The Paul "the Punisher" Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) vs. Kermit "the Killer" Cintron billboard reads like a comic book movie title. And yes, it will be violent. In a 
fight that was originally scheduled to take place nearly two years ago, I expect Williams to be too much for Cintron in their junior middleweight tussle.
I give Paul Williams advantages in most critical areas except punching power, defense (even) and locale (even). The competition that each boxer has faced is very comparable. In fact, they have three notable common opponents. Let’s take a closer look.
- Walter Matthysse. Williams battered the Argentinian bomber on his way to a 10th round stoppage. Cintron nearly decapitated Matthysse in two rounds a year later. Perhaps Williams softened him up, but Cintron’s win was better.
- Antonio Margarito. Margarito bludgeoned Cintron twice inside the distance when they met. Williams out-boxed and out-punched him when they met. The defeat of Margarito is still arguably Williams’ career-defining win.
- Sergio Martinez. Cintron was lucky as hell to get a draw against Martinez. Williams was fortunate to get a win. However, Williams legitimately earned his razor-thin decision while Cintron was bailed out from a KO loss by suspect officiating.
As noted above, Paul Williams tends to rise to the occassion against his greatest competition. The Alfred Angulo victory aside, Kermit Cintron has not been as successful in similar matches. But that’s not the only thing in Williams’ favor. He’s got one helluva chin, unlimited reserves in his gas tank, and throws so many punches you lose count. Simply put, that is too much for Cintron to handle.
If I’m wrong, don’t worry, I’ll wait for your reply… 😉
What makes you so confident that Williams will knock him out ??
@Alpha:I believe that Williams’s punch output and ridiculous stamina will eventually cause Cintron to wilt in the mid/late rounds. He’s been stopped twice before (and technically 3x, if you include the dubious draw against Sergio Martinez in which he was down for 10 seconds by a legal blow that wasn’t ruled as such).
🙂 i can’t agree more man.. You are always spot on with your predictions.i always wonder why you only do predictions for big fights ? You are really talented at what you are doing cheers to you mate !
Thanks for the kind words Alpha Dog…I’m enjoying my ‘streak’ right now, and it’s been a test. There have been a ton of even/upset matchups that have tested my prognosticating capabilities (Adamek-Arreola, Froch-Kessler, Abraham-Dirrell, and Pavlik-Martinez to name a few). I only do the big fights, because as Floyd says, it’s all about the money fights. just kidding It’s really just an issue of time and bandwidth — I don’t have much of it, so I try to at least cover a major/feature fight at least once per week. I maybe need some guest bloggers…something I’ll consider down the road to increase the prediction post volume.
I always enjoy Reading your posts 🙂 the boxing world need more people like you to keep things alive and exciting !! Continue doing what you are doing ! All the best !
Thanks for the kind words Alpha…since you love the posts so much, please subscribe to my email alerts (in the right sidebar of my site under the Cotto-Foreman tickets ad) if you haven’t already. 🙂
I agree. I have never been overly impressed with Cintron. Paul Williams is almost in a different league than him. Mid to late round stoppage for sure.
Jeff, Kermit is a physically strong athlete, but still appears to be a notch below in the overall skill department. Don’t get me wrong, I still find Paul Williams very raw, but his physical attributes (height, reach, conditioning) make up for his technical deficiencies most of the time.
it’s just about time for paul to “come of age” perhaps this will be that fight. for a kid of his physical stature he is certainly an opposing figure at welter weight perhaps his campaigning at a higher weight will get him the fights he deserve.
paul really needs to begin using his physical attributes a lot more, with his height and reach, i’m not sure why his handlers can’t seem to get him to fight like the taller man he is, paul is what’s referred to as a “little big man”, he’s tall but he fights like a much shorter man hence, that “waxin” he took from martinez. grantecd paul got the decision but he could’ve neutralized a lot of sergio’s effectiveness with the simple use of his jab.
@jabbo I could not agree more, regarding The Punisher. He totally wastes his length. But, oddly, he’s a very good inside fighter…sorta like how Riddick Bowe fought surprisingly well for someone with long arms.
@jabbo I think Paul Williams has come of age (already). His wins against Antonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez are resume boosters. That stated, he does appear to be handicapped because none of the big money guys are likely fight him (Mayweather or Pacquiao or Cotto). And I don’t think that’ll change anytime soon. He’ll have to toil in the 154-160 weight range to make his name. I think he’ll be fine, as long as he starts to fight taller, as we both suggest.
i agree ja that paul pulls off victories with his inside fight problem being however hee gets hit a lot in there, granted he punches back even more feverishly when he’s hit and that makes for an exciting fight but shorter boxing career. even a tank that gets hit all the time is retired sooner than ones that don’t.
No argument here Jabbo. “Hit and do not get hit” may make for a non-scintillating style in the ring (at times) but it tends to make for a relatively healthy, lengthy and effective career.
Well that was pure junk. Williams I am not sure deserved that decision. I had the first 2 rounds for Cintron. The 3rd round for Williams, and if I had to score the 4th round I would have given it to Williams as well. This fight should be a no contest. Thats Bullshit Cintron gets a loss for this. He did make no effort to get up and I am not here to debate if he was really hurt or not. What lousy rules to go to the scorecards after 3 rounds complete.
@Jeff: I agree with you 101%…I add that 1% just for extra emphasis. lol I have no freaking idea why Cali has such a ridiculous rule. I watched the replay and it almost looked like Cintron dove outta the ring (lol) and landed awkwardly on his back/side of his neck initially. Hard enough to not continue; it didn’t appear that way, but like you, in no way can I play doctor nor will I try to imply that he sold the injury (i.e. when it is stated that the docs told him that he could not continue). That stated, bad ending to a fight that just looked like it was heating up. And I actually thought that Kermit was fighting a fairly disciplined fight up until that point, and who knows what woulda happened (although I think Paul would have one a decision perhaps). Another thought: it’s weird, how seemingly class acts like Williams and Cintron who typically make for exciting fights, can’t draw flies to a house of sh_t (there were more folks at a little league baseball game I passed by on the highway than there were at the Home Depot Center). Boxing is so weird like that. Oftentimes it really just comes down to marketing, clever matchmaking and/or super-freakish ability in the ring (which less than 1% of fighters have). It really makes you sadly understand why some cats are so protective of who they fight, when they fight them as well as where they fight them. Not ultimately pleasing to the fans, but in such a brutal sport, it can sadly be understood (even if we don’t like it).
I was so not impressed with Williams from what I saw briefly in that fight. How poorly he was using his reach and size. Cintron would just step in and hit him without much diffuculty. He was closing the gap and boxing a smart fight despite his limitations. I could easily see the possibility of Williams getting knocked out later in the fight, getting caught. He is style is very awkward. He has all the tools, but I just was not impressed. Cool Venue though. A Tennis stadium.
Definitely not a shining performance by the Punisher, but I have to give Kermit a measure of credit for fighting pretty stable at the start. But he also started out that way against Sergio Martinez. In fact, he was giving him problems too before Martinez took control in the middle rounds (and should have been awarded a KO). My guess is that Williams’s pressure woulda eventually caused Cintron to wilt en route to a decision win or late stoppage. Ironically, I thought Williams was trying to use his height and reach, but did it with mixed results (as you state). He’s still a boxing late bloomer, and interestingly enough, a work-in-progress. However, his insance physical attributes (heavyweight reach, lightweight punch output, and sprinter stamina) will make him a tough out for ANYONE in the 147-160 weight ranges, despite his technical flaws.
gotta agree with you here ja, but it’s as i indicated prior to the fight, paul certainly has raw talent but really should consider another trainer, someone who can teach him to make full use of those God-Given Gifts. continuing to take shots like that fight after fight does not make for a sucessful boxing career in fact it could easily convert the punisher into the punished! sergio martinez drew the blueprint to beat paul and to date he has survived on “adrenline and sugar” but he certainly needs more than that to make it to the next level.
Yeah Jabbo, Paul Williams is still an enigma. It’s a credit to him that he’s still performing at a very high rate against high quality opponents despite his obvious technical flaws. I actually think his trainer “Coach” Peterson has been half-way decent. They have good chemistry and he’s clearly done a good job in imploring Williams to fight in certain fashions in many key fights. I think his gameplan(s) for Williams’s three best wins (Margarito, Quintana rematch and the Winky Wright fight) were excellent. But I will agree that Paul often doesn’t seem to know how to consistently fight “tall.” But you know what, maybe that’s just who he is. He’ll show some flashes of boxing skills but when it comes down to it, he’s a down-home, get-ya-hands dirty type of fighter. He sure could make his life much easier though…the only positive is that his apparent vulnerability at times probably makes it easier for him to get fights (which is hard enough for him already)!
absolutely.ja. infact getting fights should increasingly easier due to obvious kinks in paul’s armor, i do believe that there’s a relatively simple solution to paul’s shortcomings. issues like paul’s can usually be solved in training, what i’m absolutely certain of however, take the is that paul isn’t built to take excessive punishment he doesn’t have the frame for it. i studied his reaction to the margarito shots and despite the fact that he wo9n that fight’ he certainly ” buckled when he was clocked! granted, margarito could have loaded gloves but the hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see and if paul can’t begin to make himself a more illusive target i feel we’ll never see the best of paul williams.
No argument here Jabbo.