Tweet
By Steve Kim
In May of 2009, junior middleweight Alfredo Angulo suffered his first professional loss against Kermit Cintron, who, despite being better known as a puncher, boxed and moved his way to a 12-round unanimous decision by scores of 116-112 across the board. Versus the lateral movement of Cintron, for much of the night, Angulo’s attempts to corral his foe were as futile as a dog chasing its own tail.
The book was out on Angulo: move, move and move some more on the heavy-handed Mexican.
From this point forward, anyone who faces “Perro” would employ this strategy, which could prove to be a bit of a problem in a division that boasts the likes of Paul Williams, Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez, Sergiy Dzinziruk, Yuri Foreman and Vanes Martirosyan, among others. Simply put, fighters who are more athletic than Angulo.
It’s exactly why his promoter Gary Shaw suggested that strength-and-conditioning coach Darryl Hudson be brought in prior to this weekend’s fight at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, where he faces former titlist Joachim Alcine on HBO.
"I worked with him when we both worked with Shane Mosley," Shaw said of Hudson, who has also been associated with Winky Wright, Chris Arreola and Lamon Brewster. "I was very, very impressed with all of Darryl’s work. He made Shane faster, made him stronger and I know this is the thing Angulo really needed to turn the corner." So was the impetus the loss to Cintron, or were they just projecting ahead to future match-ups against a higher caliber of opponent? "I think everybody thought that if you move on Alfredo, that is the way you win. That they’re looking at the Cintron boilerplate. I don’t really subscribe to that 100-percent," said the promoter. "But I know that I needed Angulo to be a lot more flexible and a lot quicker in the way he moves. There’s no question he can stalk any fighter but I want him to move faster on his prey."
While Angulo has heavy hands, the problem was that he also has heavy feet. Fred Astaire, he isn’t. His movement in the ring is deliberate and measured which is fine against opponents willing stand in the pocket against him. But getting fleet-footed, world-class boxers in his crosshairs on a consistent basis would be a quandary in the near future.
"I think that as time passes and we have fighters of greater quality, I have to acquire more and more skills to be able to deal with the situations that are coming," admitted Angulo, through interpreter Rogelio Simpson, this past Friday afternoon at the Maywood Boxing Club.
You can’t turn a slow individual into a fast one- remember that axiom about not being able to teach speed- but you can get someone to be less slow. Which is precisely why Hudson was called in. His job is to help Angulo reach whatever his athletic ceiling was. He says, "I always thought, personally, in observing him that his footwork could’ve been a little better. The athleticism is there; I notice that he can cut [off] the ring pretty well. So I think that’s the reason I was contacted, just to help make him a little more athletic."
So while Angulo still does many of the same drills with his long-time trainer, Clemente Medina, in the gym, Hudson has revamped the way Angulo warms up and stretches and the manner in which he executes his road work, while incorporating a series of resistance drills. Traditional roadwork for boxers consists of running at a steady, monotonous pace for six or seven miles at a time. But Hudson, who puts Angulo through his paces at the Whittier Narrows Regional Park at Legg Lake, has him go through a series of 880-meter sprints (all run between 2:15 and 2:20) after running around the park for a few miles. Hudson believes the way most boxers train, cardiovascular-wise, is outdated.
"Because that’s not the proper energy system that these fighters use," Hudson explained. "It’s aerobic; boxers use every energy system that they have. There’s only three: there’s anaerobic, anaerobic-glycolytic and aerobic. But predominantly, they use anaerobic-glycolytic. So it’s not trained properly in the form of running, when it comes to running and agility drills and so forth."
In between his 880s, Hudson has Angulo put on an apparatus that is best associated with Evander Holyfield, where he throws punches while holding onto two handles that are attached to bands which are strapped along his back and shoulders, providing resistance.
After the running portion of their early morning workout is completed, Angulo then puts on a belt which is then hooked to a rope that is held by Hudson (almost like putting a dog on a leash). Angulo then goes through a series of movements with Hudson pulling against him.
"It’s for his footwork, the spacing in-between his feet; I thought it was very close- he likes them close because he thinks it helps him sit on his punches better," explained Hudson. "What he’s developed, in spreading his legs, is lowering his center of gravity a little more now. And he’s moving laterally in different directions now, a lot quicker with the resistance behind him. It tricks the nervous system; it works different energy systems that I talk about. It does a number of things."
Hudson has also used his leash while Angulo has hit the pads with Medina at the gym.
The final exercises Hudson puts Angulo through are with the medicine ball, which the boxer is forced to thrust the ball with quick bursts consecutively for 50 yards. As soon as he releases the weighted object, Angulo quickly chases it down and repeats the process. Angulo throws the medicine ball both behind his head and in front of him, always bending at the knees with proper posture and exploding through his movement.
"A lot of core strength, a lot of different core muscles that we try to focus on, the turning of the punch, sitting down and turning different directions, the slipping, just moving the core in different directions is very important, so I try to strengthen it in different ways," said Hudson, in explaining the hurls of the medicine ball which mainly work the abdominal area.
In these sessions, weights are not present. Not a single dumbbell or barbell to be found anywhere. Weightlifting had been taboo in boxing for years but, in recent years, more and more boxers adhere to some form of weight training. But there is a growing trend of athletes using alternative methods to increase their speed and strength.
Hudson says," Weights can be used but what I do is what I call a ‘functional system of training.’ It fits what the fighter does and it should always fit. I’m not taking away from his natural ability to move. The main thing is doing all these different things with the different implements just to make him stronger but, at the same time, be functional in your movement. Much of what Hudson believes in is rooted in his background in track and field. Much of what Angulo has done for the past eight weeks is used by football players preparing for the NFL Combine and sprinters.
So can they see the results?
"Definitely," said Medina, "The work Darryl has done with him, Alfredo has improved and he’s going to be a lot faster for this fight coming up." He added, "He’s strong by nature already but we needed something else to improve his speed, his fastness and we work as a team," which has been key.
There have been many times when strength-and-conditioning coaches have clashed with old-school trainers who are reluctant to change and implement new ideas. Hudson has said in the past, without the full cooperation of a Dan Birmingham, his work with Wright would not have been as far-reaching or effective. "Clemente was very objective and open to everything I suggested from day one when we first met." And he had complete buy-in from his newest client. "Angulo, after a couple of days with him, he looked at me and told me, ’You like to work; you know what you’re doing; you work hard and I’m going to allow you to do your job. You will see your work in the ring.’"
According to Hudson, Angulo’s work ethic is Bo Derek- in other words, a ten. Hudson derives great pleasure in working with a client who is so compliant and cooperative, unlike some other boxers we won’t mention here (Y’ know, a certain tubby heavyweight from Riverside…).
"It’s a happy feeling because a true person loves to come to work. If you’re doing something you love- which I love doing this- having someone as willing as Angulo, who allows me to do my job and who appreciates the work I do and trusts me to do my job; it’s just a happy feeling," he says.
So in two months time, is Angulo a better athlete?
Hudson answers, "My job is to look at an athlete and pull out of that athlete the potential that’s there. Everybody, I think, has a certain level of potential of athleticism that’s untapped or untouched. I’ve been able to do that with him. He’s more athletic than he gets credit for. He’s very strong- we already knew that- but he’s much more or an athlete than he gets credit for."
But this is still a process. Whatever upside Angulo has athletically will most likely be tapped in the future after a few more training camps with Hudson.
"That’s why we started early. Because the first fight, you’ll see some improvements. But as we go [forward with] the improvements from this training camp, you will see more in the next fight because he knows he’ll be accustomed to doing some of the things I want to do. He’ll be improved in certain areas that we’re trying to improve him in and now, we can intensify the level of training."
So will we see a new-and-improved Angulo this weekend?
“Perro” says simply, "You have had the opportunity to be here in the preparation with Darryl and you can see that I’m a lot faster with my legs and my hands."
In May of 2009, junior middleweight Alfredo Angulo suffered his first professional loss against Kermit Cintron, who, despite being better known as a puncher, boxed and moved his way to a 12-round unanimous decision by scores of 116-112 across the board. Versus the lateral movement of Cintron, for much of the night, Angulo’s attempts to corral his foe were as futile as a dog chasing its own tail.
The book was out on Angulo: move, move and move some more on the heavy-handed Mexican.
From this point forward, anyone who faces “Perro” would employ this strategy, which could prove to be a bit of a problem in a division that boasts the likes of Paul Williams, Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez, Sergiy Dzinziruk, Yuri Foreman and Vanes Martirosyan, among others. Simply put, fighters who are more athletic than Angulo.
It’s exactly why his promoter Gary Shaw suggested that strength-and-conditioning coach Darryl Hudson be brought in prior to this weekend’s fight at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, where he faces former titlist Joachim Alcine on HBO.
"I worked with him when we both worked with Shane Mosley," Shaw said of Hudson, who has also been associated with Winky Wright, Chris Arreola and Lamon Brewster. "I was very, very impressed with all of Darryl’s work. He made Shane faster, made him stronger and I know this is the thing Angulo really needed to turn the corner." So was the impetus the loss to Cintron, or were they just projecting ahead to future match-ups against a higher caliber of opponent? "I think everybody thought that if you move on Alfredo, that is the way you win. That they’re looking at the Cintron boilerplate. I don’t really subscribe to that 100-percent," said the promoter. "But I know that I needed Angulo to be a lot more flexible and a lot quicker in the way he moves. There’s no question he can stalk any fighter but I want him to move faster on his prey."
While Angulo has heavy hands, the problem was that he also has heavy feet. Fred Astaire, he isn’t. His movement in the ring is deliberate and measured which is fine against opponents willing stand in the pocket against him. But getting fleet-footed, world-class boxers in his crosshairs on a consistent basis would be a quandary in the near future.
"I think that as time passes and we have fighters of greater quality, I have to acquire more and more skills to be able to deal with the situations that are coming," admitted Angulo, through interpreter Rogelio Simpson, this past Friday afternoon at the Maywood Boxing Club.
You can’t turn a slow individual into a fast one- remember that axiom about not being able to teach speed- but you can get someone to be less slow. Which is precisely why Hudson was called in. His job is to help Angulo reach whatever his athletic ceiling was. He says, "I always thought, personally, in observing him that his footwork could’ve been a little better. The athleticism is there; I notice that he can cut [off] the ring pretty well. So I think that’s the reason I was contacted, just to help make him a little more athletic."
So while Angulo still does many of the same drills with his long-time trainer, Clemente Medina, in the gym, Hudson has revamped the way Angulo warms up and stretches and the manner in which he executes his road work, while incorporating a series of resistance drills. Traditional roadwork for boxers consists of running at a steady, monotonous pace for six or seven miles at a time. But Hudson, who puts Angulo through his paces at the Whittier Narrows Regional Park at Legg Lake, has him go through a series of 880-meter sprints (all run between 2:15 and 2:20) after running around the park for a few miles. Hudson believes the way most boxers train, cardiovascular-wise, is outdated.
"Because that’s not the proper energy system that these fighters use," Hudson explained. "It’s aerobic; boxers use every energy system that they have. There’s only three: there’s anaerobic, anaerobic-glycolytic and aerobic. But predominantly, they use anaerobic-glycolytic. So it’s not trained properly in the form of running, when it comes to running and agility drills and so forth."
In between his 880s, Hudson has Angulo put on an apparatus that is best associated with Evander Holyfield, where he throws punches while holding onto two handles that are attached to bands which are strapped along his back and shoulders, providing resistance.
After the running portion of their early morning workout is completed, Angulo then puts on a belt which is then hooked to a rope that is held by Hudson (almost like putting a dog on a leash). Angulo then goes through a series of movements with Hudson pulling against him.
"It’s for his footwork, the spacing in-between his feet; I thought it was very close- he likes them close because he thinks it helps him sit on his punches better," explained Hudson. "What he’s developed, in spreading his legs, is lowering his center of gravity a little more now. And he’s moving laterally in different directions now, a lot quicker with the resistance behind him. It tricks the nervous system; it works different energy systems that I talk about. It does a number of things."
Hudson has also used his leash while Angulo has hit the pads with Medina at the gym.
The final exercises Hudson puts Angulo through are with the medicine ball, which the boxer is forced to thrust the ball with quick bursts consecutively for 50 yards. As soon as he releases the weighted object, Angulo quickly chases it down and repeats the process. Angulo throws the medicine ball both behind his head and in front of him, always bending at the knees with proper posture and exploding through his movement.
"A lot of core strength, a lot of different core muscles that we try to focus on, the turning of the punch, sitting down and turning different directions, the slipping, just moving the core in different directions is very important, so I try to strengthen it in different ways," said Hudson, in explaining the hurls of the medicine ball which mainly work the abdominal area.
In these sessions, weights are not present. Not a single dumbbell or barbell to be found anywhere. Weightlifting had been taboo in boxing for years but, in recent years, more and more boxers adhere to some form of weight training. But there is a growing trend of athletes using alternative methods to increase their speed and strength.
Hudson says," Weights can be used but what I do is what I call a ‘functional system of training.’ It fits what the fighter does and it should always fit. I’m not taking away from his natural ability to move. The main thing is doing all these different things with the different implements just to make him stronger but, at the same time, be functional in your movement. Much of what Hudson believes in is rooted in his background in track and field. Much of what Angulo has done for the past eight weeks is used by football players preparing for the NFL Combine and sprinters.
So can they see the results?
"Definitely," said Medina, "The work Darryl has done with him, Alfredo has improved and he’s going to be a lot faster for this fight coming up." He added, "He’s strong by nature already but we needed something else to improve his speed, his fastness and we work as a team," which has been key.
There have been many times when strength-and-conditioning coaches have clashed with old-school trainers who are reluctant to change and implement new ideas. Hudson has said in the past, without the full cooperation of a Dan Birmingham, his work with Wright would not have been as far-reaching or effective. "Clemente was very objective and open to everything I suggested from day one when we first met." And he had complete buy-in from his newest client. "Angulo, after a couple of days with him, he looked at me and told me, ’You like to work; you know what you’re doing; you work hard and I’m going to allow you to do your job. You will see your work in the ring.’"
According to Hudson, Angulo’s work ethic is Bo Derek- in other words, a ten. Hudson derives great pleasure in working with a client who is so compliant and cooperative, unlike some other boxers we won’t mention here (Y’ know, a certain tubby heavyweight from Riverside…).
"It’s a happy feeling because a true person loves to come to work. If you’re doing something you love- which I love doing this- having someone as willing as Angulo, who allows me to do my job and who appreciates the work I do and trusts me to do my job; it’s just a happy feeling," he says.
So in two months time, is Angulo a better athlete?
Hudson answers, "My job is to look at an athlete and pull out of that athlete the potential that’s there. Everybody, I think, has a certain level of potential of athleticism that’s untapped or untouched. I’ve been able to do that with him. He’s more athletic than he gets credit for. He’s very strong- we already knew that- but he’s much more or an athlete than he gets credit for."
But this is still a process. Whatever upside Angulo has athletically will most likely be tapped in the future after a few more training camps with Hudson.
"That’s why we started early. Because the first fight, you’ll see some improvements. But as we go [forward with] the improvements from this training camp, you will see more in the next fight because he knows he’ll be accustomed to doing some of the things I want to do. He’ll be improved in certain areas that we’re trying to improve him in and now, we can intensify the level of training."
So will we see a new-and-improved Angulo this weekend?
“Perro” says simply, "You have had the opportunity to be here in the preparation with Darryl and you can see that I’m a lot faster with my legs and my hands."
Comment