Cotto Keeps Gomez a Contender!
Stage Set for Cotto-Margarito?
April 12, 2008 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
Ringside Report:
Rick Scharmberg and
Kurt Wolfheimer
Photos:
Ed Mulholland
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Unbeaten welterweight Miguel Cotto of Caguas, Puerto Rico put another exclamation point in his storybook career and retained his WBA title with complete and convincing five round domination of former "The Contender" series star Alfonso Gomez. He dropped Gomez (18-4-2, 8 KOs) twice en-route to a one sided fifth round stoppage.
Cotto was dominant in front of an estimated 9000 fight fans at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ and in front of a world-wide audience on HBO's World Championship Boxing. The Cotto-Gomez and Margarito-Cintron welterweight doubleheader was promoted by Bob Arum's Top Rank Inc.
The stoppage occurred before the beginning of the sixth round when the ringside physician would not allow the fight to continue due to Gomez taking an excessive amount of punishment.
Cotto controlled the bout from the opening bell with a couple of heavy combinations up top that the game Gomez just had no answer for. A left hook by Cotto caused Gomez to stumble just before the bell sound to end the opening round.
Gomez whose face was reddened from the effects of round one appeared to have regained his composure as he valiantly tried to press forward in the second round. Cotto blocked most of the punches and steadily dug crunching body shots that slowed his advances forward.
The body shots did take their toll as Cotto dropped Gomez in the corner with a right hook. Gomez got up and was caught again with another right hook and a left hand that rocked him again as the bell sounded to end the second.
The onslaught continued in the third as Miguel pounded away at the body with double left hooks and stinging right upper cut combinations. Gomez attempted to go to the body to slow the hard punching Puerto Rican down but was caught with sharp counters whenever he threw to the midsection. Cotto landed a perfect body shot to the solar plexus of Gomez which sent him to his knees on the canvas for the second time of the fight.
Cotto changed his approach in the fourth as he began switching in and out of the southpaw stance and landed at will. Gomez just couldn't do anything to stop the advances of his agile adversary.
Gomez looked like a beaten fighter as round five began with his right eye almost swollen shut. Cotto continued to bang away with right hands while using movement to find openings.
Gomez was dropped by a short left hook on the button in the middle of the fifth, but it was ruled a slip by referee Randy Neuman. He was able to get back to his feet but his punches had lost their steam and he was wincing with each body shot from Cotto. The bell sounded to mercifully end the round.
Before rounds five and six on advice of the ringside doctor referee Randy Neuman stopped the bout as Gomez was taking too much punishment from the dominant undefeated WBA champion.
Cotto once again has set himself to be one of the top two in the welterweight division and one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world raising his record to a perfect (32- 0, 26KOs). -- Kurt Wolfheimer
Cotto vs Gomez Photos
Margarito Denies Cintron Again!
Kermit Cintron and Antonio Margarito both sought the same redemption of sorts on Saturday night as they entered what was Cintron's third defense of the IBF welterweight title in front of the packed crowd at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ and broadcast around the world in the opening bout of HBO's World Championship Boxing telecast.
In the end it was Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs) that ended the whispers of those who questioned what he had left in the tank by scoring a convincing sixth round knockout of Cintron (29-2, 27 KOs). Cintron was game but unsuccessful in his attempt to reverse a fifth round stoppage loss to Margarito back in 2005 which at that time cost him his WBO title.
In December 2006, Margarito defeated Joshua Clottey (34-2, 20 KOs) but in doing so had a rather lackluster performance. He then followed that up with the loss of his WBO title to Paul "The Punisher Williams (33-1, 24 KOs) last July. Even though Margarito defeated a faded Golden Johnson (25-8-3, 18 KOs) in one round in his most recent bout, his longevity in the sport was questioned based on his performances against Clottey and Williams.
Meanwhile, Cintron was busy winning the IBF world title. He also teamed up with Hall of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward, and proceeded to score a highlight reel of knockouts over Walter Matthysse (26-3, 25 KOs) and a gutsy stoppage of Jesse Feliciano (15-6-3, 9 KOs) both in title defenses. Cintron looked to redeem himself against the man who dealt him not only his first defeat, but a humiliating one at that.
Margarito entered the ring first. He looked warmed up and ready for battle, and wearing an "Affliction" t-shirt made famous by world middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik.
Dressed in the Kronk Gym's traditional gold trunks, Cintron had a look of determination on his face. He seemed a little stiff and appeared a bit dry in anticipation of the opening bell.
Cintron, 146.5, of Reading, PA, tried to make a statement early as he came out firing bombs at his opponent. Margarito, 146.5 of Tijuana, Mexico, was able to fend him off with an accurate jab.
Near the end of the first round Cintron landed his best punch, a huge right hand and then followed it up with another. As was the case in their first fight, Margarito didn't even flinch after getting caught with Cintron's best shots as he fired back with a pair of uppercuts and a big right of his own. Cintron won the round on two cards however it would prove to be his best round in the fight.
Round two saw Cintron boxing from the outside in the opening minute where he tried timing Margarito with the right cross. Margarito landed uppercuts with both hands as he worked his way to the inside. He caught Cintron flush with head shots but did his real damage when the fight occurred inside of close quarters.
Margarito began working Cintron over with both hands to the body at the two minute mark and stopped punching for as long as it took him to turn to referee Earl Brown and complain of a head butt. He went right back to the body with punches that seemed to effect Cintron almost immediately. Margarito went back to his stool with a cut on his left eye from the apparent butt.
Cintron went back to boxing in round three and had success early. He landed several two and three-punch combinations to the head of Margarito as well as some body shots of his own.
Once again Margarito took Cintron's best punches before getting inside where he would hammer Cintron to the body. Margarito also landed well to the head. After a taking a series of hard right hands from Margarito, Cintron turned to complain to the referee while Margarito did not miss a step as he hunted him down and landed another right.
After three rounds, two things were clear. Margarito could handle Cintron's punches, and he was hurting Cintron badly on the inside with his punishing attack.
Cintron came out bombing in round four as he traded uppercuts and right hands with Margarito. Soon after Cintron's hands were by his waist and Margarito who is usually a slow starter by nature quickly shifted gears.
Now fully into the flow of the fight, Margarito became a non-stop punching machine. He battered Cintron's body and nailed him with a huge overhand right near the end of the round.
The carnage continued in round five as a game but outgunned Cintron landed a sneaky right behind a jab to open the round. He landed some single overhand rights as well that Margarito just walked right through.
Margarito's punches were coming in combinations and connected flush most of the time. At one point Cintron complained of a rabbit punch, but in reality he was turning into the punches in a futile attempt to avoid Margarito's relentless onslaught.
The end came at 1:57 of round six as Margarito landed a right to the head and then dug a brutal left hook underneath Cintron's rib cage. Cintron sank to the canvas as referee Earl Brown made the fateful ten-count.
Afterwards Margarito, the new IBF welterweight champion, stated, "I learned from the Paul Williams fight to put pressure on him right away. They promised me [Miguel] Cotto, and they better deliver!"
Cintron explained, "My hands were up high, and he hit me with a left uppercut [to the body]. I couldn't breathe. I should have tried to box more and stay on the outside, but I wanted to prove something." -- Rick Scharmberg
Margarito vs Cintron Photos
Coffi-Mouton Draw!
Super middleweights Omar Coffi of Caracas, Venezuela and Don Mouton of Houston, Texas fought to a very non-descript four round draw.
Coffi (0-0-1) who was making his professional debut appeared to have settled down late in the fight and outworked the taller and more experience Mouton (4-2-1, 4KO's) in the final two rounds to capture the fight. The judges however saw things differently.
The scores were all over the place, 40-36 Coffi, 39-37 Mouton, and 38-38 even resulting in an uneventful draw. -- Kurt Wolfheimer
Mouton vs Coffi Photos
Rojas Stops Ledesma!
Hard-hitting Jesus Rojas, 122.5, of Caguas, Puerto Rico stopped Andres Ledesma, 123, of Cartegena, Columbia at 2:14 of the fourth round of their scheduled eight round super bantamweight bout.
Rojas was the aggressor and sought to catch Ledesma on the ropes and went to work on his body. He boxed well in the opening round and won it with movement and combination punching.
Round two was even for two minutes until Rojas caught Ledesma on the ropes twice in the final minute of the round. The first time he connected with a hard overhand right followed by a left, and then a right uppercut and an overhand right. It was in Ledesma's best interest to keep the fight in the center of the ring which was easier said than done.
After a fairly even third round, Rojas picked up the pace in the fourth. He pinned Ledesma on the ropes and landed a right-left combination to the body followed by a right-left to the head. Once again Rojas chased Ledesma to the ropes and this time floored him with a left hook to the head.
Rojas followed up with a left-right-left combo that backed Ledesma up, and then landed an overhand right followed by three left hooks that rendered Ledesma defenseless. Referee David Fields stepped in with a timely stoppage.
Ledesma (14-9-1, 9 KOs) boxed well but was no match for the more powerful Rojas (11-0, 9 KOs) when his back was to the ropes. -- Rick Scharmberg
Rojas vs Ledesma Photos
Vargas Overwhelms Irrizarry!
Bronx, New York's Ronny Vargas raised his record to a perfect (7-0, 5 KOs) with a three round beat down of New York, NY's Roberto Irrizarry (2-4).
Ronny Vargas, 159, was in control throughout their six round middleweight bout by using his superior hand speed and long reach to systematically break down the shorter Roberto Irrizarry, 162.
The end looked inevitable as Vargas continually blasted away at Irrizarry with lead lefts and right hooks to both the body and head in a one sided second round.
Vargas continued the onslaught in round three. The inevitable end finally came when Irrizarry's corner threw in the towel after three Vargas overhand rights had a beaten down Irrizarry stumbling away in the corner at 2:21 of the 3rd round. -- Kurt Wolfheimer
Vargas vs Irrizarry Photos
Pierson Decisions Gonzalez!
Robert Pierson, 161, of Paterson, NJ took a unanimous decision over Angel David Gonzalez, 163.5, of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico in a six round middleweight bout.
Gonzalez pressured Pierson (7-1, 4 KOs) from the opening bell and focused his attack to the body. He won the first two minutes and stung Pierson with a left hook. Pierson fought back and landed a big straight right hand and a right uppercut in what was excellent two-way action.
Pierson kept Gonzalez (6-5-1, 3 KOs) off with a superior jab on his way to wining round two. Gonzalez narrowly took round three after he landed a hard left hook in the closing seconds.
Pierson boxed smart in the fourth by using his jab and moving well as Gonzalez chased him, but landed very little. Pierson controlled the round with his jab.
Both fighters were stung in the fifth but Pierson had the better round and landed more punches. He hurt Gonzalez with a right two minutes in, and Gonzalez returned the favor with a right of his own. Pierson finished the round with a nice left hook.
Pierson moved with precision in the sixth, with Gonzalez in hot pursuit. Gonzalez landed a booming left hook at the final bell, but Pierson already had the round in the bag.
The scores were 59-56 (twice) and 59-55 all for Pierson. -- Rick Scharmberg
Pierson vs Gonzalez Photos
Cruz Overcomes Mejia!
Undefeated featherweight prospect Luis Cruz 125 of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico raised his record to (6-0, 3 KOs) with a come from behind sixth round unanimous decision victory over a gritty Olvin Mejia, 126, of Laredo, Texas.
Mejia pressed the attack in the opening two rounds and continually found a home for several right hands on the face of Cruz. Mejia appeared to stun him with a right hook but he recovered quickly and boxed on the outside as the bell sounded to end the opening round.
Late in the second round the fight began to change as Cruz found his range working the head and the body of the aggressive Texan.
Cruz twisted Mejia around in the opening moments in round three with right hand on the chin. Mejia traded several combinations with Cruz in the center of the ring but was not able to solve the tight defense of the rangy Puerto Rican.
Now in control, Cruz pressed the attack in rounds four five with consistent combinations to the head and body of Mejia. Cruz pushed Mejia to the ropes with a tight four-punch combination but he was resilient and actually banged a heavy right hook just second before the bell sounded in the fourth.
Ahead on the cards, Cruz safely pushed Mejia around in the sixth and final round. That included a nice four-punch combination up top that sent the aggressive Texan back into the corner. Mejia fought his way out but Cruz avoided any big shots and boxed his way until the final bell.
All three judges score the bout in favor of Luis Cruz by scores of 58-56. The hard-hitting Olvin Mejia dropped his second straight (3-2-1, 3 KOs). -- Kurt Wolfheimer
Cruz vs Mejia Photos
