Former WBA super-welterweight title contender Alfredo Angulo (24-5, 20 KO’s) picked up a fifth-round TKO victory over Hector Munoz on Saturday evening on the undercard of Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN3.
After getting stopped by James Kirkland in the sixth-round in 2011, Angulo found his way back to victory, but suffered three defeats in a row to Erislandy Lara, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and James De La Rosa.
Despite facing calls to retire, Angulo moved up two weight classes and after a nine-month layoff, faced the unknown Delray Raines.
Raines, who hails from Paris, Arkansas, is known as “The Rainmaker” when he enters the ring. However, it was Angulo who was raining blows on him, finishing his man in the fifth round. It was Raines’s third defeat in his last four fights, and all of them have come by KO.
Saturday was a different opponent and the same story for Alfredo Angulo, facing a little-known opponent in Hector Munoz who doesn’t have much going for him.
Angulo earned the victory and Munoz went home having lost 15 of his last 20 professional bouts.
Despite past shortcomings, Angulo feels he can make another run at a world title in a couple more fights.
“I feel great. I feel really comfortable,” Angulo told FightHub’s Constantino Garcia after the fight. “I need one or two more fights for my body to stay comfortable this way and then after for the next year; maybe I’ll get it [a title fight].
“I’m very happy and excited when I hear the people say my name,” he added. “I get goosebumps.”
When asked if there is any fighter that he is eying a bout with, Angulo admitted that he doesn’t pay much attention.
“I never really follow fighters. We go training and then [I fight] whoever my promoter gives me.”
Realistically, Angulo would be better off hanging up the gloves. If he’s having problems putting away guys like Raines and Munoz, it’s hard to imagine him being successful against solid, rising-star type talent.
Now a super-middleweight, he’s going to have to take a risk and fight someone at least in the top 15 if he wants to be seriously considered a title contender.
The No. 15 ranked contender in the WBA is the undefeated Andrey Meryasev (17-0, 12 KO’s). Meryasev is a Russian fighter and is certainly not a household name.
A Meryasev fight is a high-risk, low-reward fight. A victory could mean something given the undefeated record, but the level of competition Meryasev has faced to get to this point has either been inexperienced or faded, like the once mighty Carlos Baldomir.
If Angulo comes out on the short end of the stick, retirement will be almost imperative.
