Fighters respond to first loss in different ways

Alfredo Angulo, Urbano Antillon and Charles Huerta reacted differently to their first professional losses.

Alfredo Angulo (left), here taking a big right from Kermit Cintron en route to a 12-round unanimous decision loss in May, hopes to rebound from his first pro loss with a victory over tough Gabriel Rosado in Primm, Nev. on Friday. Angulo couldn't wait to get back in action, but other fighters respond differently to their first losses. Photo by Javiel Centeno / Fightwireimages.com

Fighters who are used to winning react differently to experiencing the first loss of their pro careers.

Lightweight contender Urbano Antillon’s first loss signaled the need for a change in his corner and training regimen.

Featherweight prospect Charles Huerta’s first loss was his cue to take a short vacation.

Junior middleweight standout Alfredo Angulo’s first loss was cause for an immediate return to the gym and the ring.

Angulo headlines an ESPN2-televised card from Primm, Nev., this Friday, just two months removed from his unanimous-decision loss to Kermit Cintron.

Angulo (15-1, 12 knockouts) says he was sick when he was outboxed and outworked by the more-experienced former welterweight titleholder on May 30. The 26-year-old pressure fighter, nicknamed Perro [Spanish for dog] for his relentless attack, believed the best way to prove that he had an off-night against Cintron was to schedule a fight as soon as possible and to get back to the winning ways that made him one of the sport’s hotter prospects.

“I immediately came back to the gym (after the loss),” Angulo told RingTV.com through his friend and interpreter Miguel Solano on Wednesday. “There was not going to be a vacation or any time away from the sport for me because I knew I was going to get right back in the game to demonstrate to the people that Perro is coming back.”

Angulo said he was disappointed with his lackluster performance against Cintron but his physcial condition going into the fight has tempered his attitude toward his first loss.

“I was sad and a little bit depressed because I let a lot of fans down,” Angulo said, “but I knew coming into the fight that I was not 100 percent. Had I been 100 percent and still lost that fight, I really would have been disappointed.

“I came down with a stomach infection four days before the fight. I knew I wasn’t healthy because I couldn’t eat well or keep on weight. My stomach would reject everything I tried to eat that week. After most weigh-ins I usually put on seven to 10 pounds, but for that fight I only put on four pounds.”

Angulo’s promoter Gary Shaw says he views the loss to Cintron as an aberration but he doesn’t want to make excuses. He just wants to get his fighter back in the ring and hopefully back in the win column to regain the momentum the fighter had prior to the Cintron fight.

“It’s like riding a bicycle," Shaw said. "If you fall, you gotta get right back on to pick up your confidence and to continue on the path you were on. I believe you gotta get right back in there. I believe Angulo can be a big star. I believe he is a star. He’s just got to prove it to everyone else.”

Angulo’s last three bouts were televised on HBO, which thought enough of the 2004 Mexican Olympian to include him among the network’s “New Faces of Boxing” and to produce “Ring Life” video segments detailing his story for TV and internet audiences.

Because of Angulo’s upward trajectory, Shaw wanted to make sure the fighter’s comeback bout was televised and he was careful not to pick a soft opponent.

“I had to wait for the right opportunity to bring him back,” Shaw said “I definitely wanted him on TV so the world could see him and so he could still feel the pressure. I didn’t want his comeback to be off TV, where he could come in heavy or be sloppy or fight any way he wanted.”

Angulo’s opponent for the 10-round Friday Night Fights main event is Gabriel Rosado, a tall, rangy spoiler from Philadelphia who has looked good in recent bouts.

In the past 14 months, Rosado (12-3, 7 KOs) has floored prospect Jaime Moore (then-15-0) before outpointing the Irishman over eight rounds, dropped former amateur star Fernando Guerrero (then-12-0) en route to a competitive eight-round loss, and upset former titleholder Kassim Ouma by a 10-round split decision.

It’s safe to say that the 23-year-old boxer is not going to be intimidated by Angulo, which is how Shaw wants it.

“Rosado is a real test for Angulo,” Shaw said. “I don’t believe in coming back and giving a guy an opponent who won’t last one minute. I believe Perro has to prove to himself that he’s really back and that his loss was an aberration.

“I can tell you this about Rosado: He hasn’t been down. That speaks the most volume to me, because fighters who have been down, know how to go down. Those who don’t will fight hard to stay upright.

“Another thing about Rosado is that he’s used to being the underdog and he’s used to coming out victorious in those fights that he was an underdog. And one more thing: He’s from Philly and those guys know how to fight.”

Angulo says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I know this guy went the distance with some good fighters,” he said of Rosado. “I know he’s strong and tall and that he can punch. On Friday, we’re going to have a really good fight because I’m taking it seriously. I’m looking at Rosado like he’s a Top-10 contender. I’m not taking him or my career for granted.”

Angulo appears to have the right plan to bounce back from his loss, and more importantly, he seems to have the correct attitude.

Rudy Hernandez, a former fighter-turned-trainer who guided Antillon to 26 straight victories before the hardnosed lightweight was knocked out by Miguel Acosta on July 25, believes that the toll a first loss takes on a fighter is mostly mental.

“Defeat is always the last thing on a fighter’s mind when he’s been on a winning streak,” Hernandez said. “An undefeated fighter feels like he’s on top of the world. But as they move to a higher level, opponents get a little tougher and a little wiser. And when they lose for that first time, the setback hurts them more mentally and physically. It takes a toll. It ages you a little bit. Suddenly, you’re not invincible, and that doesn’t feel good.

“But sometimes a loss can bring on bigger and better things in a fighter’s career. It all depends on his mindset. A loss can humble a fighter to where he gets back to the gym and works on what he feels he’s lacking. Only the strong and the fighters who were meant to be world champions do that. There’s only so much trainers, managers and promoters can do for a fighter, and then it comes time for the fighters to do what they are supposed to do or are meant to do. Once the bell rings, it’s their time.”

Despite his Spartan work ethic in the gym and his perfect record going into the Acosta fight, Antillon says he didn’t feel as though he was prepared to give his best against the well-schooled Venezuelan boxer.

He agrees with Hernandez that the mentally strong, those who are destined to be champions, are the fighters who learn from their losses. However, Antillon says he wasn’t learning from his victories.

He believes that he is strong. He thinks he might have what it takes to be a champion. But he says the loss to Acosta made him wonder whether Hernandez is the trainer to help him realize his ultimate potential.

On Tuesday, Antillon sat down with Hernandez and told the man who has trained him for 16 years that he wanted to look for a new head trainer. It was a difficult decision for the 26-year-old Maywood, Calif., resident to make, but he believes it was overdue.

“Rudy taught me that boxing is all a state of mind and the truth is that my state of mind has been negative for a while. I haven’t been happy in the gym for a long time,” Antillon said. “I was just doing the same thing over and over again. I didn’t feel like I was learning even though I was winning until the Acosta fight.”

Hernandez, who can be a hot head at times, was understanding and respectful of Antillon’s decision.

“It hurts because I’ve watched him grow up, but I think it’s for the best,” Hernandez said. “He felt I wasn’t giving him 100 percent in the gym. Maybe he’s right. I know the art of boxing. I’ve tried to teach it to all my boys, but for whatever reason they haven’t always learned.

“The bottom line is that if someone is not comfortable working with you, you should let them go. I can’t wish him any wrong. I only want the best for him. When he got dropped, I was helpless. It hurt me to see him get knocked out and to lose. I cried like a little baby after that loss.”

Antillon didn’t cry. He says he had a feeling his win streak could end that night in Mexico.

“I was expecting something negative to happen,” he said. “There was too much negative energy in the gym. I’d been working hard, but I wasn’t thinking anymore, and I carried that attitude into the Acosta fight.

“I was taking too many punches in that fight, unnecessary punches. There had to be a change. It’s not the loss that upset me, it was my performance. I wasn’t happy with it. I haven’t been happy for a while because I haven’t been performing to the level I think I’m capable of. Even after the Tyrone Harris fight, I was unsatisfied with my performance because I was too flat footed, and I was coming straight forward too much.”

Antillon, who has trained at the Maywood Boxing Club for the past five years, said he might look for a new gym.

“If you want to be a world champion, you have to train like one, and I haven’t been training like a world champion in Maywood,” he said. “When I sparred with Manny Pacquiao (at the Wild Card Boxing Club), I saw the attention he gets and the focus and confidence he has because of it. That’s something that I want, so I’m willing to look around for the best gym and the best trainer situation. I want to find the best situation for me.”

While Antillon continues his soul searching and Angulo heads back into the ring, Huerta will be relaxing on the beaches of Waikiki in Oahu, Hawaii.

The 22-year-old featherweight’s shocking first-round KO loss to Derrick Wilson last Thursday was a bitter pill to swallow, but it hasn’t dampened his spirits. Huerta, who turns 23 on Friday, intends to enjoy his birthday and the company of his close family and friends in the balmy island weather.

“I’m still bummed a little bit, but what can you do?” Huerta said from Waikiki. “I got caught with a good shot. You can’t say too much about it.

“Taking that first loss was really tough, especially the night of the fight. I felt so bad that I wanted to leave Club Nokia immediately and go straight home because I felt that I let everyone down who came to see me.

“A replay of the card was playing in our dressing room after my fight, and I told my dad that I didn’t want to look at it. My Dad said ‘OK, but sooner or later you’re going to have to watch it, and you’re going to have to deal with it. You can’t hide from a loss.’ He talked me into sticking around for the VIP party at the Club. I’m glad I went because people I didn’t even know approached me and told me to keep my head up. Everyone was really nice. They shook my hand and took pictures with me. I even had a few sponsors approach me.”

Huerta says he took that positive experience with him on the plane to Hawaii, where he will enjoy the rest of the week before returning home on Sunday.

“I’ll be back in the gym on Monday,” he said. “I still haven’t watched the fight, but I will. I’m looking forward to it, and I’m looking forward to getting back to training.

“I fought a stupid fight last Thursday. I should have boxed. I should have been more careful, but now I have the challenge of making that improvement. I’m more excited about my next fight.”

Huerta said he hopes his next fight will be against Wilson.

“We talked to Golden Boy Promotions before I left,” he said. “They brought up the rematch, and we said ‘Let’s do it!’ I’m up for the challenge. It’s a fight they can promote and that everyone will be looking forward to. That excites me. They said they’ll try to make the rematch the main event for the September Fight Night Club.”

Huerta isn’t the only fighter looking for a rematch.

Should Angulo beat Rosado on Friday, a televised bout on the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson II card on HBO awaits him. Shaw said he wants Angulo’s opponent for that November date to be a world-ranked contender with no more than two losses.

Angulo has the perfect opponent in mind: Cintron.

“I want a rematch with Cintron,” he said. “Not for me, not for my record, but just to prove something to the fans who have supported me in my career. I want a rematch to show the fans what I look like on a good day.

“I’ll fight him anywhere, anytime. I am willing to fight Cintron on Saturday or Sunday after Friday’s fight.”


Doug Fischer can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com.