Paul Williams beats Kermit Cintron in bizarre bout
Ever since John Graham Chambers drew up the rules for the Marquess of Queensbury in 1865 everything you could possibly imagine to happen in boxing has happened.
That was until Saturday night.
One thing that nobody has ever seen before is a boxer exiting the ring through the ropes, gliding through the air like Superman and crashing down on a desk WWE-style, just three-and-a-half rounds into the bout.
Unbelievably this was the outcome of the much-heralded fight between Paul Williams and Kermit Cintron. The hapless Cintron took flight while trying to avoid a sprawling Williams and before you knew it “The Killer” was clean through the ropes and in the laps of those sat ringside, sustaining head and shoulder injuries along the way.
It was a bizarre end to a fight that promised much in the build-up but flattered to deceive for the time it was in motion. This was supposed to be two top light-middleweights going toe-to-toe. Williams is the most avoided man in boxing, he will fight anyone, Kelly Pavlik, Floyd Mayweather, I’m sure he’d put on an extra four stone and fight David Haye if it meant getting a world title shot, but no-one fancies a crack at the awkward southpaw. While Kermit Cintron has proved himself a quality fighter within this weight class.
The first three rounds were an uneventful disappointment and it was going down as the worst fight of the year so far. The pair cagily circled each other and traded a succession of air shots in the opening few stanzas. Neither was really dominating, Cintron was trying to box while Williams tried to close down the ring. They were struggling for rhythm but things began to open up in the last part of the third and the early fourth as “The Punisher” started to use his freaky frame to tie up Cintron.
Halfway through the fourth we were treated to a moment that no one who follows boxing will ever forget. The two were involved in a clinch when Williams clumsily slipped and rolled. Seeing the 6ft 1in pugilist rolling across the ring was odd enough; seeing Cintron trying to avoid him and precede to fly through the ropes was flabbergasting.
As he smashed on to desk he hit a monitor on his way down and sent onlookers jumping for cover before he rolled off on to the floor and held his head. Williams gingerly clambered up and peered over the ropes confused as to where his opponent had gone.
It really was like something out of WWE, except they are trained stuntmen who fall onto tables for effect, Cintron was actually hurt. The Killer stayed down for 10 minutes before he was strapped to a stretcher and taken to hospital.
Events proceeded to get even more farcical as referee Pat Russell began running around the ring like decapitated poultry trying to work out what the rules were. Surely anyone in control with the capacity for sensible thought would have ruled the match ruled a no-contest. However in their wisdom they went by the book, apparently under Californian rules a fight of over three rounds can go to the cards, so it did and Williams took it by split decision. A hollow victory for The Punisher and an unfair black mark on Cintron’s record.
It was a remarkable night that has to be filed alongside the parachute jumper at the Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe fight and Oliver McCall bursting into tears against Lennox Lewis as the strangest occurrence to happen in a bout.
You would hope that they can somehow strike this one from the history books and the pair can go again. In the world of professional boxing though common sense rarely prevails.
It is just another day for the colourful Cintron. He has the distinction of holding the greatest moniker in boxing, if not the world, but has had a tough life. He suffered a poverty-stricken childhood and lost both his parents at a young age before he moved to America to live with his uncle and took up boxing to channel his anger and fight his way out of the slums. Since then he has carved out a successful career as a charismatic and destructive fighter, but you get the feeling if someone was going to be involved in a crazy fight like this it would probably be Cintron.
As for Williams he may be the most avoided man in boxing, but its bit much that opponents are now hurling themselves out of the ring in order to get away from him.
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