Alfredo Angulo Stops Joachim Alcine in First Round

WBO interim junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion Alfredo Angulo out-landed his rival by a large margin in the first round, where he cornered and pummeled his man along the ropes with a number of unanswered blows on the way to scoring his fourth straight knockout in as many consecutive victories. The match came during Saturday night's HBO-televised WBC eliminator win over former WBA titlist Joachim Alcine at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

A former member of the 2004 Mexican Olympic team who lives in Coachella, Calif., the 27-year-old Angulo (19-1, 16 KOs) has knockouts in his past 15 victories dating back to 2006, with his only setback being a unanimous decision loss to former two-time world champion Kermit Cintron in May 2009.
"I knew that it was going to be a tough bout with Alcine. When [promoter] Gary Shaw told me that we were going to fight here, you know, most of my people and my fans are in California," said Angulo, who forced referee Lou Moret to step in at 2:59 of the first round. "So I went back to the gym and I trained hard because I knew that it was going to be a hard bout. I wanted to show my skills to the people here in California."

Nicknamed, "Perro," which means, "Dog," Angulo's past four wins have been over Alcine, as well as August's second-round knockout of Gabriel Rosado, November's third-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Harry Joe Yorgey and April's 11th-round knockout of Joel Julio.

"[My new trainer Darryl Hudson] is excellent. He likes to work very hard and very strong just like I do. I thank him a lot, and we worked on this and the combinations and everything came out well," said Angulo. "[Alcine] was hurt, and he wanted to grab me and hold on because he didn't want to go down, but even if they grab me, and I have one free hand, I'm going to keep on throwing punches."

In the 34-year-old Alcine (32-2, 19 KOs), of Quebec, Canada, Angulo faced a man who had earned two straight decisions since being dethroned following a November 2008, sixth-round knockout loss to Daniel Santos.

Angulo threw 106 punches to 74 for Alcine, out-landing his rival, 42-18, in the round.

Angulo is one of many talented fighters in a balanced division whose lone unbeaten champion is Germany's southpaw, WBO king Sergei Dzinziruk (37-0, 23 KOs).

There is also WBA champ Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) and southpaw IBF titlist Cory Spinks (37-5, 11 KOs), who will defend his crown against 37-year-old Cornelius Bundrage (28-4, 17 KOs) on Aug. 7.

In victory, Angulo lined himself up for a potential shot at the WBC crown vacated by former titlist Sergio Martinez, who is also the WBC's middleweight (160 pounds) champ.

The WBC's No. 1 contender at junior middleweight is Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs), and the No. 2 contender is 19-year-old Mexican sensation Saul Alvarez (33-0-1, 25 KOs).

"Whenever they want to fight, I'm ready to fight whomever it is. The name doesn't matter, the record doesn't matter, if they come into the ring with 'The Dog,' it's going to be a great fight," said Angulo. "I'll do my job, and I'll do my best, and if the promoters don't want to put their fighters in with me, there's a reason for that."