Fallout Boy: Stupid End To Fight Saves Us All From Talking About How Boring It Was
Don’t you just want to caption these shots with Three Stooges sound effects?
Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk. Whoop-whoop-whoop!
Saturday’s fight went down (and out) like this: Overmatched fighter (Puerto Rican welterweight Kermit Cintron) flails hard for three-and-a-half rounds, lands a lucky punch, surprises everyone including himself, trips, falls out of the ring, gets carted away like Stiller after zipping his beans above his frank and loses.
The winner in this kerfuffle, Paul Williams (39-1, 27 KOs), was named the technical victor because, well, technically he was the only one not strapped to a stretcher wearing a neck brace at the fight’s conclusion. And also, because he had a point lead after three-plus rounds.
Williams connected with another punch and tried to clinch, but slipped and fell to the canvas. Leaning forward and off balance, Cintron (32-3-1) tripped over Williams’ left leg and went headfirst through the ropes, hitting a monitor and a table with his head.
Cintron stayed down on his side for several minutes, but the fighter eventually said he felt fine to keep going. The ringside doctor wouldn’t allow it, and Cintron was taken away from the Home Depot Center in an ambulance.
Williams was awarded [the] victory by split decision because he led on two of the three judges’ scorecards. California rules require a decision if a fight ends by injury after the fourth round begins.
The most apt comment on the fight came from Williams:
“I wanted to hurt him with a punch, not by him falling out of the ring.”
A freak accident seemed about the only way either men were going to get hurt. Never mind the general gracelessness of two athletes falling over one another like drunk sailors riding a choppy sea – even before that, the fight was a mess. Many of the fans in attendance booed the lethargic fighters in the third and even second rounds of the inactive fight. As if the fighters edges weren’t dulled enough, (neither fighter landed more than 23 percent of their punches), what about the three judges who were seemingly watching different fights?
Judge Jen Kin scored it 40-36 for Williams, while Fritz Werner favored Williams 39-37. Jerry Cantu saw a completely different fight, scoring it 40-36 for Cintron.
Cintron? What can be said? He pooped the bed on this one. And Williams? Well, he’s been having trouble getting quality fighters to box him, maybe this burp will work in his favor. Heck, maybe it’s why he started (and, I guess, ended) the fight so cautiously. It’s like Pesci said in “Raging Bull,” If you win, you win. If you lose, you still win.
Unless you watched Saturday’s bout in hopes of seeing solid fighting – then you just lose.
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Photos courtesy of Manuel Perez / Hoganphotos.com
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