This past Saturday, we witnessed the type of event that reminded boxing fans why they love the sport.

In 2011, Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo was a star on the rise. A murderous puncher from Mexico, Angulo had begun to be featured on HBO and even held a interim championship for a time under the tutelage of the great Nacho Beristain. Unfortunately that time was short as he fell in to one of boxing’s most disappointing pitfalls.

Angulo was in Mexico facing James Kirkland in an all action fight on HBO’s Boxing After Dark, when Angulo landed a right hand bomb that dropped Kirkland. Kirkland managed to get up and as described by Nacho, “he threw a thousand punches”, before the round ended. Nacho had known immediately after Angulo returned to the corner that he had punched himself out and was terribly gassed.

The fight managed to go a few more rounds before the fatigue caught up with Angulo and he lost all that he had worked for up to that point. Angulo would go on to lose 5 more times in the next 5 years, which included a short retirement. Losses against Canelo and fighters like Erislandy Lara set Angulo up with some solid money, which meant that he no longer had to fight and damage his body for a living.

The only problem was that “El Perro” wasn’t ready to quit. 

Angulo had taken over a year off and has said that he had fallen back in love with the sport despite speculation from the gallery. Angulo, at the age of 37 with 7 losses, was set to face Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin. 

The Kid had a record of 34-1 with 23 knockouts, and was moving up a division to super middleweight. No longer the young gun he was before, “Kid Chocolate” was still formidable enough to be included in immediate championship discussion going to his new division. In a pre-fight promo, the division’s champions were asked for their thoughts about the other champs, but most importantly, what they thought of Kid Chocolate and the hype that comes with a nearly three year reign as middleweight champion.

As the first bell started the bout, the speed difference was obvious. Angulo, as old has he was, looked even older. While his hand-speed was seriously lacking, his foot-speed was even more so. Kid Chocolate sent an embarrassed Angulo spinning while tossing him around.

This was not going to be close, but this is boxing. 

Late in the 3rd round, Kid Chocolate was dominating and the punch stats proved his lead with 70-33 landed punches. The Kid was doing anything he wanted in there. He leaned in to throw a body shot and got caught by a hard right and a big left hook.

Digging his heels in, he wanted to swing with El Perro. Kid Chocolate turned it in to a dogfight, and after seven rounds of brutality later, the bell rings and the fight goes to the judges. As many fans would know, sometimes when you deserve the win, you don’t get it.  

Some nights, judges ruin fights that were fantastic showings with terrible ugly cards, but not on this night. And despite all that went on, Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo won by split decision and may well be on his way to a championship fight.

Some call it incompetence while others call it corruption. Call this what you will but it appears that El Perro lives to fight another day.

Published by Julian Fortaleza