Saturday night on HBO, boxing fans got treated to a three fight showcase with some of the sport’s best young stars from a two-city card split between Cincinnati, Ohio and Mexico City, Mexico. The headline attraction featured Saul Alvarez taking on Kermit Cintron, and Canelo delivered in front of his ravenous home country fans with a strong showing and an early stoppage win.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Cintron Results
Cintron may have been the taller man with the longer reach, but Canelo was certainly the bigger of the two fighters, with his thickset, broad shoulders and muscled build. He likely outweighed Cintron by at least 15 lbs for the fight, and that difference in strength and power proved to be a major factor in the fight.
Canelo was also faster and more fluid with his attack, which served him well. Cintron started off busy in the first few rounds, but most of his work rate were wasted jabs instead of effective shots, while Canelo landed thudding counters and crisp, clean shots of his own.
In the fourth round, Canelo dropped Cintron with an overhand right which landed on Kermit’s temple, seemingly upsetting his equilibrium. Alvarez hit him again with the same shot on his way down to the canvas. Cintron beat the count but didn’t seem very intent on continuing with wobbly legs.
However, the fight continued and he came out swinging. The rest of the round was actually some of his best moments in the fight, as he switched back to a power puncher, forgoing the boxing and footwork he had been using earlier.
He tagged Canelo a few times, who then stopped being so careless and picked his guard back up. In the fifth, Canelo used a steady assault to continue to pummel and wear down Cintron, until he ended up with his back to the ropes and the referee called off the affair.
It was the third defense of Alvarez’s WBC junior middleweight title, and he improves to 39-0-1 with 29 KOs. Cintron falls to 33-5-1 with 28 KOs and it may be time for him to hang up the gloves unless he is intent on sticking around as a trial horse.
Adrien Broner vs. Martin (Vicente) Rodriguez Results
Adrien “The Problem” Broner had no such problems dispatching of Martin Rodriguez, also known as Vicente Rodriguez. Broner was simply too athletic, skilled and strong for Rodriguez to have any chance in the fight.
Broner put him away at 1:43 of the 3rd round to some hearty cheers from his hometown crowd, and captured the vacant WBO super featherweight strap in the process. A great showcase win for him, and it’s time to move onto bigger and better things now.
Broner is now the second youngest titleholder in boxing, behind Canelo Alvarez.
Gary Russell Jr. vs. Heriberto Ruiz
The former Olympian Gary Russell Jr. needed just one round to dispatch of Ruiz in spectacular fashion. Russell didn’t get too much of a chance to showcase his complete skill set, but he did get to show off some sensational speed and punching ability against his overmatched man.
Certainly time for Russell to step up to some tougher competition. Russell is now 19-0 with 11 KOs. Official time of the bout was 2:11 of the first round.
A Broner vs. Russell match in a few years would certainly be tantalizing, as each proved his worth as one of the best young fighters in the game on Saturday night.
