Canelo vs. Angulo: We Didn’t Learn Anything New

By Ihsan Munir: This past Saturday, March 08, 2014, we witnessed a clash between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo. Both men were coming off losses, Canelo to Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Angulo to Erislandy Lara. This was a fight for redemption for both of them. Or was it?

What many fight fans seem to forget about the sweet science is that often times the “science” is not seen in the ring or in the gym but in the boardroom. And this particular encounter is no different. Understand that the match-makers at Golden Boy were tasked with one thing and one thing only:

continue

Will Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez Decide Canelo’s Next Rival?

This past Saturday night, Alfredo Angulo (22-4-0) stepped inside the ring with the hope of proving to boxing fans as well as himself, that he is ready to face and beat top competition, eager to confirm that by defeating Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (43-1-1). The outcome was something that most boxing fans did not see coming: an absolute physical as well as psychological domination of Angulo by Canelo.

Not only was Alvarez able to land solid combinations all night long, he got nothing in return from Alfredo, who seemed to struggle to deliver anything of value from bell to bell.

continue

Randy Petalcorin: “I’m here to win a world title”

As a young teenager Randy Petalcorin was touted as a future World Champion by none other than Manny Pacquiao. Later this year the once beaten twenty two year old from General Santos City hopes to fulfil that prediction when he challenges for the WBA light flyweight title.

Now based in the Melbourne suburb of Yarraville, the current WBA number 2 is gearing for a bout on March 28 at the Malvern Town Hall against Thailand’s Lookrak Kiatmungmee, as he applies for Permanent Residency in Australia.

Standing 5’3, Petalcorin is like his idol and friend Pacquiao, a southpaw. He began boxing at age twelve and turned professional in 2009 after an outstanding amateur career, having over 100 fights and being a National Champion in The Philippines.

continue

Froch-Groves meet at Wembley press conference ahead of rematch – 60,000 tickets gone in an hour!

Today in England at Wembley in the nation’s capital, Carl Froch and George Groves came face to face at a press conference to officially announce their May 31st rematch. There is, as surely everyone knows, no love lost between the two rival super-middleweights, and today the two had some harsh words for one another ahead of the fight that has, amazingly shifted 60,000 tickets after just one hour of them going on sale.

Groves, who was TKO’d in the 9th round back in November, spoke first and had more to say than Froch:

continue

Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Canelo vs Angulo, Santa Cruz, Rigondeaux, and Tony Weeks!

Erik N. (El Paso, TX): I thought Canelo performed very well against Angulo and I feel he’s the best at 154lbs. How did you rate his performance and what are your thoughts for him going forward?

Vivek W. (ESB): From the subplots coming into this event to the ones during the event, as well as those which have spurned in the aftermath of it, there are so many different things to consider with Canelo when you analyze the big picture. Just kind of taking things full circle, I’ll start with the pre-fight angle…..namely the weight issue.

continue

Danny Garcia and Mauricio Herrera media conference call transcript

Kelly Swanson

Thanks, everybody for joining us today for the Danny Garcia and Mauricio Herrera international media conference call. We are going to start first with Mauricio, as well as his trainer, Willie Silva, and then Danny Garcia will be joining us. I would now like to introduce Richard Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Boy Promotions who will talk about the fight and make the formal introductions.

continue

Manny Pacquiao Arrives at LAX / USA

(Photo credit: Chris Farina/Top Rank) LOS ANGELES (March 10, 2014) –

Fighter of the Decade MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO and his Hall of Fame Trainer

World-Famous Freddie Roach broke camp in General Santos City in the Philippines and arrived at LAX Saturday night.

On Monday, at Roach’s Hollywood-based Wild Card Boxing Club, they will begin phase two of training for their mission to recapture the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight championship title that undefeated two-division defending champion TIMOTHY “Desert Storm” BRADLEY, JR.won off of Pacquiao via a controversial split decision in 2012.

“We had a great camp in the Philippines and Manny, as usual, is way ahead of schedule in his conditioning , and very motivated,” said Roach. “The real business begins for us on Monday at Wild Card. We have great sparring waiting for Manny. He wants that title back. If Bradley thinks he’s going to see the same compassionate Manny he saw the first time they fought he is in for a very big surprise.”

continue

Canelo with huge advantage over Angulo in punch stats

Not only was Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s victory over Alfredo Angulo a one-sided affair visually, it also was reflected in the final punch stats from last Saturday night with Canelo out-landing Angulo over 2-1. Anglo threw more than 200 more punches than the red-haired Canelo, but his accuracy was a poor 14% due to his slow hand speed and because of the head movement that Canelo was using in the fight.

Here are the punch stats courtesy of Showtime:

Canelo – 298 of 513 total punches throw with a connect percentage of 58%.

continue

Hunter: Angulo was coming on strong against Canelo at time of stoppage

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Trainer Virgil Hunter isn’t too happy with the way that referee Tony Weeks halted the fight last Saturday night in the 10th round in the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KO’s) vs. Alfredo Angulo (22-4, 18 KO’s) fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Weeks didn’t give Angulo much of a chance in the round before stopping the fight, and that didn’t sit too well with Hunter, who believed that his fighter Angulo was coming on at the time of the stoppage in the 10th.

continue

Canelo Alvarez Impresses In Controversial TKO Victory Over Alfredo Angulo, Saturday on SHOWTIME PPV

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) LAS VEGAS (March 8, 2014) – Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez scored a controversial 10th round technical knockout victory over Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo in front of 14,610 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the main event of Saturday’s “TOE TO TOE: CANELO vs. ANGULO” on SHOWTIME PPV.

Canelo (43-1-1, 31 KOs) landed a vicious left uppercut that rocked “El Perro’s” head back at 0:47 of the 10th round. Sensing Angulo was taking too much punishment, referee Tony Weeks stepped in and halted the exciting battle.

continue