Using his uncanny height, fast hands, and high punch output, "the Punisher" made Margarito’s decision to fight him an unwise one. While Paul Williams didn’t exactly punish Antonio Margarito, he did give him a "light spanking" in a fairly entertaining fight.
In what was supposed to amount to a coming out party of sorts, Margarito ultimately wasn’t up to the challenge, falling behind early and coming up short on the scorecards. As a result of the unanimous decision loss, Margarito’s proposed fight with Miguel Cotto is off the table for now. What’s next for Paul Williams? Who knows? Like Margarito prior to this fight, the risk of fighting him far outweighs the reward for fighters named Cotto, Hatton, Mayweather and Mosley.
Williams may now find himself without a willing dance partner for several months. There was a time when Williams would have been on the fast-track to super-stardom after such a victory. Nowadays, he’ll be lucky to fight on cable before year-end.
On the Undercards One fighter we will no longer see on television fighting again is Arturo "Thunder" Gatti, who was battered into retirement by Alfonso Gomez. Gomez dominated Gatti from the start, popping him all night long with well-time right hands and left hooks, until the final right hand put Gatti down for the count in round seven. Gatti made Gomez look like a real Contender in the welterweight division, not just the guy who appeared on one season of the reality TV show of the same name. With the ring career of Arturo Gatti effectively over, I offer Gatti these words: "Thank you for all of the instant-classics. You were the most exciting fighter of my generation. You’ll be missed."
Don’t let the name fool you, Kermit (Cintron) is a killer in the ring, not some novelty boxing act with a cute name. Many pundits, myself included, felt he would never recover from the whupping that Antonio Margarito put on him two years ago. It’s obvious those days are long gone, as Walter Matthysse painfully found out in round two of their fight.
If Nonito Donaire’s knockout of Vic Darchinyan last week is the early favorite for knockout of the year, then this one comes in a close second. Cintron showed great patience, a piston-like overhand right, and a shockingly powerful left hook. The left hook closed the show, connecting squarely on the chin of the already-hurt Matthysse – giving Cintron his highest-profile win since destroying Teddy Reid three years ago. If Cotto-Williams can’t be made, Cotto-Cintron will do just fine. Will it happen? My optimism will not allow me to answer this one honestly. Forgive me.
The http://www.KOFightPicks.com team went 6 for 6 on July 14th. It was a great day and the most amazing part of our perfect day was that 4 of the 6 bets were underdog bets that paid plus money! Our whole team including Jeff Mayweather would like to really give a great salute to http://www.fightinsight.com for the great breakdown and coverage on this night. It’s fantastic to find a good, reliable source for boxing news.
Thanks for the props Jose. Buw wow, you picked ALL the fights right; did you not only pick Gomez to beat Gatti, but by knockout as well?
6 for 6 is impressive Jose. In hindsight, we should’ve seen Gatti’s demise coming. He looked beyond shot against Baldomir, but I allowed my cynicism of The Contender to get the better of my judgement and thus picked Gatti. On the flip side, The Punisher showed why he’s on the verge of stardom, if he’s not there already. This kid uses his height/reach advantage well; combined with his high punch output and pop, he’s going to be tough for any welterweight to handle. He give Cotto Fits.
Gomez is an interesting Cat and I wouldnt bet against him with money on the line for sure unless it was against an elite playa. When I seen he was in shape it was obivious how serious he took this fight and his career. Other then Forbes he maybe the only real semi long term product.
Pressure is in interesting thing; some break and some focus. In a past life I was a semi proffesional bicycle racer and in the national championships had #1 in the world in my first 3 heats and everyone expected me to lose. This is a spot he had been in many times before; this was my first big stage race. I knew ahead of time i was going to be in the limelight and prepared and trained to the point that it was a fight for my life. Race night i was off to the races and left everyone including him. The one thing many of us fans forget and is the one thing i love about boxing no matter what your record on any given night you can give the fight of your life.