-94. This was definitely the biggest victory of Brock's career, a win that not only bolstered his pro ledger to 25-0 with 20 KOs, it also catapulted him right in the middle of the heavyweight title picture. And with the heavyweight division in such a state of depressing disarray, he might be able to steal one of the measly alphabet titles within a year or so. Congrats to Brock in successfully passing the biggest test of his career thus far.

As for McCline, who fell to 31-5-3 with 19 KOs, he has to re-evaluate his career. While it is certainly not at rock bottom, back-to-back losses against men he probably should have beaten says a lot. It'll be hard for McCline, one of boxing's true gentleman, to ascend that mountain back to title contention, let alone challenge for one of the major belts. Obviously his career is not over, but it'll be difficult for "Big Time" to convince the various promoters to allow him in against some of the world's elite heavyweights, if one even exists.

Martinez too much for Tirado

by Mike Sloan

Raul Martinez, a highly-touted bantamweight prospect who hails from San Antonio, TX, was simply too much for the rugged Jose Tirado. Martinez, sporting flashy camouflage trunks, utilized his speed and moderate power advantage to thwart most of what Tirado tossed his way. While Tirado was never knocked off of his feet throughout the contest, Martinez was able to stagger him on a few occasions, mostly courtesy of his loopy left hook. But when it was all said and done, it was Martinez' effective punching and lightning speed that paved the way for success.

Martinez was given the victory via unanimous decision with scores of 59-55 (as did Fightnews.com) from all three ringside judges, boosting his professional ledger to 8-0 with 6 KOs. While it's too early to tell how truly gifted Martinez is, it should be taken into consideration that he is surely one to look out for in the future. Tirado, while he didn't have quite enough in his arsenal to combat Martinez and his skill level, he has to be given much credit for hanging tough the entire time and not caving in to the pressure. For his efforts, the Culiacan, Mexico native drops to 6-6 with 6 KOs.

Scott continues unbeaten streak!

by Trinidad Guzman

In other action, heavyweight Malik Scott, 22-0, (10) remained undefeated with an uninspiring eight round unanimous decision win over overmatched opponent Shane Swartz, 16-3, (11)

  Scott took control of the bout from the opening round and never looked back. He was able to keep Swartz on the end of his punches by utilizing his long left jab followed by right hands.

  In the second round, one of those right hands from Scott opened up a gash over the left eye of Swartz forcing a brief delay for the ringside doctor to examine the laceration. Swartz was allowed to continue, but could only offer up only a limited offensive attack.

  Scott continued to control the action in the third and fourth rounds, landing long left jabs followed by right hands that repeatedly found their mark. Swartz had no answer for the limited assault he was under, only pushing forward without throwing any punches.

  In the fifth round, the unusual tactic used by Swartz of blocking with his face almost let him down (literally). A flush jab-right hand combination from Scott landed flush to the head of Swartz and suddenly he found his legs were turned into jelly. Fortunately for Swartz, the bell rang to signal the end of the round, saving him from any further punishment.

Post-fight pics

Bonus Pics

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