Opportunity Flu Out The Window Against Cintron, But Angulo's Back

I had a nice chat recently with humble hitter Alfredo Angulo, who takes on Harry Yorgey on the Nov. 7 Chad Dawson/Glen Johnson II scrap in Connecticut. I got Angulo to crack a smile during the chat at Brooklyn's fabled Gleasons Gym, when I asked him if he saw promoter Gary Shaw padding around the house in his undies while crashing at Gary's place in Jersey for a few weeks during training camp. I got no answer from Fredo (16-1, 13 KOs) on what undergarment Shaw favors, but he did offer thanks to his promoter for putting him up.

Cynics would say that hey, Shaw doesn't have to put up any money for lodging for his fighter, but promoters always find a way to get lodging expenses deducted from purses, and secondly, many promoters don't have enough fondness for their fighters to allow them into them home for tea, let alone an extended stay, so hats off to Shaw…

I asked the 27-year-old Fredo about his lone loss, to Kermit Cintron on May 30. The decision loss, the Mexican native Fredo said, through trainer Clemente Medina,  is tainted because he had the flu coming in to the scrap. “If I was not sick versus Cintron, Cintron wouldn't last six rounds,” he said. Four days before the fight, Fredo was throwing up, and running a bad fever, and he kept on vomiting up til the day of the fight. That said, he is open to all opponents, and isn't lusting for a rematch overtly.

Angulo wants to keep fighting, and winning, and making money, to provide a better life for his three-year old daughter, Rebecca. And while winning, the Californian wants to give the fans a good bang for the buck. “People pay a lot of money, and they want to see action,” he said. “They don't want to see a man run. So many fight for the money only, I fight for the fans, for the people. I fight like a throwback. Guys like Floyd Mayweather don't care about the fans.”

I expect Yorgey (22-0-1) to give Angulo a stern test on Nov. 7, but in a battle of two men with similar attributes, I see Fredo coming out on top. His power edge will speak in the end, though it is possible Yorgey is still on a high from his March upset win over Ronald Hearns, and has jumped to another class.

SPEEDBAG Also at Gleasons I took a few moments to check in with trainer Harry Keitt, who is once again overseeing the development of John Duddy (30-1, 27 KOs). Keitt got shoved out a couple years ago, and Duddy's career subsequently didn't take off as was the plan.

Only two weeks after Duddy took a UD8 win over Michi Munoz at the MSG Theatre on the Gamboa/JuanMa showcase card, Duddy was back at Gleasons, rediscovering himself with his old mentor Keitt. The trainer talked about the split, the reuniting, and what's next for the Irish transplant.

“(Duddy's ex promoters” Irish Ropes) pressured for a split,” explained the tutor, who learned the craft from George Washington, the Brooklyn coach who showed Breland and Bowe how to do it.

Don Turner was tapped to replace Keitt following a win against Dupre Strickland in May 2007, after too many decision wins, and then Burns had a three fight run which ended in late spring, following a loss to Billy Lyell. Keitt and Duddy are now getting reacquainted.

One thing about the reconciliation Keitt likes–Duddy's been hanging out with his bride, Grainne, and steering clear of publife. “John's not drinking beer,” Keitt said, and he knows the importance of staying on the straight and narrow, in oder to maintain self discipline and focus, having gotten sober in June 1988. “We had a conversation.”

The out-of-the-ring stuff now out in the open, the two men will get back to having Duddy be at his best. No, not a jabbing machine, or a defensive wiz, but instead of a puncher whose best defensive weapon is his offense.

Keitt says Duddy might have a stay-busy in Cancun, and then a clash with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in early spring 2010.  Can you think of two fighters with better records who get busted on more than those two?