He took a HORRENDOUS beating. It was a very exciting fight, but totally one sided after the first round. Perhaps Angulo could reverse it in a rematch, but he took so much damage thats its possible he'll never be the same.
Damn, now you're just saying ANYTHING to discredit Kirkland. I'm sure Angulo was prepared PHYSICALLY. Now MENTALLY, he probably had it in his head that he would make short, easy work of Kirkland, but physically he was prepared. I picked Angulo to crush Kirkland just like everybody else, but it looked to me like James was just a better fighter. Angulo's slow ass simply couldnt keep up with Kirkland's pace.
It might seem like an over-simplification, but the bottom line is, Angulo simply punched himself out. Doesn't mean he wasn't well trained. Same shit almost happened to Mike Jones. After he went nuts in the first round on that guy, he looked like shit the rest of the fight.
Kirkland wins a rematch. Is Kirkland better than I gave him credit for? Not sure, but Angulo just couldn't cope in there with him.
Yeah, X... he wasn't throwing arm punches slower than any junior middleweight in known history after the first round... I'm making it all up
I will say this, for a guy to punch himself out in less than 3 min. and never get much of a 2nd win afterwards, I question just what kind of shape he was in. That said, its not a fight I'm interested in seeing again. I'd rather see Kirkland face guys like Lara, Alvarez, Martinez, Dzinziruk, Cotto, Margarito, etc. It was mostly a one sided fight with the exception of the 1st round. Does that warrant a rematch so soon?:scratcher:
There's no doubt in my mind that Angulo was undertrained for that fight, and also unprepared mentally. He thought he'd walk through Kirkland with ease. But even with that in mind I pick Kirkland in the rematch. Angulo is just so fucking slow and average, plus he took a huge beating, who knows if he'll be the same.
I think the amount of hard punches that Angulo threw for as extended period of time as he did (stupidly) seems nearly unprecendented. He basically lost that fight the moment Kirkland survived the first round. Angulo was simply done. Given this, I don't think we're in a position whatsoever to predict the outcome of a rematch. And I've heard nobody recall the fact that at the outset, Angulo, in the face of a offensive onslaught by Kirkland of his own , was able to land a very accurate and perfectly timed counter that put Kirkland on his ass. You think if he hadn't punched himself out he would not have managed to do that 1,2 even 3 more times throughout the next several rounds? Given the amount of opportunities he would've had against the very offensive minded Kirkland? Don't fool yourself. That outcome of that fight does nothing to confirm the outcome of a rematch. I just think Kirkland should parlay this win into a match-up with one of the champions if he can, given the Angulo rematch will always be there, given he's the winner in the first fight.
