By Ian S Palmer
Hard-hitting middleweight Alfredo Angulo of will battle it out with fellow Mexican Freddy Hernandez this Saturday, August 27th in a 10-round middleweight matchup at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The fight is a part of the ongoing Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series and can be seen live in the USA and Canada on Spike TV. Angulo last fought in August of 2015 when he beat Hector Munoz by a fifth-round stoppage. Hernandez’s last bout also took place last August and he won an eight-round majority decision over Todd Manuel.
The 33-year-old Angulo, who now fights out of California, will climb into the ring with a record of 24-5 with 20 big Kos while the 37-year-old Hernandez is 33-8 with 22 Kos to his name. Angulo is a fan favourite who has taken on the likes of Gabriel Rosado, Joel Julio and Joachim Alcine and knocked them all out. He also has wins over Angulo stands 5-feet-10-inches tall and has a reach of 69 inches. He’s boxed 139 rounds as a professional since 2005. Angulo has certainly taken on some tougher, experienced opponents over the years.
His five losses have come at the hands of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in the 10th round in March of 2014. He was also stopped by Erislandy Lara in the 10th round a year earlier and by James Kirkland in the sixth round in 2011. James De la Rosa beat him by 10-round unanimous decision six months after Alvarez for his third straight loss and Kermit Cintron beat him by 12-round unanimous decision in 2009. He’s won two fights since losing to De la Rosa.
Angulo has a straightforward slugging style in which he’ll take two or three shots to land one of his own. Angulo has better than average power with a current knockout ratio of 69 per cent. And even though he’s been stopped and decked on more than one occasion, Angulo still possesses a solid chin. He always seems to fight well against Grade A opponents, but has always fallen slightly short. Against somewhat lesser-skilled foes such as Hernandez, he’s proven to be a forced to be reckoned with.
Hernandez is the bigger man by just half an inch, but has a five-inch reach advantage. The veteran turned pro in 2001 and has boxed 229 rounds since then. He’s been stopped four times by the likes of Brad Solomon, Julian Williams, Delvin Rodriguez and Andre Berto. He’s also lost decisions to Demetrius Andre, Erislandy Lara, Francisco Santana and Golden Johnson. His biggest wins have been against Jesus Soto Karass, Carson Jones, Ben Tackie, DeMarcus Corley and Luis Collazo. Hernandez lost six straight fights between June of 2012 and September of 2014. Hernandez has decent power as well with a 52 per cent knockout ratio.
Hernandez will find Angulo right in front of him when the bell rings and better be prepared to either slug it out or outbox his foe. He’ll likely choose the boxing route since he can’t match Angulo in the power and aggression departments. Hernandez needs to protect himself by keeping his hands up and making sure he stays out of Angulo’s firing range. He also needs to throw quick, accurate punches to keep Angulo at bay and will need to display a solid chin. Angulo will take the fight on the inside when he can by cutting off the ring and will be going to his opponent’s body as much as his head.
Prediction…
Both boxers have plenty of experience and good power and both have been stopped themselves on more than one occasion. In addition, they haven’t been in the ring for a year so there could be some ring rust. Angulo can get frustrated when he’s being outboxed and he isn’t that hard to hit so it’s possible Hernandez will try to use his boxing skills. Look for Angulo to eventually catch up with Hernandez though and eventually stop him.
