Sept. 8 PPV to feature Cintron-Feliciano and Karmazin-Messi
In the lead up to their pay-per-view match on September 8, former champions Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga have assured fans plenty of action. Several weeks ago, the two traded barbs and even a few shots at a Los Angeles press conference that made national headlines. Since then, Vargas and Mayorga have continued to taunt each other. Though neither fighter is as spry as they once were, their bout should be intriguing for as long as it lasts. However, two fights on the undercard, which have not generated much publicity, figure to be just as interesting.
In one fight, Kermit Cintron makes the second defense of his IBF welterweight title against unheralded Jesse Feliciano. The other bout features the gritty Roman Karmazin against Luca Messi in a junior middleweight scrap.
Fans might be most familiar with the hard-hitting Cintron (28-1, 26 KOs) who recently scored an impressive second round knockout over Walter Matthyse.
Since turning professional, Cintron has earned a reputation as one of the sport’s hardest punchers. With an overabundance of talented fighters in the welterweight division, Cintron hopes to become one of the best at 147 pounds by unifying all the belts.
“One of my goals is to unify the titles and be the undisputed welterweight champion of the world,” says Cintron calmly. “Any chance to unify the titles, I’ll take. Eventually, by 2008, I hope to do that. I want to fight everybody.”
Before his fight with Matthyse, Cintron hadn’t fought since October 2006. Since all the other titlists and big-name welterweights are preparing for their own bouts this fall, Cintron opted to stay active by signing to fight Jesse Feliciano instead of simply waiting for a big money fight to come his way.
Many see Feliciano (15-5-3, 9 KOs) as merely a tune-up. Cintron though, says he is not overlooking his foe. “I take my fights seriously. I’m fighting Jesse Feliciano for a reason. I’m not taking this fight lightly—not at all. Jesse is a great fighter. He seems strong from the fights I’ve seen him in. He never backs up.”
Cintron seems to hint that his maturity comes from his humbling experience in having lost to Antonio Margarito in 2005. Back then, Cintron was too green a fighter, solely relying on his punching power to win. Since then, Cintron has developed into a more well-rounded boxer under the watchful eye of trainer Emmanuel Steward, who he credits with helping him grow as a fighter.
“It’s a loss that just happened. I wasn’t prepared for the fight, but I took it like a warrior,” says Cintron of his loss to Margarito. “It did me good [actually]. It got me stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally. [I realized] I needed the proper trainer and under Emmanuel Steward I’ve been improving a lot. I’m still learning, I’m still young. As time goes on, you’ll see I’ll improve more and more.”
As for Jesse Feliciano, he feels now is his time to show he’s a better fighter than most give him credit for.
“I’m ready, I have nothing to lose,” Feliciano says. “I can’t believe I’m getting a title shot. I’ve been waiting for this all my life. It’s going to be a tremendous show.”
Boxing fans consider Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Paul Williams, and Kermit Cintron as the top welterweights in the division. Feliciano might find himself overshadowed by his more well-known counterparts, but he does have the heart to compete and hang tough.
That’s served him well in fights against veteran Vince Phillips, Alfonso Gomez of the Contender, and former prospect Delvin Rodriguez. Against Rodriguez, Feliciano trailed during the whole bout, but managed to knock out his opponent in the late rounds.
Still, Feliciano recognizes Cintron is a step-up for him.
“He’s not just any other fighter. Cintron’s at a whole other level,” Feliciano says. “He’s focused and he comes to fight so it’s going to be a tremendous war.”
Similar to Feliciano, Luca Messi (30-7-1, 11 KOs) finds himself relatively unknown to the American public. In fact, his fight with Karmazin will be only his second fight in the United States.
Due to promotional problems, Messi has been unable to fight during the past year. Now that he’s settled those issues and signed with Don King Promotions, Messi anxiously awaits his opportunity to face an elite fighter like Roman Karmazin to show that he belongs in the junior middleweight division.
“I’m fighting a tough fighter like Karmazin because he’s very highly regarded,” says Messi. “I came here to win. When I win, that will place me in the highest possible position for a title fight. I came to America because I was promised that.”
Karmazin (35-2-1, 22 KOs) meanwhile, hopes a resounding win against Messi will keep him in the title hunt. Since losing his championship belt in a highly controversial decision to Cory Spinks in St. Louis, Spinks’ hometown, Karmazin has been taking on all-comers.
Karmazin claims he’s not looking past Messi, but he says fighting Spinks again is crucial to his career.
“I don’t take Messi for granted. I heard he’s a very good fighter with a good pedigree. And on this level, for what we’re fighting for, I don’t expect him to be anything but world class,” says Karmazin. [But] I would like a rematch with Spinks. That’s actually all I want right now.”
Working in his corner that night will be Freddie Roach, who recently replaced his late trainer Boris Zykanov. Karmazin states losing Zykanov has been very difficult for him, but he’s sure Roach will help him do everything necessary to win, just as Zykanov would have.
“Losing Boris is a very big loss to me on many levels. But right now I’ve been working with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card and that’s where I trained before with Boris, so I’m in the same environment,” says Karmazin. “Only God knows what the results are going to be. Anything can happen in boxing, but I come to win.”
