Angulo Back On Track
El Perro returned to the ring Friday with a second round stoppage win over the tough Gabriel Rosado. Angulo (16-1) dropped Rosado (12-4) with a big right hook coming out of the clinch midway through the round. He was quick to follow up with two further knockdowns before the referee finally waved it off.
It was an impressive performance from Angulo in his first fight back since losing to Kermit Cintron back in may. Gabriel Rosado was a much trickier opponent than his record would suggest. He is one of these guys who has always been matched up tough and he has scored a few big upsets a long the way. He was also coming off his best career win, a decision over former titlist Kassim Ouma. A lot of of boxing analysts felt that Angulo was going to have his hands full, so he definitely made a statement by the manner in which he dispatched of him.
Alfredo is an exciting fighter to watch, and that’s what boxing needs right now. He has a granite chin, good power, and is an excellent finisher. He’s not without his limitations, but you do have to remember this guy has only had 17 fights. There is still a lot he can learn.
I do think people were far too quick to write him off after the Cintron defeat. There was rumours Angulo was sick going into that fight, and I think there may be something to that. I’m not taking anything away from Cintron, he fought a great fight. I just felt watching it that something wasn’t quite right with Angulo. He looked lethargic all evening. It seemed as though he was trying to dig deep and make something happen, but there was just nothing there.
It’s a fight I wouldn’t mind seeing rematched further on down the road, but next up for El Perro is a slot on the undercard of Glen Johnson vs. Chad Dawson in November. His opponent is yet to be named.
That first knockdown seemed to be a bit more because of a mistake of Rosado, but I liked the way Angulo followed that up.
I like Angulo but I’m not as excited as most. I feel he was dominated against Cintron and I also know that he wasn’t sick that night. Maybe he became sick once he realized he was severely outclassed by Cintron, but his health was fine. Cintron is a champion who clearly is a level (or 2) above that of Angulo. HBO is in love with Angulo and he has one hell of a promoter but let’s keep it to the facts. #1. He was dominated by Kermit Cintron for 90% of that fight. Anyone who says otherwise either didn’t see the fight or doesn’t know what they’re talking about. #2. This Rosado win is a smoke-screened come back fight by his promotional team to get him back in bed with HBO and the bigger money. Again, nothing wrong with this but it ‘is’ smoke and mirrors. Rosado is a green, young fighter who had no chance against Angulo – none! Have you looked at his record and background? How did he even get this fight? I’ll tell you. His promoter and manager did a great job hand picking Rosado. It “looked” good on paper because Rosado was coming off a split decision victory over Kassim Ouma. That’s impressive …right? Hold on. Have a look at Ouma’s fights of late. Before Rosado, he lost 3 of 4 fights with his only victory coming over the powerhouse fighter Martinus Clay, you know the big time fighter with the 13-18-4 record. Come on…Ouma’s better days are way behind him. I know it wasn’t yesterday but Rosado all of a sudden becomes “Angulo worthy” because of one narrow victory over Ouma. Are we just supposed to forget the losses to Chris Gray, Joshua Onyango, and Fernando Guerrero? Sorry, I’m not buying it. Rosado was a chosen token fighter to allow Angulo an easy win and to make the “uninformed” think…think…that El Perro is back. This win tells us nothing. He’s still a good fighter who “might” be very good – MIGHT- be very good. The reality for now is that he’s a good young fighter who clearly is not the level of a top fighter, not yet! Sorry…the only fighter in this discussion who has proven he’s worthy of the praise he’s now getting is Kermit Cintron.
Interesting point. Did you see the fight against Guerrero, a man who himself is an exciting and popular prospect? Rosado floored him, and gave him all he could handle. Or did you see when he upset the previously unbeaten Irish fighter James Moore? Kassim Ouma was never the same fighter after the Jermain Taylor fight, but make no mistake about it, Rosado was brought in as an opponent and Rosado toppled him. The guy has proven to be a risky opponent in the past. Has he picked up some losses a long thee way? Absolutely. He is the perfect example of a fighter who might be seen very differently had he been treated like a prospect and well matched. Instead he learned the hard way and picked up some losses doing it.
Which brings up the question was this a soft comeback fight? The answer to that is evidently no. A lot of Angulo’s critics were predicting an upset here. Was it a fight Angulo was favoured to win? Certainly, but it was a far tougher test than you would usually see for a guy coming off his first career loss. Look at the match up comparatively to other fighters on the comeback trail and you will see this was a very decent test. Stylistically, a lot of folks thought Rosado would give him a tough time. In all honesty, I think people admire Alfredo for getting back on the horse, and not fighting a complete soft touch as many would have.
The Cintron fight was a really big ask of Angulo at the time. As i said, he is still very much developing as a fighter. He had 15 fights going in to the match with Cintron. And even that figure is a little misleading because he has boxed so few rounds. It was a fight I was surprised they took. Kermit fought brilliantly as i said. I have gone on record as calling it his career best performance. However, 3 months prior to that, Cintron was handed a gift draw against Martinez. I thought Sergio won that fight big, and Cintron looked like a spent force. In all likelihood Angulo’s team saw that fight and thought they were going to catch a name fighter on the decline, and that’s the reason they took it. It didn’t work out that way though. That win was huge for reestablishing a buzz around Kermit, and I hope it leads to some big fights/paydays for him because he’s a good guy. However, saying he won 90% of that fight is an embellishment of the facts. There was a couple of rounds in it. Cintron let several of the later rounds slip away from him.
Regarding the point about this fight being a guise to get Angulo more TV deals, there was no need for that. The fact of the matter is Alfredo was already booked for the Dawson/Johnson card prior to this fight even taking place. In the grand scheme of things, he had far more to lose than to win on this fight.
You said HBO love him. You are correct. That is because Angulo is something of a draw, and his fights virtually guarantee action. That’s exactly what TV companies are looking for. I don’t think anyone is claiming that Angulo is a master technician or an elite pound for pounder or anything to that effect. He is a good value for money young fighter that they can work with. He has been hyped up a lot granted, but because of that he has also been subjected to a lot of unreasonable criticism. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
As i said, The guy has his flaws particularly defensively, but he’s exciting to watch. He’s a battler, He’s a fighter, and sometimes that’s what people want to see the most. You can look at a guy like John Duddy as the perfect example of that. Regardless of his skill level, he became a very good local draw in New York just because he always brought it.
We don’t know what level Angulo will eventually to get to. The way titles are nowadays, I will be shocked if he doesn’t get one sooner rather than late. Whether he becomes an elite level junior middleweight remains to be seen, but I look forward to enjoying some good fights a long the way.