Welterweight Trippleheader predictions!

Tomorrow night, live on HBO World Championship Boxing, three welterweight fights will take place, two of them being title matches.

Live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, Kermit Cintron will defend his belt against Walter Mattheyse. Mattheyse fought Paul Williams last summer and was stopped in 10 rounds. Cintron fought Antonio Margarito back in April of 2005 for Margarito's WBO belt and was broken down and stopped in five rounds. Since then, Cintron has rebounded with wins over David Estrada and Mike Suarez to win the vacant IBF belt.

Human highlight reel Arturo Gatti will take on Season One Contender Alfonso Gomez in a 10 round welterweight special attraction. What the point of this match is, I don't know! Maybe it's a farewell fight for Gatti, but earlier this week, Gatti indicated that he has no intentions of hanging up the gloves just yet.

Then live from Carson California, WBO Welterweight Champion Antonio Margarito defends his title against mandatory contender undefeated Paul Williams. Margarito was last seen against Joshua Clottey back in December of 2006 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Clottey dominated the first four rounds of that match and gave Margarito all he could handle until he hurt his hand and stopped firing in round five. Margarito gained control of the match from that point on and went on to win a close and somewhat disputed decision.

My predictions:

Margarito vs Williams

Williams has the height and reach advantages between the two combatants, even though he hasn't utilized those physical advantages in some fights. I believe he did what he had to do to prepare for Margarito. He's a very skilled fighter. Margarito throws a lot of punches, but I think Williams will avoid most of those or tie Margarito up when he has to. Williams needs to use his jab. He needs to control distance against Margarito. But even on the inside, Williams fights like an octopus and that is really going to trouble Antonio. I like Williams. Especially with Margarito being a 2-1 favorite. Williams might be a nice bet. He's a very LIVE dog.
Williams by UD.

Cintron vs Mattheyse

I'll take Cintron by a LATE stoppage, after going through some rocky moments early on. Mattheyse can punch with hands, and we've seen Cintron rocked by punchers on at least two occassions (Reid, Margarito) and stopped on one occasion (Margarito). However, I have a funny feeling Cintron learned a little something from that devastation he suffered at the hands of Margarito. Stewart had to teach him something and I believe Cintron will have learned enough to survive those early flurries on the part of Mattheyse to survive and come back to stop Mattheyse in the late rounds. Against Williams, Mattheyse tired pretty badly. He's a frontrunner. Cintron TKO 10.

Gatti vs Gomez

Gatti vs Gomez is almost a pointless fight at this stage. Gatti is a former world champion and Gomez is a Season One Contender. Nonetheless, Gatti is only a 2-1 favorite in this fight. I really don't know WHAT to expect. Gatti is well on his way out. He's in the same boat with Mike Tyson IMO, whereas you don't know exactly what will happen when Gatti enters the ring. We saw Tyson broken down at the hands of such notables as Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. For all we know, this could be Gatti's Williams or McBride. Maybe Gatti is COMPLETELY SHOT. Being off for a year may or may not have helped his cause here. We will find out tomorrow night. If he is not COMPLETELY SHOT, I like Gatti on points.
Gatti by decision.