THE CURSE OF KERMIT
NEW YORK, NY— Well, after last night, you’ve got to start wondering whether Kermit Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KOs– but really more like 32-0-4, 28 KOs) is cursed. Entering the ring practically undefeated last Saturday—his only losses before this weekend were against cement-packer Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs)— Cintron was literally tossed out of the ring and handed a loss without opponent Paul Williams (39-1, 27 KOs) landing a significant punch. As far as questionable decisions go, this is probably one of the biggest non-cheating related injustices in the history of the sport– and yet, everyone, apparently including Cintron himself and his promotion team, are will to let it go and fight the rematch.
CROWD, ANNOUNCERS DEEM FIRST THREE ROUNDS A SNOOZEFEST
The first three rounds of this fight were some of the most interesting strategic boxing we’ve seen in a while (even more interesting than Mosley/Mayweather). Cintron was trying to get a handle on tall, awkward Williams’ style. Williams was trying to figure out how to hit Cintron without running straight into one of his notorious right hands. By the end of the third round, Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant were exasperatedly pointing to the single-digit Compubox numbers and shrugging while an increasingly volatile crowd booed and disrupted the fighters.
PUBLIC PRESSURE BRINGS BOTH FIGHTERS DOWN
Both Cintron and Williams, out of respect for the crowd, seemed to take that criticism seriously in the fourth, where they started taking visible risks and leaving themselves a bit more open. Williams had to bend down to hit Cintron, and at one point bent down a little too low and fell. Cintron couldn’t stop his body’s momentum and tripped right over Williams’ fallen body and out onto a computer monitor. Williams get’s a “1” in the Win column for this; Cintron a loss. Larry Merchant points out that “both fighters will get paid, everyone else will leave unhappy,” but Cintron’s (who was very much responsive during the entire ordeal) emotional reaction to the news made it seem that maybe Larry forgot someone in that calculation.
THE SCORECARDS DON’T TELL A STORY
In the fairest of worlds, a win or a loss requires that either the losing fighter commit a series of actions that lead to his loss or that the winning fighter commit a series of actions that leads to his victory. The cruelest element to this story is that neither fighter had the time to do either and, if anything, it was Cintron who was doing more to win. Williams was sheepish and cautious for the better of three rounds, only finally picking up the pace in the fourth. I had the fight two rounds to one for Cintron, and the one round I gave to Williams was the second, because neither fighter really moved during that round and Williams seemed at least a little less defensive.
CALIFORNIA STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION OUT TO LUNCH HERE
Cintron’s “loss” is a result of some outdated, arcane rule by the California State Athletic Commission rarely used for obvious reasons. If a fight is stopped for any reason unrelated to the actual boxing after the third rounds, the scorecards have it. Meaning Cintron didn’t get a scorecard decision because he was injured– if a bomb had gone off in that venue injuring both fighters, they would have gone to the scorecards, too. It does not take into any consideration that the strategy behind a 12-round fight is fundamentally different than that of a 3-round fight. Had Cintron and Williams known there were only 3 rounds to fight, they wouldn’t have been saving energy, or playing defense, and would have gone for the quick knockout. Instead, they spent the first three rounds trying to figure out the other fighter in order to move in for the kill in later rounds when either of them became tired. There is absolutely no equivalence between a three-round fight and a 12-round fight, and to suggest that Cintron was losing in a fight with single-digit Compubox numbers is ridiculous and thoroughly unfair. Perhaps the California State Athletic Commission had some sort of spirit to it, to make sure that no fight night goes to waste. But the letter of this law is absurd and should be rewritten or completely thrown out as soon as possible.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Sadly, there is no sign that the Cintron camp will contest the decision. Cintron’s promoter, Lou Dibella, tweeted out early Sunday morning the good news that Cintron is safe and sound, that the entire camp was upset, and that he was looking for a rematch. Wait– rematch? There wasn’t even a first match to begin with! What DiBella and company should be demanding is the revoking of this rule and a clean slate for both fighters, a complete redo. Cintron does not have to redeem himself for a loss he didn’t garner. If anyone is to blame for this situation, it’s the people setting up the ropes and ringside area, who could have probably done a better job of making it more difficult for a fighter to unwillingly leap out of the ring. For now, all we can do as a community of boxing consumers and enthusiasts is make a vocal and adamant opposition to this grossly unfair law. Before we can get to enforcing the rules with issues such as steroids or illegal hand-wraps, we’ve got to make sure those rules are worth enforcing. The rule that condemned Cintron to a third fake loss is not.
WHO YOU CAN TALK TO
Here is the email listed on the California State Athletic Commission’s page. Their general phone number is (916) 263-2195 and their email is [email protected]. If you’ve got a couple of minutes, shoot them an email and ask them to reconsider their decision tonight and rewrite their official rules so that other fighters will no longer have to fear a career blight because of a freak accident. And if you’re not feeling cranky enough to pick up the good fight against the CSAC, email Lou DiBella ([email protected]) and ask them to reconsider their request for a rematch, requesting a reversal of the decision and a No Contest ruling instead. That team needs all the encouragement it can get.