By Cliff Rold

While not covered in depth in the pre-fight report card last week, the three young prospects on display last weekend on HBO Boxing After Dark can’t be ignored.  Here’s a little report card on each, graded on a curve because, hey, this is the come-up and not the got-there.

Alfredo Angulo: A

He was in the second bout of the night, and received the least chatter coming in, but it was Coachella, California’s 25-year old Jr. Middleweight Angulo (13-0, 10 KO) who was in toughest and showed the professional chops that could take him farthest.  His opponent, Richard Gutierrez (24-2, 14 KO), had been in with current top-ten Welterweight Joshua Clottey and held his own.  Angulo, despite some rough moments early in the fifth, bulled him over.

His speed isn’t great, but he just throws bricks.  Add to that an already educated jab and a solid chin and the thought of Angulo as a future champion is anything but far fetched.  He’s not flashy so he’ll be forced to work harder to get there but so what?  He’ll be all the better for it.  The best thing about Angulo on Saturday?  When he was hurt in the fifth, he bit down and returned the pain, scoring the stoppage in the same round.  That can’t be taught in any gym.

James Kirkland: A

I actually thought that the other Jr. Middleweight spotlight fighter, Houston, Texas’s 24-year old Kirkland (22-0, 19 KO) might be the most likely upset victim on Saturday. 

D’oh.

Eromosele Albert (21-2, 1 KO) was in the hunt for that distinction until he got hit, lasting all of 1 minute, six seconds.  The fight was so short that it’s hard to gauge anything about Kirkland, but we know this.  He’s fast, he hits hard, and the fans roared when he walked away from Albert’s prone form.  That sort of performance and the reaction of the crowd can be summed up simply as “Cha-ching!”  It’s hard to ask for more than that.  And finally…

Yuriorkis Gamboa: B-

The fighter who received the most press ink going in was the one who needed the most work coming out of Saturday night.  The 26-year old Cuban defector, and former Olympic Gold Medalist Gamboa (10-0, 8 KO) looked good for a kid in his tenth pro fight.  The problem was he looked like he was a kid in his tenth pro fight.  Props go to his matchmakers for putting him in tough with the tested Darling Jimenez (23-3-2, 14 KO) and props go to Gamboa for winning the fight.  However, the fourth round knockdown scored by Jimenez, the second time Gamboa has been down, should be a wake-up call.

The youngster has phenomenal speed and power, but his technique is rough and years in the fencing that is modern amateur Boxing have given him bad habits.  He wouldn’t be harmed by going the route of 2004 U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward; Ward had some shaky outings early on, clearly being pushed a step too far too fast.  Ward took a deep breath, stepped out of the spotlight, and has recently returned looking like the potential force he was expected to be.  Gamboa has the talent to be as good as many predict.  He still needs the fine tuning and there’s no need to rush.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com