By Coach Tim Walker – Alfredo Angulo is no longer facing Danny Perez as a replacement for Ricardo Mayorgo. So which fighter is up next and why is it seemingly so hard for Gary Shaw to make a fight for El Perro? Prior to fighting Ricardo Cortes it would have been a lot easier getting him bouts but consecutive knockouts of Cortes, Richard Gutierrez and Andrey Tsurkan has placed him in the rare KO artist category..
The last week has been somewhat of a whirlwind for Angulo. When Mayorga dropped out of their anticipated February 14 bout under mysterious injury circumstances several names were mentioned as replacements including Daniel Edouard, Alfonso Gomez, K-9 Bundrage and the aforementioned Danny Perez. Perez is out. The latest fighter installment in the Angulo/Mayorga debacle is (wait for it) Cosme Rivera. On paper Cosme seems to be a somewhat formidable opponent. Still, he can be out-boxed at times, out-maneuvered at times, out-powered at times and sometimes just flat out-classed.
He falls in head first, goes straight back and does not use his lanky frame to his advantage at all. His biggest claims to fame are beating Hercules Kyvelos and Golden Johnson, and beautifully knocking down Andre Berto with a switch south paw stance in the sixth round on his way to being dominated.
The selection of Cosme Rivera signals that Gary Shaw and Don King have decided that it is better to pick a fighter and stick to him rather than keep pressing the issue of trying to land him a good last minute opponent. Settling on Cosme today will allow his young fighter to get from under the pressure of not knowing whom he will fight Saturday, constantly thinking about it and being constantly questioned about it.
Cosme poses little threat to Angulo. Boxrec.com has the fight listed as three stars out of five but I think that is a bit generous and feel that two out of five is more realistic. Cosme will put his best foot forward but as he has done in virtually all of his step up fights should fall well short of a victory other than a moral victory.