Canelo overpowers Cintron for 5th round tko

Kermit Cintron held up by the ropes after being rocked by Saul "Canelo" Alvarez Photo: AFP

SAUL “Canelo” Alvarez 39-0-1 (29) successfully defended his WBC 154 pound title and remains unbeaten after scoring a fifth round tko of Kermit Cintron 33-5-1 (28) Saturday night at the Monumental Plaza de Toros, in Mexico City. The young Mexican champion displayed his patience as he got off to a slow start in the first few rounds. No longer known as the power puncher he was at 147 pounds, Cintron has become more of a boxer, shown by the 187 jabs he threw compared to only 98 power shots. To make matters worse, Cintron only used the jab as a range finder and never really tried to follow up with anything meaningful. Alvarez picked up the pace in round two as he began to throw is overhand right; a punch that he would find a home for repeatedly as the bout went on. Cintron did land a few counters that may have won him the round. In round three both men began to let their hands go as “Canelo” inched closer. The pair continued to exchange in the fourth round with Canelo getting the better of Cintron with his harder shots. Around the one minute mark, Alvarez landed a hard overhand right as Cintron tried to duck under, sending the former champion to one knee. As the referee counted, Cintron rose on weary legs. Instead of holding when the action continued, Cintron threw wild punches as e tried to get his legs back under him. As the round came to a close, Cintron again ducked to avid an overhand right, but Alvarez was ready for it and threw two left hooks in that direction, leaving Cintron hung up in the ropes and bleeding from the bridge of his nose. The bout could have been brought to a halt right then, as Cintron appeared to be out on his feet. Instead the action continued into round five where Alvarez continued to land the overhand right. Cintron realized that this could be the last stand and began to return fire with some hard shots of his own. Alvarez banged his gloves and dared Cintron to bring it on, which he obliged with two right hands that forced the young champion to hold while against the ropes. Alvarez continued to come forward and apply pressure, which by this point, caused Cintron to appear completely spent. Alvarez recognized this and stepped in to close the show with some hard combinations as the round came to a close. A few more strong right hands to the head as Cintron leaned on the ropes and referee Hector Afu decided that Cintron had taken enough punishment. The stoppage was a bit premature because Cintron had just landed a combination before Canelo’s right hands landed, but the truth of the matter is the punishment was just going to get worse.

After the fight, Alvarez claimed he wants to be Floyd Mayweather Jr.‘s dancing partner for his scheduled Vegas return on May 5th. “Next year we want the best, stated Canelo. “We want Mayweather in May. Apart from the money, that doesn’t matter. We want the best in the world and he’s the best pound for pound.”

In the split site co-feature Adrian “The Problem” Broner 22-0 (18) won the vacant WBO super featherweight title with a third round knockout of Vicente Martin Rodriguez 34-3-1 (19). Broner looked very sharp as he countered effectively, mixing in some great defense. In the third stanza Rodriguez finally got Broner’s attention as he scraped him along the ropes. The Argentine was able to keep Broner trapped for about 25 seconds wit a barrage of punches. Broner blocked most of the shots, although a few good ones did land. Broner’s attention turned out to be the last thing Rodriguez needed; the barrage along the ropes woke “The Problem” up. Roughly 15 seconds later he landed a perfectly placed counter right uppercut that hurt Rodriguez. From there Broner attacked with both fists, wisely going to the body to set up a beautiful left hook upstairs that sat Rodriguez on his pants, being kept in the ring by the ropes. The count by referee Frank Garza was a formality as Rodriguez was unable to recover. At just 22 yrs of age, Broner is now the second youngest of all current title holders in the sport, almost exactly 1 year older than “Canelo” Alvarez. Winning his first world title in front of is hometown fans made the night all the more special for the Cincinnati native, and it showed as he fell to his knees in the corner with tears running down is face.

Also on the card, undefeated featherweight prospect Gary Russell Jr. 19-0 (11) scored a highlight reel first round knockout of late replacement Heriberto Ruiz 47-12-2 (29) of Mexico. Russell came out more aggressive than usual and used his hand speed to his advantage. As he pressed the action, “Mister” Russell forced Ruiz to the ropes where he landed a straight left hand. He then touched him to the body with a hard right hook followed by a picture perfect hook right on the button that sent a stiff Ruiz to the canvas where he remained for about four minutes. This was supposed to be Russell’s first 10 round fight but apparently he had other thoughts.

Canelo overpowers Cintron for 5th round tko

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