By James Slater: Still growing into a fully rounded world champion is World Boxing Council (WBC) 154-pound champ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The 21-year-old is already a massive star in Mexico, and he is looking to stay busy. According to Dan Rafael, who spoke with Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, Alvarez’ next fight is likely to be against hard-hitting former welterweight ruler Kermit Cintron.
Cintron, 33-4-1(28) was recently released by Top Rank, and is now a free agent. Schaefer said that if the 31-year-old signs up with Golden Boy, the fight with Alvarez could happen in November or December, most likely in Mexico.
“It looks like it’s going to be a pretty dangerous fight with Kermit Cintron,” Schaefer said in reply to the question of who Canelo would face next.
Certainly an intriguing fight – one that would see Alvarez in against the most dangerous puncher of his career thus far – Alvarez-Cintron would surely prove a hit with the fans. And Schaefer isn’t exaggerating when he says the fight will be pretty dangerous for the young star.
Alvarez, showing he still has things to learn, had to eat a few decent punches from Alfonso Gomez in his most recent outing. Opting to stand right in front of Gomez and take chances, Alvarez was caught on occasion – and we all know how much harder Cintron hits in comparison to Gomez. Alvarez cannot afford to lose concentration and have any defensive lapses against the Puerto Rican, that’s for sure; Kermit has those 28 KO’s, don’t forget.
But how much has “The Killer,” as Cintron is known, got left to offer?
Since that weird fight with Paul Williams in May of last year, when Cintron flew through the ring ropes in the 4th-round of his TD loss, he has lost a decision to Carlos Molina and won a decision over Antwone Smith. In neither fight was Kermit’s blistering power apparent. Does Cintron his as hard up at 154? Not going by his stats at the higher weight. Can Cintron pull the trigger as fast as he once could? We will no doubt find out in the Alvarez fight.
Let’s hope the match-up takes place. Alvarez would be facing a man known as a proven power puncher, while Cintron would be getting one last chance to reclaim past glories. Both men would need to bring their A-game to win and that always makes a good fight.
I like Alvarez via decision.