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Lem’s latest: Alfredo Angulo inspired to help cancer victims

Fighters Network
20
Jan

Back in August of 2011, two weeks prior to a fight against Joe Gomez in Mexicali, Mexico, Alfredo Angulo learned of a hospitalized woman with terminal cancer who considered herself to be among his biggest fans.

Touched, Angulo visited the patient, who was wearing a wig after having lost her hair due to the chemotherapy treatment.

"She looked great," said Angulo during an interview on Sunday with RingTV.com that was translated by Lucy Haro. "She told him that she had put on her wig so that she could feel normal for one day. I told her how good she looked and complimented her. "

The patient died prior to Angulo's first-round stoppage of Gomez but not without leaving a lasting impression on the fighter.



That's why Angulo (22-3, 18 knockouts) will be getting a hair cut during Tuesday's Los Angeles press conference promoting his March 8 junior middleweight bout against Canelo Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KOs).

Angulo will be donating his hair to the Locks Of Love charity, which will use it for a child who has suffered hair loss due to cancer or another illness.

"When an adult feels the pain and the suffering, it's very sad. So then, you imagine how much more tragic it is for a child," said Angulo, who plans to use 12 of his neck-length 18 inches of hair toward the cause.

"I know that it's very expensive to get these wigs of human hair, so I am hoping that my contribution will help a child and stimulate others and motivate others to do the same thing. So this for the children."

Angulo spent Sunday with his own child, 8-year-old Rebeca, who arrived from Los Angeles to Oakland, where they attended an early evening viewing of the animated movie, "Nut Job," together.

On Sunday night, Angulo worked out for three hours with trainer Virgil Hunter  in Hayward, Calif.

Angulo said that Tuesday will mark the first time in years that he will look Alvarez directly in the eyes.

"I can't remember the exact date that I first met Canelo but it was years and years ago at a fight in Las Vegas," said Angulo. "Canelo was just beginning his professional career. That's the last time that we've ever been face to face. It's just going to be normal. It's going to be no big deal."

Alvarez-Angulo will be part of a four-fight card on Showtime Pay Per View from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, site of Alvarez's first career loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September.

Alvarez-Angulo will also match WBC 122-pound beltholder Leo Santa Cruz  (26-0-1, 15 KOs) against Cristian Mijares (49-7-2, 24 KOs) and lightweight contender Omar Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs) opposite Ricardo “Dinamita” Alvarez, (23-2-3, 14 KOs), Canelo Alvarez's older brother.

The opening fight of the pay per view will be marked by the first defense by IBF 154-pound titleholder Carlos Molina (22-5-2, 6 KOs) against prospect Jermall Charlo (17-0, 13 KOs), the 23-year-old twin brother of unbeaten junior middleweight contender Jermell Charlo.

A lightweight fight between two-division beltholder Jorge Linares (35-3, 23 KOs) and Japanese contender Nihito Arakawa  (24-3-1, 16 KOs) will air live on Showtime prior to the Showtime Pay Per View card. Linares-Arakawa will begin at 5 p.m.PT/8 p.m. ET, followed by the Alvarez-Angulo card at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET., according to Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager, Showtime Sports.

 

ALANTEZ FOX TO FRANK GALARZA: 'GIVE ME A REMATCH'

Junior middleweight Alantez Fox settled in to watch Saturday's Friday's edition of ShoBox: The Next Generation from the  the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tenn., during which fellow 154-pounder Frank Galarza (12-0-2, 8 KOs), of Brooklyn, N.Y., dropped and stopped John Thompson (14-1, 5 KOs) in the second round for his third consecutive knockout win.

But the 6-foot-5 Fox (12-0-1, 4 KOs). was not impressed, having won five straight bouts since battling Galarza to an eight-round draw in Queens, N.Y., in September of 2012.

"That was more than two years ago, and I was only 19, give me a rematch. Let me get that rematch," said Fox, a 21-year-old from Forestville, Md. "He couldn't beat me in his home town, so there is no way he's going to beat me on the bigger stage."

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