Name: Kermit Cintron	BoxRec Record
	Record: 32-3-1 (28 KOs)
	DOB: 10/22/79
	Height: 5'11"
	Weight: Welterweight
	Birthplace: Carolinas, Puerto Rico
	Resides: Reading, PA
	Last Fight: 5/8/10 L 4 (TD) Paul Williams
	Next Fight: TBA

Biography

Before Kermit Cintron evolved into the great boxer he is today, he was already an experienced fighter.  Cintron’s childhood fights came early on - just not in the world of boxing; rather in the world of life.  

His first fight came as a young boy in his birthplace of Carolina, Puerto Rico.  That’s where he was forced to endure the passing of his Mother due to cancer.

"It was weird," he said. "We were just talking around her when she was in bed. She was laughing. Then suddenly she just closed her eyes, and that was it. My sister was talking to her. When she closed her eyes, she didn’t respond at all. That’s when we found out that she had passed away."

Kermit’s father, Daniel Cintron, did the best he could after his wife’s death to support his sons Kermit, Harold, and Jason, but ended up needing help.

Hence the second blow of Cintron’s short life; the three boys were told that they’d have to leave their father and their native Puerto Rico to live with relatives until Daniel could “get back on his feet” financially.  Cintron and his brothers were sent to Warminster, PA, to live with their uncle, Benjamin Serrano, the former world middleweight contender.

Fast forward five years to Cintron’s next “fight.”

After returning from a drive with his uncle, Kermit was greeted by the tears of his Aunt Evelyn, who informed him that his 43-year-old father had died of a heart attack. 
Now, at the age of 13, Kermit was an orphan.  Both of his parents were gone.  His dream of returning home to Puerto Rico to be reunited with his father was shattered.  The misfortune was almost biblical in its proportion.

Despite the expected anger, sadness, and thoughts of abandonment that swirled within Kermit’s mind, he didn’t become self-destructive.  As a mere teenager, Cintron made the decision to take control of his life and showed extreme strength of character in the process. He used sports to channel his energies - joining his school’s wrestling, football, track, and baseball teams. 

He was skilled in all four sports, but he was a fighter at heart and excelled in wrestling.  By the time he was a senior at William Tennant High School, he had earned full scholarship offers to Wisconsin University and Ohio State University.  He declined both and instead attended Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, PA, where he finished tenth at the NJCAA Wrestling Championships.

Still, despite his success on the wrestling mat, Cintron felt that something was missing.  Uncle Benjamin Serrano, who fought world-ranked contenders like Frank "The Animal" Fletcher and Doug DeWitt in the ’70s and ’80s, taught Cintron to box while Cintron was in high school.  He even brought him to the Warminster Police Station Gym to train. 

At the age of 19, the ambitious Cintron decided he wanted to pursue boxing full time. Shortly after completing his freshman year of college, Kermit entered the amateur ranks and compiled a record of 24-4, 17 KOs.

In October 2000 Cintron turned pro, and started on his official mission to reverse the bad luck life had handed him and start a “winning” streak.

On May 17, 2003, NBC’s “Budweiser Boxing Series” served as the showcase for Cintron’s thunderous punching power.  Midway through round one Cintron stung Luis Rosado with a right hook that sent the Bronx, NY, native reeling into the ropes.  Moments later a devastating uppercut dropped Rosado to his knees.  Rosado climbed to his feet, but was dropped again less than a minute later by a barrage of punches.  Shortly thereafter, the referee waved a halt to the bout.  The official time of the stoppage was 2:24 of round one.

Fast-forward five years and almost thirty fights later…near the end of 2008 and after his Antonio Margarito rematch, Cintron decided to change promoters.  Cintron was approached by several different promoters. “The biggest thing to me is that if you make promises, you keep them,” Cintron said in regards to what he ultimately looked for in deciding on a promoter.

He finally decided to go with promoter Lou DiBella of New York City-based DiBella Entertainment. “I’m thrilled to work with Kermit,” said DBE president Lou DiBella. “He’s a tough, quick, aggressive fighter in the ring and a class act out of it. It’s wide open between 147 and 154 pounds. Kermit is a devastating puncher and certainly has the ability to win another world title. He’s still a young man in the prime of his career, and losing to a fighter the caliber of Margarito is certainly no disgrace,” said DiBella.

“Kermit is an intelligent athlete who knows exactly what he has to do to get back to the top! We will help him get there,” DiBella added.

DiBella Entertainment immediately followed through with its promise and on November 15, 2008, Cintron got the opportunity to fight Lovemore N’dou in an IBF welterweight eliminator.  Cintron used his superior boxing skills and physical assets to break down the former IBF junior welterweight world champion – winning a unanimous decision.

The fight versus  N’dou was exactly the type of scenario Cintron needed to secure in order to reenergize his career – a high-profile opportuntiy on the DBE-promoted HBO World Championship Boxing telecast which also feature super middleweights Jermain Taylor vs. Jeff Lacy.

Besides being a top contender, Cintron is a loyal family man.  He is extremely close to his wife Maria and his three small children - daughters Denali and Savannah, and baby boy Clemente Cintron.

 “Things happen for a reason,” said the always grateful and positive Cintron, regarding the losses to Margarito and loss in general. “Getting surgery done…losing to Margarito. I believe that there will be better things out there for me in my career. My wife’s due date was June 3.  If I had won, I would have missed out on my first baby boy.  So things happen for a reason. I always come back strong,” said Cintron, now no stranger to both the extreme highs and lows of life.  “I keep fighting.”

Articles

6/3 - Cintron Upsets Angulo; Berto Also Wins - ESPN.com

6/3 - Kermit Cintron in Florida: Saturday Night Renaissance - BoxingScene.com

6/3 - Kermit Cintron - Post Fight Press Conference - SecondsOut.com

6/3 - Berto and Cintron Win Convincingly - EastSideBoxing.com

5/26 - Predictions on Berto/Urango and Cintron/Angulo

Photos

Hall of Fame Induction Weekend 2009 - Photos by Jeff Julian

Cintron W 12 (Unan) Angulo - 5/30/09