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By Jake Donovan - A bout some four years in the making, Saturday night’s headliner in Cancun was expected to be a free-swinging brawl for as long as it lasted, until one of them eventually wilted.
The fight followed that script, only the guy everyone expected to wilt – didn’t.
Resurging 154 lb. contender James Kirkland overcame an opening minute knockdown to stop longtime rival Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo in the sixth round of their vicious brawl Saturday evening at Centro de Cancun in Cancun, Mexico.
Pure unadulterated violence was expected in the HBO main event, yet they managed to still surpass those expectations. A right hand by Angulo put Kirkland on his butt less than 30 seconds into the evening. The Austin native arose to wobbly legs and a foggy head, and the ensuing assault he absorbed offered the suggestion of the Nobuhiro Ishida fight all over again.
Then came his second wind, which came midway through the opening round.
Kirkland turned things around in a big way, scoring with body shots to slow down Angulo. His offensive assault was aided by Angulo badly punching himself out, throwing wide looping shots after unloading in the first 90 or so seconds. Kirkland caught wind of it, and began launching straight left hands, which froze Angulo along the ropes and eventually out him on the canvas for the first time in his career.
The Mexican beat the count but was clearly unsteady as he arose, though he managed to make it out of a round that is by far the leading candidate for the best of 2011.
The rest of the fight couldn’t possibly compare, but still kept the capacity crowd on the edge of its collective seat – particularly because their guy was in trouble and never seemed to fully regain his faculties.
There appeared a moment when Kirkland threatened to punch himself out, but – unlike [Click Here To Read More]
The fight followed that script, only the guy everyone expected to wilt – didn’t.
Resurging 154 lb. contender James Kirkland overcame an opening minute knockdown to stop longtime rival Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo in the sixth round of their vicious brawl Saturday evening at Centro de Cancun in Cancun, Mexico.
Pure unadulterated violence was expected in the HBO main event, yet they managed to still surpass those expectations. A right hand by Angulo put Kirkland on his butt less than 30 seconds into the evening. The Austin native arose to wobbly legs and a foggy head, and the ensuing assault he absorbed offered the suggestion of the Nobuhiro Ishida fight all over again.
Then came his second wind, which came midway through the opening round.
Kirkland turned things around in a big way, scoring with body shots to slow down Angulo. His offensive assault was aided by Angulo badly punching himself out, throwing wide looping shots after unloading in the first 90 or so seconds. Kirkland caught wind of it, and began launching straight left hands, which froze Angulo along the ropes and eventually out him on the canvas for the first time in his career.
The Mexican beat the count but was clearly unsteady as he arose, though he managed to make it out of a round that is by far the leading candidate for the best of 2011.
The rest of the fight couldn’t possibly compare, but still kept the capacity crowd on the edge of its collective seat – particularly because their guy was in trouble and never seemed to fully regain his faculties.
There appeared a moment when Kirkland threatened to punch himself out, but – unlike [Click Here To Read More]
...Dog Catcher....oh man, somebody hook me up with Kirkland as a dog catcher on photoshop...I'll send points for that lol
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