COMPUBOX AT RINGSIDE: COTTO VS. GOMEZ

by CompuBox

MARGARITO KO 6 CINTRON

Saturday night's rematch between Antonio Margarito and Kermit Cintron was a completely different fight in terms of action, but the result was ultimately the same as Cintron crumbled under the weight of "The Tijuana Tornado's" pressure - as well as a perfectly-placed hook to the body. With the sixth-round KO victory, the new IBF champion regained his place in boxing's most exciting and competitive weight class and ostensibly earned a unification fight against WBA kingpin and pound-for-pound entrant Miguel Cotto in July.

Margarito seized his second welterweight title belt the way he has won most of his fights in recent years - with relentless, spirit-sapping volume punching. Over the five completed rounds, Margarito averaged 113 punches - including a 133-punch deluge in round two - while Cintron averaged a more than respectable 81 over the same stretch (also peaking in round two with 85). But while most volume punchers sacrifice accuracy for numbers, such was not the case Saturday night as Margarito landed 42 percent of his punches overall (257 of 611) and 46 percent of his power punches (207 of 451). Conversely, Cintron connected on 30 percent of his shots overall (136 of 451) and while he landed 43 percent of his power punches (89 of 209) he threw just two more than Margarito landed. That canyon-esque gap in power punch effectiveness proved to be the difference between victor and vanquished.

Like the first fight, the jab was of little consequence for either man, especially after the first round that saw both connect on 16 of their 48 attempts. From the second round onward, Margarito landed 34 of 112 jabs (30 percent) and Cintron was just 31 of 194 (16 percent). Once Margarito realized he could wage war on the inside - and Cintron couldn't stop him from doing so - the Mexican moved inside and hammered away with impunity. From rounds two through the truncated sixth, Margarito out-landed Cintron 215-105 overall (an average of 22 more connects per round) and 181-74 in power punches (an average of 21 additional connects per round).

To get an idea of how high-impact Margarito-Cintron II was, consider that the typical welterweight averages 59 punches and 20 connects overall. In Saturday's fight, Cintron - who ended up losing - averaged 23 of 75 while Margarito was an astonishing 43 of 102. In terms of power punches the typical welterweight is 13 of 34, but Cintron averaged 15 of 35 and Margarito was an incredible 35 of 75. His round-by-round power connect totals of 26, 48, 48, 37, and 40 over the first five rounds almost makes one want to cringe and his 109 power attempts in round two and 90 more in round three established the foundation for Cintron's eventual destruction.

Cintron sought to exorcise the ghosts of the past, and while his effort might have been good enough to beat most other welterweights it wasn't sufficient to upend a 30-year-old Mexican who is now setting his sights on another Puerto Rican power puncher - Cotto.

COTTO KO 6 GOMEZ

Most boxing observers expected Saturday night's match between WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and "Contender" alum Alfonso Gomez to be a glorified sparring session, and one can certainly make that case considering the ease with which Cotto hammered Gomez into a sixth round corner retirement. The numbers were reflective of just how overpowering the pound-for-pound entrant was on Saturday night.

Cotto landed 188 of his 369 punches (51 percent) while Gomez connected on 63 of his 316 attempts (20 percent), which meant that the Puerto Rican star averaged 21 more connects per round - or seven more per minute. The power connect figures showed similar dominance as Cotto landed 125 of 213 for an extraordinary 59 percent connect rate while Gomez was 46 of 143 (32 percent). In the final three rounds Cotto out-landed Gomez by a withering 91-23 in power shots and by a sickening 129-29 overall. In rounds three and four, Cotto landed 70 and 71 percent of his power shots while Gomez steadily descended from his round two peak of 48 percent (15 of 31) to post power percentages of 34, 24 and 20.

In the weeks before the fight Gomez touted his increased effectiveness and commitment to the jab, and for good reason. While that was evident in his bouts against Martin Concepcion, Arturo Gatti and Ben Tackie it was not so against Cotto as he connected on just 17 of 173 (10 percent), including an 0 for 40 in round three. Meanwhile Cotto, who credits his jab for his career-defining victories over Zab Judah and Shane Mosley, was once again on the mark as he went 63 of 156 (40 percent), amassing double-digit connect totals in four of the five completed rounds. In the last three rounds, Cotto's jab out-landed Gomez's by a 38-6 margin.

In the end, Cotto walked through Gomez because he didn't respect the Mexican-American's punching power, and at times his relaxed and cavalier ring demeanor reflected that fact. But when Cotto got down to business, he inflicted the kind of sustained beating that rearranges faces in the short term and potentially ruin careers in the long term. Though Gomez clearly had the desire and courage to continue, the ringside physician did the only medically responsible thing by stopping the bout.

Cotto is tentative scheduled to fight July 26 against newly crowned IBF champion Antonio Margarito, and one must wonder if his wrecking ball tactics will work against the Mexican, who will be the most physically - and statistically - imposing fighter he has yet faced. Only time, as they say, will tell.