Sharkie's Machine: Alfredo Angulo KO’s Harry Joe Yorgey in Three & How About a Super 8 Tournament at Jr. Middle?
By Frank Gonzalez Jr., exclusive to Doghouse Boxing (Nov 8, 2009) Photo © Will Hart / HBO  
Saturday night at the XL Center in Hartford Connecticut , Jr. Middleweight contender Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo (17-1, 14 KO’s) faced a very game and undefeated Harry Joe Yorgey (now 22-1, 10 KO’s) in a contest for the “vacant” WBO Interim title.

Harry Joe Yorgey is a stand up guy who made his bones in 2008 and 2009 beating the likes of then 21-0 Jason La Houllier and a 21-0 Ronald Hearns Jr. In those fights, Yorgey showed his grit and a good fighting spirit to compliment his sophomoric boxing skills. Besides the two guys above, all of Yorgey’s other opponents have been too anonymous to name. By contrast, Alfredo Angulo has been fighting guys with winning records for nine fights in a row since 2007. The difference in how these two contenders got to be in the ring against each other showed big time when they got to fighting each other.

Yorgey tried to box outside and feel Angulo out but was barely able to keep Angulo off him in the first round, where after spending most of the time covering up and backing up, Yorgey got a taste of a pair of potent right hands from Angulo to cap off the round.

In the second round, Angulo was even more aggressive and was catching Yorgey with more rights that were softening him up fast. Yorgey was knocked down in the second round and at another juncture was ‘out on his feet’ though the referee didn’t give him a count. At that point, another referee might’ve stopped it in the interest of Yorgey’s long term health.

In the third round, Angulo pummeled Yorgey viciously, especially with his right hand. Angulo knew Yorgey was on the verge of going down and Angulo battered him in the corner ropes and ‘released the dogs’ on him, catching him with a flush left hook that caught him clean on the cheek and jerked his head one way—only to be hit again, by a right cross going the other way that saw Yorgey drop vertically to the canvas. That was at 1:03 of the third round. Yorgey was down and unconscious for a few scary minutes. Angulo had won by KO in 3.

With the fight over, the ring filled with people and medics hovering over Yorgey, tending to him and assessing his condition. After a moment, Yorgey got up and appeared to be okay. Angulo hugged him several times, seemingly relieved to see that Yorgey was okay. For the brutal assault administered by Angulo, he showed some good sportsmanship in that ring after the knockout.

Alfredo Angulo is on the fast track to winning a major title. His only loss was to Kermit Cintron back in May of this year in a fight that Cintron afterwards called his best performance ever. Cintron was the better boxer that night and by the time Angulo was starting to figure him out, it was too late, since Cintron had built a good enough lead on the scorecards to win the decision. The loss to Cintron made Angulo better, as his overall presence in the ring looked more polished and effective than before. Angulo is a big banger but he’s really a good technical boxer too.

With this WBO Interim title, there are now three guys with titles for the WBO, Ukrainian, Sergeii Dzinziruk (36-0, 22 KO’s), American, Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KO’s), who won the WBO Interim title after beating Verno Phillips last year and now, Alfredo Angulo, as yet another “Interim Champ.” It’s stupid and confusing. Someone needs to tell the WBO that the word Champion can only apply to one fighter at a time.

With the mess of who’s who at the WBO Light Middleweight division, it can all be easily settled if the three fighters the WBO calls champions fight each other. But don’t hold your breath.

I’d like to see Angulo will fight the winner of Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez, both of whom are top shelf fighters. Maybe Angulo will fight Sergeii Dzinziruk instead for the actual WBO title. But the fight this fan’s been wanting to see was Angulo vs. James Kirkland. That has to be one of the most anticipated match ups under the radar. But Kirkland , due to legal troubles, won’t be available for a while. Too bad. Kirkland vs. Angulo would be a MONSTER fight! But who knows, maybe in a couple of years they will finally get it on. In the mean time, Angulo’s handlers might even consider a rematch with Cintron, though Cintron may be happy to leave things as they are for now.

It would be great if the 154 pound division did a “Super Eight” tournament that would include WBA titlist Daniel Santos, WBC titlist Sergio Martinez, IBF titlist Corey Spinks, and WBO titlist Sergeii Dzinziruk and add Paul Williams and Kermit Cintron and two other top contenders, like Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. and Alfredo Angulo. Can you imagine this group all having to fight each other? Think of the ticket sales and ratings boxing would generate. Promoters, are you listening?

Comments, Questions, can be emailed to dshark87@hotmail.com.







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