Alfredo Angulo and Caleb Truax are survivors.
The veteran super middleweights have been beaten down and written off more than once yet here they are, both in their twilight of their careers, in one more important fight on national television.
They face one another on the Erislandy Lara-Greg Vendetti card Saturday at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The card is on FOX.
Angulo (26-7, 21 KOs) was thought by many to be finished before he stepped into the ring to face former middleweight titleholder Peter Quillin last September in Bakersfield, Calif.
The U.S.-based Mexican had back-to-back losses and two long stretches away from boxing between 2015 and last year, leading some to fear for his safety against a puncher like Quillin. Angulo had the look of a has-been.
So what happened? Angulo turned in a spirited, throw-back performance to defeat Quillin by a split decision and revive his career.
The decline of Quillin probably played a role in Angulo’s resurgence. However, it was more than that. Angulo fought like a capable 168-pounder, like a fighter on a mission, not like one with a foot out of the sport.
The 38-year-old “Perro” credits trainer Abel Sanchez.
The fighter traveled up the mountain to Sanchez’s Big Bear, Calif. training camp after his loss to Sergio Mora in April 2018 in hopes that Sanchez would work with him. The trainer, aware of how Angulo had looked in the ring, was skeptical but gave him a chance.
“I told him I’d give him three, four weeks, which I usually do,” Sanchez said on a conference call. “I was thinking that at this stage – he didn’t look good in previous fights – I thought he’d last maybe three, four weeks in the gym because it’s difficult up there, and he’d go away.
“But to Perro’s credit, he made those three weeks a real pleasure for me to see somebody try as hard as he did. Once he got into shape there was no holding him back. … Instead of growing old, he’s getting younger on me.”
Angulo, under Sanchez’s tutelage, returned from a one-year hiatus to stop Evert Bravo in two rounds and then upset Quillin by split decision. Now he has his sights on a title shot and dreams of facing countryman Canelo Alvarez one day. He has come a long way.
“The biggest gift for me is the confidence, the input Abel gives me each and every day,” Angulo said through a translator. “… If you want the key to the turnaround, that’s the biggest thing. It’s also about being at the gym every day, being challenged by fighters with the same ambitions that I have.
“We challenge each other, push each other to surpass our own limits, to get to new heights.”
The career of Truax (31-4-2, 19 KOs) peaked in December 2017, when he surprised everyone by defeating James DeGale via a majority decision to win a major super middleweight title in London.
The Minnesota fighter has had problems since. He suffered a gruesome cut above his right eye in a fight with Quillin in April of last year that was ruled a no-contest. Then he had to pull out of the rematch because of a torn right Achilles tendon.
That allowed Angulo to step in and score his upset but it was a big blow to Truax. He ultimately rebounded to defeat David Basajjamivule by a majority decision this past January in Minneapolis.
“The last year and a half was tough for me,” Truax said. “I had the cut against Quillin and the Achilles injury. It took about eight or nine months for it to feel back to normal. But I’ve been training on it since January and I’m ready to roll.
“… I had a little bit of ring rust in my last fight and it was great to knock it off. Most people thought I dominated, so I don’t know how it ended up so close on the cards. But I got the win and got the rounds in that I wanted.
“We’re moving forward and ready to put on a show against a higher level of competition in Alfredo Angulo.”
Truax is two years younger than Angulo, which isn’t young. They know there won’t be too many more opportunities to make an impact and big money.
At the same time, both of them are in a good position. The fight on Saturday is a title eliminator. Truax is ranked No. 3 by the IBF (with Nos. 1 and 2 vacant) behind champion Caleb Plant. Angulo is No. 12. Thus, the winner could get a title shot soon.
The stakes will be high on Saturday.
“Whoever wins could get that opportunity against Caleb Plant, which you have to acknowledge, but none of that happens without going through Angulo first,” Truax said. “So I have to take care of what’s in front of me Saturday.”
Or, as Angulo put it, “First things first.”
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