Saturday noche’s HBO “After-Dark” twin bill with WBC welter champion Andre Berto vs. IBF Jr. Welter title holder Juan Urango in the main event, and Kermit Cintron vs. Alfredo Angulo in IBF Jr. middleweight eliminator, lived up to expectations in the action department. 

The Cintron-Angulo opener surprised in its going the distance - guess here was Cintron at 30-2-1, 27 KO’s and Angulo undefeated at 15 wins with 12 stoppages, was a given to end before the final bell - but the mutual chin construction held up from start to finish. 

Cintron took the early advantage of size using effective jab to set up straight right hands - Angulo absorbed the early Cintron combinations without a blink - and would counter with intermittent flurries. 

Wasn’t until the halfway mark that Cintron’s early success had slowed a bit , and following a stanza seven coin flipper that saw hot exchanges, the door opened a bit for the undefeated Mexican. 

Come the final round ending bell, I saw the slower starting Angulo drawing even after ten stanzas and grabbing the championship rounds to eke out the win at 115-113 in points, and 7-5 using round by round method - the  official scoring disagreed with my view, and went Cintron 116-112 on all three cards.   

Post Scripts:

• Kermit Cintron (31-2-1, 27 KOs) ~ age 29 - big at 5’ 11" with power in both hands - improved technique a plus. Will put people in the seats regardless of the opposition - that’s the good news - not so good is the shortage of stamina that will hurt when facing the elite incoming at 154.

• Alfredo Angulo (15-1, 12 KOs) ~ age 26 - rock solid chin coupled with matching heart makes for crowd-pleasing credentials - had he gotten the win a natural would be Angulo -Spinks with the IBF strap the prize.

……………………………….............................................                                                  ……………………………….....................................

The one a tale of two champions - Berto the WBC welter champion and Urango arriving as IBF jr. welter strap holder - and what we got was Berto giving the Colombian a boxing clinic over 12 fast paced stanzas. 

It was clear come the halfway mark that Berto had too many skills for Urango who’s all about toughness and pressure - problem last noche, the Berto hand and foot speed as he moved left to right, in and out, would have Urango puzzled from start to finish.       

The Berto offense was classic boxer/puncher with a bit of taking a walk around the park tossed in - the inside game was non-existent for the most part with Berto tying up his opponent, who did little infighting of his own. 

The scoring went all Berto 118-110, 118-110, 117-111 - my unofficial agreed with Berto 117-111 in points and in rounds 9-3.
      
Post Scripts:

• Berto (25-0, 19 KOs) ~ age 25 - young and gifted - but before wading  deeper among the welterweight upper clientele (Cotto, Mosley, Clottey) there’s still time to upgrade the impressive stick, move, pop, counter style.

• Urango ( 21-2-1, 16 KOs) ~ age 28 - the IBF Jr. welter strap still property of the durable Colombian. Good names among the 140 field in Bradley, Witter, Kotelnik, Malignaggi  to drop a few.

Saturday referee report card:

• Good ol’  Teli Ass-imenios got the prelim - entertainment his specialty - more slapstick than ring official at work. Held at Hollywood, FL - maybe sometimes confuses city and state with the film location with same name. Brutal sums this clown up.

• Feature attraction went to Tommy Kimmons - slower pace in movement than the quick darting Ass-imenios - but house favorite Tommy gets the infamous nod in the lip service department. No matter how we slice it, both these hacks are as minor league as it gets.

 Commentators - Bob Papa - Maxie boy Kellerman - Lummox Lewis got the assignment-  let me put it this way, only pro among the trio is Papa. Shame on HBO - appears the BAD for Boxing After Dark was designed as an inside joke.