Angulo vs. Rosado: ‘This Time Things Will Be Different’

Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo (24-7) and “King” Gabe Rosado (24-11) have a lot in common. Both make the Red Cross take notice (as they openly and easily cut) and both are seldom in a boring fight. In fact, back in 2009 a prime “El Perro” (pictured being held back by the referee) bombed out Rosado in two rounds. Now, they are scheduled to fight each other again on August 18 in a 165-pound catchweight affair in El Paso.

As fellow writer Paul Magno states, “…both fighters have been through career meat grinders since they last met. Rosado has emerged with a touch of veteran savvy beneath the battered body and scar tissue. Angulo, on the other hand, has emerged as little more than carne molida (ground beef). But the Mexican will fight and fight hard if engaged and the Philly-born Puerto Rican will bleed if touched…”

The affable Angulo once presented an extremely fearsome force (with a great back story). Indeed, back in 2011 he and the equally fearsome James “Mandingo” Kirkland produced one of the greatest rounds of boxing action ever seen in the sweltering humidity in Cancun, Mexico.

Angulo hit his exciting and destructive peak when he KOd Harry Joe Yorgey (22-0-1) in 2009 for the interim WBO world super welterweight title (the KO was unnecessarily savage). He did the same to Joel Julio (35-3), and followed this up with a brutal stoppage of Joachim Alcine (32-1) in 2010. However, after one more win in which he blew away Joseph Gomez in the first round at the Nido Sport Center in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, he was TKOd by the aforementioned Kirkland in a grueling Cancun shoot-out that extracted a heavy toll. Since then, he has gone 4-5 and has looked more tame than ferocious, suffering a dangerous eye injury at the hands of Erislandy Lara in 2013 (though El Perro was coming on at the time) and a crunching beating from Canelo in 2014 featuring some jarring, highlight reel uppercuts, compliments of the redhead.

Coming on the heels of the Kirkland war, the Canelo beatdown relegated El Perro to an even lower tier. This was revealed in August 2016 when he was shockingly humiliated by Freddy Hernandez at the Honda Center in Anaheim. He looked virtually shot, but he did improve some in a controversial SD loss against Sergio Mora almost two years later.

Whether El Perro has any bite left remains to be seen and “King” Gabe Rosado is just the guy who will find out.

Gabe Rosado

Gabe’s level of opposition is absolutely off the charts and fighting Angulo twice will not diminish it. He has met Fernando Guerrero, Kassim Ouma, Saul Roman, Derek Ennis, Jesus Soto Karass, Sechew Powell, Gennady Golovkin, Peter Quillin, Jermell Charlo, David Lemieux, Joshua Clottey, Willie Monroe, Jr. and Martin Murray and in his last fight on October 10, 2017, Glen Tapia

Style-wise, Angulo really doesn’t have any, but he can go upstairs and downstairs in combination and, at one time, his body punching was relentless. Rosado’s incoming pressure style is often thwarted by bad cuts. The thing about Gabe, however, is that he doesn’t have “quit” in his DNA and often has to be saved from himself because of his propensity to cut. Given the lack of orthodox styles, this one should be quickly become a fan-friendly brawl for as long as it lasts.

After beating a faded Glen Tapia in his last fight, Rosado did what most energized and jubilant fighters do after an important win: he called out the best in the division. “It was very important to get the win. It was important to make a statement, to be impressive, to put myself back into the mix. I want Canelo Alvarez, Danny Jacobs, or a rematch with David Lemieux. I want to prove that I still have something.”

No Gabe, no you don’t.

For now, the heavily tattooed Rosado must stay away from Canelo, Jacobs, or a rematch with Lemieux who carved up his face in 2014. He needs to get past Angulo first and then sort out his options carefully.

Sergio Mora is out there and Brian Vera might be willing to step into the ring. Ex-champion Caleb Truax offers a possibility as well. First, however, Gabe must get by Angulo — and this time around, most observers (including this one) think that Rosado will make Angulo walk around the ring like a dog with his collar on and Gabe holding the leash.

Ted Sares is one of the oldest active full power lifters in the world. A member of Ring 10, and Ring 4’s Boxing Hall of Fame, he was recently cited by Hannibal Boxing as one of three “Must-Read” boxing writers.

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