Miguel Cotto vs Alfonso Gomez
Welterweight Fight Results from Atlantic City
Miguel Cotto defended his WBA welterweight championship by TKO over Alfonso Gomez.
April 12, 2008 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, WBA welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto dominated Alfonso Gomez on his way to a TKO victory. Gomez, who had never been down as a professional, went down in rounds two, three, and five, in this fight.
Gomez was given little chance of winning by anyone in the boxing press except for the author, who believed Gomez's greater size and toughness would make a difference. Not even close.
It was obvious from the first round that Cotto had better power and greater strength. Gomez's feet never seemed under him as he tripped in the second round (counted as a knock down by the referee) was dropped by a left to the diaphragm in the third, and knocked on his backside by a jab in the fifth. The fight was stopped after round five.
Cotto's victory sets up a likely matchup with newly crowned IBF champion Antonio Margarito this July.
Kermit Cintron vs. Antonio Margarito Fight Results
On the undercard, Antonio Margarito picked up where he left off in April 2003 by pummeling Kermit Cintron round after round, eventually stopping the now former IBF champion with a counter left hook to the liver at 1:57 of round six.
Cintron began the fight by keeping distance and landing cleaner shots than Margarito, who has vowed to start fights faster since losing the WBO title to Paul Williams last summer. Margarito's pace seemed to take Cintron out of his game and force the fight to the inside--Margarito's wheelhouse.
Although Cintron landed well at times--several of his right hands could have dented a tank--Margarito walked through Cintron's shots as if he were strolling through a light rain, smiling as he went along.
Cintron tried turning his left shoulder inside to create a smaller target for Margarito, but the "Tijuana Tornado" just kept throwing left hooks wherever he could land them; body, head, arms, shoulders, anywhere he could reach.
The fifth round saw Cintron change up a bit and stay on the outside and box for the first half of the round, but Margarito's pressure broke the levy and the floods came by round six when Margarito landed a perfect shot to Cintron's liver, ending the fight.
Signs of Cintron's frustration showed early as he complained to the referee of Margarito hitting behind the head, prompting a warning to Margarito. In truth, Cintron's habit of bending at the waist to avoid Margarito's bombs was the reason he got hit behind the head.
Bob Arum promotes both Cotto and Margarito, which makes a much talked about July clash between the two welterweight bombers very likely, and very good for the fans.
