Berto still not shining…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Another victory and another “eh” from The Boneman regarding welterweight boxing champion Andre Berto.
Berto had his way with junior welterweight champion Juan Urango in earning an easy unanimous decision last night.
When I first saw Berto three years ago, what amazed me was his relaxed attitude and blistering five-six punch combinations.
I don’t understand that as the prospects get older, they start the mundane “one-two and that’s it” approach.
I know the competition is tougher at the elite level, but there has got to be a time when you just trust your skills and heart to get the job done.
Berto was spending a good portion of the night holding instead of really letting his hands go. Maybe I was just cranky watching the fight at 2 a.m., but it certainly didn’t make me clamor for more of the youngster. And if you know me, I WANT to believe in Berto because he is good for the sport.
Urango is built like a truck, can’t believe how thick he is. But he never really had what looked like a real plan to attack Berto.
On this night, he looked like David Tua in his heavyweight title bout vs. Lennox Lewis. Slow and plodding and unable to do anything offensively.
Scores were 117-111 and 118-110 (twice). My groggy card read 118-110 as well.
In the co-feature, junior middleweight Kermit Cintron put his name back on the boxing map with a unanimous decision over Alfredo Angulo.
And after six rounds, had turned me into a believer. But those final six rounds were just weird and don’t have me thinking Cintron is any more ready for a big fight than he was entering.
Let me explain.
Through the first seven rounds, I had it 5-2 for Cintron. His speed and power were too much for the up-and-comer.
But in rounds 8-11, Cintron did nothing. The HBO crew was harping on the fact Cintron wasn’t letting Angulo fight his type of fight. Though true, Cintron didn’t land one memorable shot in that time. He was tiring and holding and retreating.
So through the 11th, I had it 5-5-1. Cintron guts out the 12th round, for sure, and earns the win. But if I was a Cintron die-hard supporter, might turn the fight off after the seventh round when watching it again.
Cintron’s biggest opponent has been his own nerves, and he conquered them Saturday. Maybe it’ll lead to something bigger.
For Angulo, I think he wins a rematch. Didn’t seem like the kid was ready to go 12 rounds after all the quick KOs in his previous bouts. Wake-up call, but one I think he’ll take in stride.
***
Former Central Oklahoma wrestler Jared Hess had no problems in knocking out Yosmany Cabezas in the third round late Friday night in the semifinals of
the middleweight tournament of Bellator.
Hess used his wrestling skills all night, taking down Cabezas repeatedly and dictating the action. After winning the first two rounds, Hess hammered Cabezas in the third and forced the referee to stop the fight.
Hess will fight Hector Lombard in the finals. Lombard scored a first-round knockout Friday. The winner will make $175,000 combined for the three fights.
Hope to catch up with Hess later this week and get his thoughts.
MMA is back in the spotlight as WEC might have its biggest fight ever (at least one I can remember) with the rematch between Mike Brown and Urijah Faber next Sunday. Brown stunned the MMA world with a KO of Faber in December. Have much more on that and other MMA news this week.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment