By Luis Sandoval

In his first interview since his loss to James Kirkland on HBO last Saturday night, Alfredo “Perro” Angulo spoke with Boxingscene’s official audio show The Boxing Lab about his thoughts on what transpired. 

In a definite Round of the Year candidate, Angulo and Kirkland immediately went to war in the very first round of their bout which saw Kirkland get dropped by an Angulo right hand. Angulo did his best to finish him off, but Kirkland weathered the storm as it appeared Angulo punched himself out. 

When asked he felt he over exerted himself in the opening stanza, Angulo instead spoke from the belief that the officiating could’ve been a little tighter. 

“I think it was a great fight,” Angulo states, echoing the sentiments of everyone who tuned in to HBO that night. “I dropped him in the first round but I don’t think the referee did a good job because when you connect on a fighter with 5-6 punches without a response, you have to give him a count. Or bring it to some attention. The referee never did that and I hit James with 5 to 6 unanswered punches.”

When asked for clarification, Angulo reiterated his belief that Kirkland was hurt enough to where the referee should’ve issued a standing eight count. He felt he possibly was a bit too anxious in the first round to get him out of there but still felt he hurt Kirkland enough to warrant a count. 

Angulo was relatively inactive due to his current visa situation coming into this fight, basically fighting just two rounds in about 18 months. He was asked if he felt the inactivity played a part in getting tired in the fight.

“It’s a good possibility, so maybe. But I had a great training camp and trained hard. I think we made some mistakes and we need to correct them. We simply need to do a better job next time,” said Angulo.

While he’s not happy with how the referee handled the situation, he still gave his opponent Kirkland the proper credit. 

“He’s a great fighter. He has a good punch and I think he did a great job preparing himself. He was the better than me that night. But only because he was better than me that night, doesn’t mean he’s the better fighter.”

Perro said he will rest for the next two weeks before heading right back into the gym to start training again. He’d be willing to return to the ring as early as January or February and welcomes a rematch with Kirkland if it could be made.

“If Kirkland gives us the rematch, I’ll accept it with pleasure. I’ll take the rematch with James because I think it was an excellent fight that people would love to see again.”

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to Boxingscene’s official audio show The Boxing Lab every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.