The Sweet Science 08.13.09: El Perro Bites Again

Posted by Igor Frank on 08.13.2009

Igor Frank revisits Alfredo Angulo's Friday night performance against Gabriel Rosado and suggests a possible rematch with Kermit Cintron.


Photo by Jan Sanders

With an HBO date set for his fight on November 7th, hot light middleweight prospect Alfredo El Perro Angulo elected to stay active and take a pay cut and an interim fight on ESPN that took place last Friday at Primm, Nevada. Fighters fight and Angulo behaves like a fighter. Moreover, he wanted to get rid of a bad taste that was left in his mouth after a closely contested loss to Kermit Cintron on May 30th in Florida.

"I give fans what they want!" said Angulo who was very happy after dropping Gabriel Rosado three times in route to a second round stoppage. Twenty three year old Philadelphian fighter who has never been down prior to this bout was very competitive for the first four minutes; he had a game plan that included lateral movement, firing a stiff jab and quick rapid fire combinations that were landing with a degree of regularity.

Learning from mistakes in his first loss, Angulo went straight to work, with the extra bounce in his step he was able to cut off the ring and concentrate on the body of his opponent. After a very competitive first round events unraveled rather quickly; not cooperating with Rosado who was holding in close, Angulo freed his hand and unleashed a short, powerful right that dropped his adversary hard on the deck. Complaining loudly that he was hit on a break, Rosado got up as referee Russell Mora administered a count. Three thousand in attendance at the Buffalo Bill's Resort and Casino erupted in wild cheers and dog barks. Rosado should have stayed down because as soon as referee resumed the action, El Perro, breaking his leash, furiously attacked his disoriented prey and dropped him again almost immediately. Getting up a little slower this time, Rosado tried desperately to fight back, but got cornered and dropped again with a vicious combination at which time Russell Mora waved off the contest. The time was 2:03 of the second stanza. Gabriel Rosado complained all the way to the dressing room. "Referee said break when I got hit the first time," said Rosado: "I should have been allowed my five minutes." Instead he should have remembered an old boxing adage: "Protect yourself at all times."

Pleased with his performance, El Perro jumped in the air pumping his fist as the crowd got even louder in appreciation of their top dog. Angulo then went into the corner of his adversary to make sure he was ok and while Rosado was sitting on a stool, he hugged and kissed him on top of the head as if he was a godfather himself.

They say that a fighter's spirit can only be truly measured after he suffers his first professional defeat. It is easy to look impressive winning one fight after another, but what happens following the first loss really establishes the heart of a champion. Prince Naseem Hamed was never the same after losing a fight to Marco Antonio Barrera, neither was Tito Trinidad after taking a beating from Bernard Hopkins. On the other hand, champions like Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao have only gotten better after suffering their losses.

Judging from his last performance, Angulo suffered no ill effects from his first defeat. But critics are not yet convinced. Many claim that Angulo was exposed in his loss to Cintron for being a one dimensional come forward brawler. Despite the extenuating circumstances, Angulo came down with a virus the week of the contest and looked completely drained the night of the fight, more experienced Cintron was in shape, came in with a great game plan and out boxed his opponent in a good action fight. Critics believe that Cintron has created a blue print on how to beat Angulo; move, do not stand and trade shots, throw fast combinations, use a strong jab, move some more and mix in some heavy power punches to keep the mad dog at bay. Does this sound reasonable?

But Angulo's camp believes that loss to Cintron was an aberration. Knowing of his condition they suggested that he pull out of the fight, but El Perro did not want to let everybody down and elected to proceed. He did come into a fight being less than 100% before, injuring his back horse playing two weeks prior to fighting Andrei Tsurkan and still managed to dominate a rugged Russian. He almost pulled it off this time as well; he had Cintron in serious discomfort several times in the latter rounds, but just did not have enough in the tank to finish the job. In fact, few experts suggested that if the bout took place in California, the score cards that were widely in favor of Cintron might have been different. Cintron, however, deserves a lot of credit; after taking a beating twice from Antonio Margarito then moving up in weight and looking ordinary last time out in a very controversial draw against Sergio Martinez, Puerto Rican fighter showed the heart of a true champion, endured some rough spots, added a new dimension to his game and produced the best performance of his professional career.

"Perhaps a fully fit Angulo could have found that bit extra and won the fight," said Graham Houston, a well respected boxing scribe:" Perhaps not — but against this improved version of Cintron he would surely have faced a very difficult night under the best of circumstances."

Angulo does not have an opponent for his November HBO date. Perhaps a fight with seemingly aging Cory Spinks for his newly acquired IBF light middleweight crown would be a safer route to winning a title for Angulo. But since nobody is beating down on doors to fight Kermit Cintron, why not give fans what they want and set up an Angulo Cintron rematch? Does Cintron really have a blue print to domesticate the Dog or would El Perro at 100% be able to do better? What do you think?