This week, the most non-smiling man to wear boxing gloves, all roads do NOT lead to Pacquiao, and imagine finding a LeBron James jersey worth $10,000!!!!
On November 29, 2008, I was covering the Paul Williams/Verno Phillips and Chris Arreola/Travis Walker fights at the new Citizens Business Bank Arena’s inaugural boxing event in Ontario, California.
As a birthday gift, my girlfriend and I purchased two seats for her father, who was celebrating his birthday, and mother to attend the nights fights.
Williams and Arreola both won in the still freshly scented CBBA, with Arreola providing the nights drama by going down in round two, and coming back in round three to stop Walker.
In between both fights, I went to help myself to some media provided food, and ran into my girlfriends parents, who happened to be sat next to the fighters entrance tunnel, in which they were later able to watch replays of the HBO broadcast and see themselves in the background.
I said hello and chatted for a bit before heading back to where the free food was. Hadn’t I partied like it was 1999 the night before, I would have helped myself to some gourmet meat and vegetables available to the press. Instead, I loaded up on liquids and soft bread.
After the night was over, I was talking to my girlfriend’s dad who told me that a young boxer had ended up sitting next to him and his wife. They struck up conversation and he said his name was Alfredo Angulo. He asked me if I knew who he was. I definitely did, as I covered his last California fight when he pummeled Andrey Tsurkan for a TKO stoppage in ten frames.
Angulo said that he was preparing for a fight against Ricardo Mayorga, (which didn’t come to fruition; go ahead and blame Don King or Mayorga himself, whichever cigar smoker who hate more) and my girlfriend’s dad relayed that Angulo seemed to be an overall nice person.
Nice person Angulo is.
A smiling man, he is not.
It was no surprise to me when I received a press release earlier this week for Angulo’s upcoming fight on an HBO pay per view card headlined by top rated Timothy Bradley against the undefeated Joachim Alcine.
Angulo is the quiet and stern type. He walks around seemingly with boxing on the brain 24/7, as he is seen regularly around Southern California boxing matches with the domineering scowl that Mick asked Rocky to perform at the beginning of Rocky II. (Remember, Mick needed a fellow boxer to see a true boxer’s snarl while throwing a punch? I digress?)
The press release had a picture of both Bradley and Angulo in the ring together, and as usual, Angulo has the opposite of a happy face while the always smiling Bradley, seemingly knowing he’s taking a snap shot with the most un-smiling fighter in the sport, instead sported a sly-smile and grin. I think even Bradley knows about Angulo’s demeanor, and adjusted accordingly.
Get a smile out of Angulo for a picture?
Not a chance.
Get a good fight from the young Mexican?
Coming right up!
Angulo, (18-1, 15KO) squares off against undefeated Joachim Alcine as the B side of an HBO broadcast this Saturday night in Rancho Mirage, California.
If you haven’t seen Angulo in action yet, you need to.
The young fighter has every bit of the typical Mexican warrior style about him, which is a big reason why, unlike Bradley, Angulo has been featured on HBO before. He is fresh off a stoppage of veteran Joel Julio, and is back on track since his loss last year, a decision to Kermit Cintron.
To further the case of Angulo’s transition forward since his first career loss is the enlistment of conditioning coach Daryl Hudson. Angulo has ceded with Hudson’s every request, and will be a revamped, more agile version of himself when he steps in against Alcine.
“I think that as time passes and we have fighters of greater quality, I have to acquire more and more skills to be able to deal with the situations that are coming,” said Angulo last week in training.
Whether Angulo has indeed added some gusto to his already exciting style, one thing is for sure: this will not be the fighters last time on HBO.
THOUGHTS ON LAST WEEKEND
-Was it just me, or were the WBO vultures scramming to put another belt, and the same exact looking belt, around Juan Manuel Lopez’s waist right after his title defense? It looked like Lopez himself was saying and motioning to the commissioners that he already had one of their belts on. Lopez ended up chest high in two WBO belts for his post fight interview with Jim Gray.
-It takes a strong man to wear pink. So of course, a boxer can wear the color. What, are you going to say something to them? Didn’t think so?
-What a show Lopez and Concepcion put on while it lasted. It was probably the most exciting two rounds boxing has had all year. I had suspected that the night might end with a left from Lopez, as Concepcion had been eating too many too often and early?
-I was rooting on contender John Molina on ESPN Friday night. Being a So Cal native myself, I was yelling at the screen for some head movement from Molina, who ate too many left hand leads. Good thing Molina got it done down the stretch on the strength of two knockdowns?
-It was reported earlier this week that amateur boxer Vaniesha Robinson, an Akron Ohio native, for five dollars at a yard sale, picked up a mini-jersey jewelry piece that was in the shape of a LeBron James Cavaliers jersey. Turns out, Robinson appraised the piece, which was the real deal. Ten thousand times the real deal. The piece could be found on Ebay and is up for auction for $10,000? Looks like someone won’t have any problem paying gym dues for a while?
-All paths to Pacquiao apparently do NOT lead through the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Last week Antonio Margarito was given a 4-1 negative from the NSAC and prompted him to return to the scene of his crime to ask for reinstatement: the California State Athletic Commission. It was a classy move by the NSAC, which both showed that they were not going to roll over easily, and also showed respect towards the California commission. If the CSAC didn’t want to reinstate Margarito, how would it have looked if the NSAC did? And WHY is Margarito going to Vegas for anyway? Have the gusto to confess your sins and ask for forgiveness with the CSAC, then perhaps a reinstatement will be issued. It was not a smart move by Team Margarito, who is hoping for a possible fight against Manny Pacquiao should negotiations fail in fighting Floyd Mayweather. Margarito finds himself back at square one. What’s that saying? Cheaters never prosper?
