MISMATCH!

By Michael Swann

Last Saturday night on HBO Championship Boxing, Miguel Cotto, 32-0 (26), defeated Alfonso Gomez, 18-4-2 (8), by TKO at the end of round five. That’s the part that goes into the record books; but if you were in Atlantic City to see it or watched it on your new plasma, it was just a slaughter, pure and simple.

No one expected Gomez to beat Cotto, or even provide much of a challenge. He was just there to be an “opponent.” This is by no means anything new to boxing. The question here is just where do you draw the line between being an “opponent” and a “sitting duck?” Aside from his tour on “The Contender,” Gomez is best known for defeating a shot Arturo Gatti, regarded as a “C” fighter himself, albeit a very exciting one.

HBO and Main Events had one fight left on their contract with Gatti, who was box office magic, particularly in Atlantic City. Recognizing the beatings that he had endured throughout his storybook career they searched through a list of names as long as the Dead Sea Scrolls to find just the right opponent for Gatti, a name who couldn’t hurt him and someone that he might actually beat. They chose Gomez.

Well, thanks to reality TV Gomez supplied the name, but he ruined the party by beating Gatti to a pathetic pulp, his skills even more deteriorated than they feared.

Gomez followed that win with a decision victory over trial horse Ben Tackie, who has fought all the big names and was a title challenger against Kostya Tszyu in 2002. Tackie is 29-10-1 (17), but 5-8-1 since Tszyu, and is currently on a four fight losing streak including last Friday night.

Still, Tackie was a recognizable name so Alfonso’s decision somehow created the perception that Gomez was ready to step up.

Miguel Cotto needed a tune up bout after a series of tough fights in preparation for his July 26 meeting with the Kermit Cintron-Antonio Margarito winner. Gomez was once again selected to be the opposition, providing again the name while riding the wave of his modest recent success.

Gomez was a huge underdog, but although no one thought that he could win, his heart was never questioned and most experts felt that he would provide a brave show before Cotto blasted him out of there early.

Cotto is a brutal, devastating puncher, and the best in the game when it comes to body work. In every imaginable category he was superior to Gomez. Far better fighters than Gomez had felt the effect of his jackhammer shots. If there is a weakness to his game, it’s that he’s been rocked in the past by some big punchers.

The problem for Alfonso, however, was that he has never been a power hitter. In fact, he’s 50-50 to lose the wet paper bag test.

So the stage was set as Cotto entered the ring to make the fourth defense of his WBA welterweight title. It was like “Killer Cotto Faces Bambi,” and the results were predictable.

Cotto scored a knockdown in round two from a missed punch while Gomez was off balance. It was a bad break that Gomez didn’t need and the first knockdown of his career. But he was getting hit with some solid shots throughout the round anyway, and you could see it was child’s play for Miguel.

Gomez was decked again in the third from a body shot to the solar plexus, just before the bell. Then, after taking a steady whipping in round four, with Cotto landing 60 of 94 shots, Gomez was dropped again in round five from a jab.

Gomez’ trainer/father Alfonso Sr. spoke to his son after the fourth round, encouraging Gomez to “throw everything you have.” Meanwhile the ring doctor advised Gomez and his corner that he was giving them one more round, saying that he was taking a lot of shots and he was concerned.

If I was Alfonso, I would invite that doctor for Thanksgiving dinner before I would host Dad.

Referee Randy Neumann didn’t do Gomez any favor by allowing the fight to continue, either.

While we’re at it, HBO should never have green lighted this mismatch from jump street, and Contender promoter Jeff Wald is either delusional or a masochist. Certainly Wald knew that his fighter could never be competitive with Cotto, even on his best day.

The compubox stats only tell part of the story, considering that a Cotto punch probably has five times the velocity of a Gomez love tap. In any event, the stats are ugly too.

Cotto landed 188 of 369 total punches, while Alfonso could only manage 63 connects in 316 shots. In power punches, Miguel landed 125 of 213, 59%, while Gomez came limping in with a mere 46 of 143.

After the fight, Gomez’ face was puffed all over, both eyes swollen, particularly the right. God only knows how much internal damage he absorbed. Meanwhile Cotto looked to be virtually untouched, which is not far from the truth.

It was the kind of fight that ends, or at least alters careers. If not for the good doctor, it might have even been life altering for Alfonso. All the pieces were in place for a more tragic conclusion, but fortunately that is not the topic today. Gomez should not have been in there against a human wrecking ball. He clearly isn’t title material, and now one wonders how much Cotto left in him.

A Miguel Cotto is a very special athlete, and while he should be entitled to take a soft fight every now and then, he performs so consistently at a high level that a mere “opponent” without power, speed or defense to defend himself is in danger of being seriously hurt if he has too much heart and a brave corner.

And that’s the story of Cotto-Gomez, one step above a girls fight on You Tube.

MARGARITO-CINTRON

I don’t know where Kermit Cintron goes from here. He’s a good fighter with a wicked right hand, yet his Sunday best didn’t even put a grimace on Antonio Margarito’s face.

It was basically the same as the 2005 fight in many ways, except that it ended in round six instead of five, and it was a liver shot that ended it. Cintron’s right eye was cut again in the fifth, and Margarito was a relentless buzz saw who mentally beat Cintron before finishing him physically.

There were some good trades in this one, but Margarito generally got the best of it, outlanding Kermit 257 to 136, with a 207 to 89 advantage in power shots.

Cintron came to fight and did his best but with Margarito, he seems out of his league. Margarito is a warrior and wouldn’t be an easy out for anyone. Antonio moves on to Cotto in July and probably faces his toughest test, but regardless of the outcome, a third fight with Cintron makes no sense at all.

And, in the talented welterweight division going to the back of the line can be an exercise in futility. So Kermit, how do you feel about the junior middleweight division?