Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (pictured) made easy work of Kermit Cintron

Although the timing of the stoppage by referee Hector Afu was questionable, there was no doubt who the dominant man was in Saul Alvarez’s TKO of Kermit Cintron at the Monumental Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, Mexico tonight. Alvarez, making the third defence of his WBC light-middleweight title, never gave Cintron a chance and went through the gears to put the Puerto Rican challenger on the floor before forcing the finish in the fifth round.

It was a cagey start with neither man wanting to make a mistake, and for the first couple of rounds Cintron, 32, looked as if he could be competitive with the young Mexican, but Alvarez’s punches were crisp and fast. Beginning to bring the right hand in behind his jab, he pushed Cintron on to the back foot and controlled center ring well. It was never going to be enough for the aggressive Alvarez (39-0-1, 29KO’s), and he started turning up the heat.

Hooks to the body and head from Alvarez hurt Cintron (33-5-1, 28KO’s) in the fourth, and he did well to stay on his feet at times, but already Cintron looked a beaten man. A combo of punches ending in a right hand put Cintron on the deck and although he beat the count looked unsteady on his feet. Credit to his spirit,  he decided to fight fire with fire and threw with Alvarez when the action commenced, but he was coming off second best and took far too many shots as the round came to a close.

Cintron sags against the ropes moments before getting stopped

In the corner Cintron’s trainer Ronnie Shields was concerned enough to ask his man if he knew where he was, and it was a justified question, but Cintron showed a willingness to go on despite the inevitable outcome. Alvarez didn’t jump on him straight away, instead picking his shots and showing maturity beyond his years, picking off Cintron with hurtful looking punches but it was still a bit of a surprise when the referee dived in and called the fight off. Cintron had eaten a solid right hand that staggered him but it didn’t seem to rob him of his senses.

There seemed to be no complaint from either Cintron or his corner about the finish so maybe Cintron was as badly hurt as referee Hector Afu believed, but the fight wouldn’t have lasted much longer and Cintron would almost certainly have been knocked out had it gone on.

There’s now talk of Alvarez facing countryman and WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in front of 50,000 fans in a bull ring in Mexico, and it could be a case of striking while the iron’s hot for promoters Top Rank, but nothing has been confirmed.

1. Alvarez aiming to set up Chavez Jr. fight with win over Cintron