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July 10, 2006 |
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EXCLUSIVE:
Cock-Sure Steward:
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And, according to Steward, he has just the fighter to do it. No, not Wladimir Klitschko, nor Jermain Taylor. How about this "big name" guy, Kermit Cintron, whom he started training for Cintron's last fight this past March against David Estrada.
Before you scoff, remember whom Steward trained to beat Lennox Lewis in 1994: Oliver McCall, with five losses on his 29 bout career.
When asked by Boxing2006/Pound4Pound.com if Cintron could beat Mayweather, the usually verbose Steward said one word, “Yes." It was a dead-certain kind of yes. No hesitation. Statement of fact from "Above." Asked if he saw flaws in the worlds best pound-for-pounder, he said again, "Yes. Mayweather is a great fighter, but every fighter has flaws." Flatly spoken, no emotion -- and no ifs ands or buts.
While Steward is eager for a crack at Mayweather, the obvious question is would Floyd be interested in a contender like Cintron after rejecting $8 million from Top Rank's Bob Arum to fight welterweight champ Antonio Margarito? According to Steward, "I was hearing from reliable sources that if Mayweather couldn't get Oscar, he would want to fight Cintron." We all have our "sources," but with guys like Manny Steward, his "reliable" sources are, well, reliable.
Here's the scenario: Above Mayweather's name on boxrec, two fight dates are penciled in against unnamed opponents: Nov. 4 and Feb. 24, Floyd's birthday. Boxing2006's own sources tell us that after missing out on Oscar for September, he has his sights set on Carlos Baldomir -- if he beats Arturo Gatti this month, and Shane Mosley, if he beats Fernando Vargas next Saturday. Mosley, however, stated emphatically this week he would not fight again this year, publicly telling Floyd to go find somebody else to fight.
Should Baldomir lose and Mosley stick to his guns, then Mayweather would use his Nov. 4 date as a "stay busy" fight with Cintron (26-1, 24 KOs), whose only loss came to Margarito.
This would not be the first time Steward has pulled off a seemingly impossible upset. Lewis was 25-0 and looking invincible after having just beaten in succession Donovan Ruddock, Tony Tucker, Frank Bruno and Phil Jackson. He was scheduled next to make his third WBC heavyweight title defense against McCall, who did not figure to be much opposition. But like with Floyd, Steward saw flaws in the Brit champion and he set a plan to beat him.
Without getting too technical, Steward noticed that the then raw champion was very vulnerable to a right hand counter. Steward approached McCall and volunteered to train him for the September 1994 bout. Steward had just one instruction for McCall: keep that right hand cocked, and when he drops his left, throw it like there's no tomorrow. McCall and Steward skipped across "The Pond", and in front of a packed house at the famed Wembley Arena in London England, McCall shocked the capacity crowd and the boxing community with a second round TKO of then WBC Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis -- pounding the champ first with a tremendous right hand that set the table.
The crafty Steward, who all along wanted
to get his hands on Lewis, then promptly
dropped the new heavyweight champion to
train Lewis. Later, Steward would say it
took him a year, but he worked out all
of Lewis' flaws and the result was the
most dominant heavyweight of his
generation. Asked by Boxing2006 if Mayweather-Cintron reminded him of the McCall-Lewis situation, he said, "Yes, it's a very similar situation to Lennox."
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Steward appeared to have Harris almost in position for a fight against Mayweather when HBO -- whom Steward works as a commentator for and has the network's ear -- put Harris on the undercard of the Mayweather-Gatti PPV card in June of 2005 against lightly-regarded Carlos Maussa. HBO has a habit of showcasing future fights by having fighters on the same card but in different bouts. They did so when they pitted Morales vs, Zahir and Pacquiao vs. Velasquez to generate interest in a rematch between Morales and Pacquiao.
That said, it looks like HBO was trying to do the same with Harris with an eye for a future fight with Mayweather, assuming he beat Gatti, as he did.
But Harris, made hyper by problems with his promoter and excited about the big TV showcase, abandoned Steward's game plan, tried to take Maussa out fast to look impressive, and ran out of steam, eventually getting knocked out in the 7th round and losing his title.
Now we come to the unavoidable politics.
Cintron was originally slated to fight contender Richard Gutierrez on July 29 on the HBO "Boxing After Dark" undercard beneath Harris-Mike Arnaoutis. But apparently when Oscar announced he would not fight again this year, Steward pulled Cintron from the fight and went about trying to line a date up with Mayweather.
Cintron is the # 2 ranked welterweight by the IBF and Mark Suarez holds the # 1 slot. The IBF has ordered that they fight for the vacant title, coincidentally the one vacated by "Pretty Boy" himself this past June. But Cintron has not officially signed the deal and the Suarez camp says its biggest fear is this IBF title fight -- that is waiting for announcement on July 15 on a purse bid date, may never happen and Cintron might end up in the ring with Mayweather instead.
What ever Mayweather's options are, there is a scenario to fit in Cintron.
If Baldomir beats Gatti on July 22, Mayweather will fight Baldomir on the November date, leaving Cintron to take the Suarez fight, presumably win a title, and then negotiate for the February date. If Gatti beats Baldomir, then Floyd would use the November date to fight Cintron.
Mayweather, of course is hoping to face Oscar in May, but all that would go out the window if Cintron beats Floyd --and don't think for a moment that Steward hasn't considered that possibility. Not only would he vanquish the unbeatable Floyd Mayweather Jr., but in doing so he'd derail Pretty Boy's plans to fight Oscar in May.
Talk about shaking up the boxing world. Cintron over Mayweather? Crazy, you say?
You will remember where you heard this first!
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