After the fights: Differing performances of Lara, Angulo and Ramirez

Saturday, Aug. 29, produced an odd mixture of performances from boxers Erislandy Lara, Alfredo Angulo and Jose Ramirez, who are at different stages.

When people evaluate a boxer’s career, they put too much emphasis on single performances and the wins and losses column. The performances of Erislandy Lara, Alfredo Angulo and Jose Ramirez, on Saturday, Aug. 29, proved that fighters are individuals whose paths are unpredictable.

Out of the three fighters mentioned, Lara had the best night. At 37 years old, he proved that he still has something left in the tank despite his advancing years. That doesn’t mean he’s championship-caliber.

His opponent, Greg Vendetti, isn’t anything special, but he proved to have heart and durability. Leading the life of a boxer requires a higher level of physical toughness found in the ordinary person. To be an elite boxer, fighters need a combination of carefully crafted skills and God-given abilities.

Lara has always been the total package, but time is working on him as it does to everyone. He’s the WBA “regular” junior middleweight champion, but a younger version would have demolished Vendetti inside of six rounds. At this stage of his life, Lara is good enough to give anyone trouble, but he likely can’t take a title off the current major titleholders.

Lara beat Alfredo Angulo back in 2013 by TKO in round 10. Angulo never had the skill-set to be a great champion, but he waged a successful 15-year career. He was good enough to give Lara a run for his money and drop him twice in their contest despite losing.

Angulo’s career has been filled with ups and downs. He has always had power but lacked the technical finesse to reach boxing’s higher echelon.

Angulo struggled and lost to Vladimir Hernandez, who was a last-minute replacement with a pedestrian record. At 38 years old, Angulo looked severely faded. The past wars have taken their toll, and his physical limitations were on display against Hernandez.

Every athlete ages differently, and some deal with it better than others. Angulo fought against the clock and won on a few occasions, but his hand speed is so diminished that he’s in real danger if he fought a top 30 super middleweight. Lara and Angulo are only a year apart in age, but Lara’s defensive skills have kept him fresh in comparison to Angulo’s brawling style. One still has it, and the other is shot.

Alfredo Angulo is at the end, Erislandy Lara is still going, and Jose Ramirez is undefeated but had to deal with adversity in the ring.

WBO and WBC junior welterweight champion Ramirez is on the opposite end of the age spectrum. He’s 28 years old and approaching the prime of his athletic powers. His 2019 six-round thrashing of Maurice Hooker made him an easy pick against the 36-year-old Viktor Postol, but Ramirez struggled with the older former champion.

Maybe people underestimated Postol’s talent. He lost via majority decision to Ramirez, but he nearly pulled off a massive upset. Ramirez had to deal with two fight postponements, a pandemic and multiple training camps, but so did Postol.

During the post-fight media conference, Ramirez and his manager, Rick Mirigian, expressed that they felt Ramirez controlled the fight. They can say that all they like, but the fight tape shows something different.

Ramirez hurt Postol in round 7 and had the better CompuBox punch stats, but he showed frustration at times and had difficulty getting inside of Postol’s reach. Styles make fights, and Postol’s style kept Ramirez from producing an impressive performance. Only nine total landed punches separated Ramirez from Postol. That’s not a dominant performance.

Everyone is entitled to an off night. Ramirez implied as much during his post-fight interview.

“I went in there a little too cold,” said Ramirez. “I didn’t press myself.”

In the media conference after the fight, Ramirez gave a mixed review of himself. He admitted that he had a hard time letting his hands go and rated his performance a 7 out of 10, but also thought that he clearly beat Postol.

Ramirez also talked about the rollercoaster ride of emotions in his personal life from being engaged to finding out that his fiancée is three-weeks pregnant with their second child. His philanthropic endeavors in helping out local California farmers probably produce some anxiety as well.

The stresses of day-to-day life take a toll on boxers the same way as the rest of us. They’re physically stronger and tougher than the average person but aren’t invincible. Matters of the heart and mind weigh on them too.

Nothing is simple in life, and boxing is no different. Lara, Angulo and Ramirez show that career arches are malleable and subject to numerous variables, and those variables impact everyone differently.