This Saturday on HBO's Boxing After Dark series, veteran 147-pounder Teddy Reid will act as the gatekeeper to the upper echelon of the welterweight division when he takes on up-and-comer Kermit Cintron.

The 5'11" 24-year-old Puerto Rican, who's punching power is being compared to that of Felix Trinidad, is 23-0 (21), and Reid represents his biggest challenge to date by far. Like fellow Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, Cintron has been brought along carefully, facing decent but not threatening opposition (by comparison, by the time Oscar De La Hoya was 24-0 he'd already fought Rafael Ruelas, Genaro Hernandez, James Leija, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Pernell Whitaker).

But is Cintron the real thing?

He certainly looks like it. The fiery welterweight, who by the age of 13 had lost his mother to cancer and his father to a heart-attack, seems destined for Tito-like stardom. He does not have an extensive amateur background (24-4), but his fiery intensity in the ring and clean-cut persona outside of it remind one of another 5'11" former welter Latino from Whittier, California. Although Kermit is still green, the southpaw can crack the Ring ratings with a win over Reid, ranked #7 by the magazine. Cintron is ranked #6 by the IBF and WBA, and #15 by the WBC.

Three of Cintron's KO victories came from glancing blows, and two of those happened in the second round. If Cintron succeeds in getting by Reid it will put him in a position of fighting on a major HBO undercard, possibly against someone like Vernon Forrest or Zab Judah.

Reid, 22-5-1 (16),who was scheduled to fight Forrest earlier this year before Forrest got injured, has decent power and holds the key to Cintron's entrance into mainstream awareness. It should be an entertaining fight, and it is imperative that Cintron impresses, preferably by knockout, if he wants to make waves not only in the welterweight division, but in boxing in general.

My gut instinct is that he will. So forget about about Jermain Taylor and all that "next American superstar" crap. The newest young boxing sensation is from Puerto Rico. And his name is Kermit Cintron.

Prediciton: Cintron KO 9.