Welterweight division heats up

Friday, April 22, 2005 | 10:12 a.m.

Odds from the Caesars Palace sports book:

Shane Mosley vs. David Estrada

Calvin Brock vs. Jameel McCline

Antonio Margarito vs. Kermit Cintron

Zab Judah wants to rule the welterweight division with an iron fist cloaked in a velvet glove.

"I'm gonna make it like an old Mafia movie," Judah said this week. "If you want anything at 147 pounds, you've got to come see me."

Well, call Antonio Margarito and Kermit Cintron the Young Turks.

Margarito (31-4, 22 knockouts) and Cintron (24-0, 22 KOs) clash Saturday night for the WBO welterweight championship in the headliner of an ESPN Pay-Per-View card at Caesars Palace.

It's an attractive matchup between a pair of hard hitters that has the makings of an exciting fight, yet even the combatants themselves can't help but peek ahead to the megafights -- and megariches -- that could await the winner.

One possibility is a unification title bout against Judah, who captured the division's three major belts when he scored a TKO against Cory Spinks in February.

And with former world champs "Sugar" Shane Mosley -- who fights on Saturday's undercard -- and Oscar De La Hoya returning to 147 pounds after ventures into higher weight classes, it's easy to see how Margarito or Cintron could become a key player in a division that's suddenly buzzing with energy.

"I see this fight as a tremendous opportunity," said Cintron, 25, a native of Puerto Rico who lives in Reading, Pa. "De La Hoya and Mosley are two big names who are very experienced in fighting for world titles. I would like the opportunity to fight them, and I know (Margarito) would, too.

"I can tell you that I'm very well-prepared, and I'm sure (Margarito) is well-prepared, too. In my opinion it's going to be one of the best fights of the year."

Although Judah told reporters this week that he's willing to meet the winner of the fight, Cintron suggested that the champ might try to duck him.

"We gave him an opportunity to fight me last year, and Zab turned down the fight," Cintron said Wednesday at Caesars Palace. "He won't do it."

In fact, Cintron was more effusive in his praise for Margarito than for Judah.

"(Margarito) is a great champion," Cintron said. "I've been following him for a couple of years now since I first heard his name. I'm glad for the opportunity to fight for his title. ...

"I think he's the No. 1 champion in the welterweight division."

Margarito, 27, of Tijuana, likes the sound of a major title fight against Judah.

"Let's just hope Zab keeps his word and actually does fight the winner," Margarito said.

Margarito and Cintron both carry big frames for welterweights, but each man said he'll have no trouble making weight. To demonstrate, Cintron accepted a plate with a 12-ounce steak, two cheeseburgers and French fries from a Caesars model dressed in Cleopatra garb and began chowing down during a news conference Wednesday.

Neither fighter had a spectacular amateur career, and each espouses a grind-it-out work ethic.

"A lot of people don't know much about Kermit because he had to work his way up through the ranks," Cintron's trainer Marshall Kaufman said. "In February of 1999 he put on boxing gloves for the first time -- five years of boxing and look what this man has done.

"He's one of the best athletes in boxing. He's the hardest puncher in the welterweight division, and the biggest hitter in the welterweight division."

Margarito won the WBO title, then vacant, by stopping Antonio Diaz in 2002 at Bally's and has successfully defended it four times.

"Kermit Cintron is a strong fighter, but I've fought stronger fighters," Margarito said.

Judah declined to predict an outcome of the bout, in which Margarito is a slim minus-120 favorite in the Caesars Palace sports book.

"You have two very unorthodox guys (in Margarito and Cintron)," Judah said. "It's a pick 'em fight. I can't even tell you what's gonna happen in that fight ... and it doesn't matter. I'll be waiting for the winner."

Mosley (39-4, 35 KOs), who has lost two consecutive fights to Winky Wright at 154 pounds, takes on 26-year-old welterweight David Estrada (18-1, 9 KOs), who will have legendary trainer Angelo Dundee in his corner.

In a heavyweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds, 2000 U.S. Olympian Calvin Brock (24-0, 20 KOs) fights Jameel McCline (31-4-3, 19 KOs).

Tickets for the card, which will take place in Caesars' outdoor Roman Plaza Amphitheatre, are $50-250, and the suggested retail price of the pay-per-view broadcast is $29.95.