Angulo, Campbell, Cintron, Funeka, Martinez, Rivera And Those Days

On March 18, 1991, Simon Brown battered his good friend Maurice Blocker for the unified welterweight championship. Julio Cesar Chavez destroyed the overmatched John Duplessis. Mike Tyson traded bombs with Donovan "Razor" Ruddock over seven one-sided (in favor of Tyson) rounds. Those were the days.

This February 14, 2009 reminds me of those days. Those days when you could see a few championship-caliber fighters on the same fight card. Those days are few and far between now, with limited TV spots and pay-per-view dates. Don’t expect to see a Chavez or Tyson-level performer on Saturday, but Alfredo Angulo, Nate Campbell, Kermit Cintron and Sergio Martinez damn sure aren’t stiffs. And the best part about Saturday’s card is that it is on "free" cable (HBO). Alas, just like those days.

Now that I am done reminiscing, on to my fight predictions.

Alfredo Angulo (14-0, 11 KOs) should have no problems with late fill-in Cosme Rovera (31-11-2, 22 KOs). It should be a mismatch. Period. My guess is that Angulo will win by stoppage by the midway point of the fight.

I am leaning towards the battle-tested Nate "The Galaxxy Warrior" Campbell in his showdown with his tall, hard-punching adversary Ali Funeka (30-1, 25 KOs).  Campbell appears to be riding high, even at 36 years of age, after his career-defining beatdown of then-undefeated lightweight champion Juan Diaz. However, here’s what concerns me.

Campbell has a lot of tread on those tires of his, and could get old overnight. He’s also facing a freakishly tall lightweight who is also riding high after annihilating the well-respected Zahir Raheem. Nonetheless, I’m sticking with the Galaxxy Warrior to dim Funeka’s rising star via hard-fought decision.

Now here’s the toughest one to predict. Sergio Martinez (44-1, 24 KOs) is fresh off a demolition of then-junior middleweight contender Alex Bunema. That fight was eye-opening. Martinez showed uncanny speed of hand and foot, and appeared to catch the eye of HBO’s ringside announcers as well. For all of the criticism that he has received, his opponent Kermit Cintron (30-2, 27 KOs) has only lost twice. The common thread here – both men were stopped by Antonio Margarito.

What does this tell us? Not much, but after looking more closely at their records, it’s clear to me that Cintron has fought superior competition. Cintron’s competition level and punching power will lead him to shock and stop Martinez late in a mild upset.