The boo birds were out early and often, and for very good reason, as little to nothing in the way of action occurred in the first few rounds. Martinez controlled whatever action took place, with Cintron far too content to clinch and hardly fighting with any fluidity whatsoever.
Martinez went into boxing mode in the third and fourth rounds, circling to his left in the southpaw stance, which left him inside of Cintron’s punching range. The tactic goes against conventional wisdom, but it was up to Cintron to do something about it. He did not, which meant more rounds in the bank for Martinez and curiosity among the crowd as to why they’d instead attend a boxing card than spending the evening at home, or out on the town, with the one they love on Valentine’s Day.
Trainer Ronnie Shields, working with Cintron for the second time, expressed disappointment with his charge after four rounds, demanding he get busier on the inside. It didn’t happen; Cintron instead continued with an attack that consisted of one punch at a time and virtually no clue as to how to cut off the ring and slow down the mobile Martinez.
Just as it appeared the fight was heading nowhere fast, things took a dramatic turn at the end of the seventh. Martinez caught Cintron with a straight left hand at center ring, resulting in a delayed knockdown as Cintron was buzzed and forced to take a knee.
Referee Frank Santore began to count, at which point Cintron remained on the canvas and protesting the call, claiming a headbutt occurred. Cintron arose from the canvas as Santore appeared to reach ten and clearly waved off the fight, which sent the fighter into a full protest mode.
Confusion soon followed, with Martinez celebrating what he thought was a knockout victory in one corner, while Team Cintron demanded an immediate overturn in the other. Cintron not only won the argument, but was given 2 ½ minutes to recover from the knockdown, as Santore offered some half-assed excuse as to why the fight should be allowed to continue.
Action resumed in the eighth, with both fighters re-energized. Cintron had a better round than most to that point, but went into the final four rounds with a cut over his left eye and atop his forehead, and seemingly in a deep hole on the scorecards. However, it was a late point deduction from Martinez in the twelfth and final round that saved Cintron from suffering his third loss.
The disappointing fight ended with an even more disappointing decision. Martinez won on one card by a margin of 116-110, but the scores were overruled by matching cards of 113-113.
Martinez remains unbeaten in his last 29 fights in having to settle for the draw, as his record now moves to 44-1-2 (27KO). The lone loss came nine years ago at the hands of Margarito, scoring an early knockdown but was eventually stopped in seven rounds.
Margarito is also responsible for the lone two losses on Cintron’s ledger, though the Puerto Rican had been quite vocal in recent weeks in the wake of the hand wrap scandal that came in his conqueror’s failed January 24 bid against “Sugar” Shane Mosley.
Considering the amount of excuses he offered for the past defeats, Cintron never came close to redeeming himself in the ring, with the fortunate draw verdict sending his record to 30-2-1 (27KO). He has now been involved in two straight fights that were less than action packed, this coming on the heels of his 12-round stinker with Lovemore N’Dou last November.
Stinker is a word that will most likely never describe any fight involving Alfredo Angulo. The undefeated junior middleweight prospect kicked off the party with a five round thrashing of late replacement Cosme Rivera.
Things became very interesting in the early going. A clash of heads left Angulo with a cut outside of his right eye. The referee missed out on this detail, instead ruling the nick a result of a punch, which meant that Angulo was forced to fight or else be declared a TKO loser.
Angulo chose the former, which was very bad news for Rivera. The former welterweight title challenger had his moments, including his right uppercut which landed several times from the outside. It was otherwise all Angulo, who picked up the pace and took over for good in the second round, never looking back.
Rivera was rocked several times and all but out on his feet midway through the third, only for the referee to allow the fight to continue. Angulo stalked as Rivera could manage no more than a few clinches whenever he needed to clear his head.
The onslaught continued in the fourth and fifth, though there were several moments in which the fight could’ve been stopped. It took for a member of the Florida Boxing Commission to do what the referee and Rivera’s corner failed to do – intervene on behalf of the safety of the fighter.
The official time was 2:38 of round five.
Angulo improves to 15-0 (12KO) with the win. The California-based Mexican banger has now scored 11 straight stoppages, with his last three airing live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark.
Rivera’s career continues to head in the opposite direction. The loss puts him at 1-3-1NC in his last five, as he dips overall to 31-12-2 (22KO). Rivera was a very late replacement for Danny Perez, who pulled out of the fight earlier this week. Perez himself was a late replacement for Ricardo Mayorga, who may or may not have suffered a valid injury while in training camp for this fight.
The show was presented by Gary Shaw Productions and Don King Productions, in association with DiBella Entertainment.
