CINTRON vs LAU; A FIGHT FAN'S DREAM! By Elisa Harrison

December 12 marks the date when Fernando "El Feroz" Vargas returns to action, this time around on TELEFUTURA, from Casino del Sol, in Tucson, Arizona. While Vargas is a proven warrior, and always a draw, yours truly finds the co-feature of the night between Reading, Pennsylvania's Kermit Cintron and Miami, Florida's Hicklet Lau to be a much more interesting proposition than Vargas vs Tony Marshall.

Kermit "The Killer" Cintron, still undefeated in 20 bouts, will face a very tough challenge in Cuban born now resident of Miami, Hicklet "El Marielito" Lau, 18-10-2, 9 KOs. Don't be mislead by Lau's record, he is a guy who has been thrown to the lions time and time again; much to his credit Lau has never been knocked out in his career.

Cintron comes off what on paper looks like a decisive win against Sinaloa, Mexico fighter Jesus Valverde. Those of you who saw the fight, might remember that Cintron was exposed and rocked by his limited opponent. The victory -a co$tly one for Cintron's promoters- was not as sweet as they may have hoped for.

Cintron and his trainer/manager Marshall Kaufman were confident that the Sinaloan opponent would not go past 6 rounds, and stated so ad nauseum during the pre-fight media events. However, the fight went the distance of 10 and Kermit's handlers offered an abundance of excuses to justify their man's inability to stop Valverde.

If Valverde was tough, Lau may prove to be as tough or tougher, and the only question mark here is the fact that Lau is fighting at 147 lbs for the first time. In reality, the extra pounds may help the 6 feet tall Lau, who has been training very hard and comfortably at this new weight class.

There is no question that in Hicklet Lau Cintron will be meeting the classiest opponent of his career, and although Lau has been knocked down, it is worthy of note that he has never been put to sleep by the likes of Daniel Attah, Rafael Ruelas, Ben Tackie, Cosme Rivera, Emmanuel Clottey, Henry Bruseles, (their fight held at Level Club in Miami should be a candidate for fight of the year) and Carlos Maussa.

Please mark your calendars, December 12th, from the Casino Del Sol's intimate AVA Amphitheater in Southern Arizona, TELEFUTURA will broadcast live.