By Ryan Maquiñana
Alfredo Angulo entered the most important training camp of his career with one particular concern in mind: the need for speed.
Under the tutelage of Virgil Hunter in Hayward, Calif., Angulo’s footwork and fundamentals were noticeably sharper in his thrilling scrap with slick southpaw Erislandy Lara last year.
Heading into Saturday night’s pay-per-view clash with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the pressure fighter nicknamed “El Perro” has taken a dogged approach to being more fleet of foot.
In addition to sparring with quicker, lighter fighters like former junior welterweight titleholder Amir Khan, Angulo has been paying visits to nutritionist Victor Conte and track coach Remi Korchemny in nearby San Carlos.
“Working with Remi, I believe, has improved his footspeed,” Conte told BoxingScene.com/CSNBayArea.com. “He’s already excellent at cutting off the ring, and with the work ‘Perro’ has done on the track, I believe that he’s going to be able to get inside and do some damage.”
Conte also referred to Angulo’s encounter with Lara, where “El Perro” was able to track down the Cuban boxer and floor him twice before being unable to continue in the 10th round due to an eye injury.
“He surprised a lot of people in the Lara fight with the way he got inside on him and almost stopped him, and with his improved agility and quickness, I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people here against Canelo,” Conte said.
Ryan Maquiñana was the boxing producer for NBCOlympics.com during London 2012 and writes a boxing column for CSNBayArea.com. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine's Ratings Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.com or follow him on Twitter @RMaq28.
