Alfredo Angulo won a split decision against former WBO middleweight titleholder Peter Quillin in a ten round super middleweight bout on Saturday night at the Rabobank Theater in Bakersfield, California.

Two judges scored the fight 96-94 and 97-93 for Angulo (26-7, 21 knockouts), with one score going 96-94 in favor of Quillin (34-2-1, 23 KOs).

The Premier Boxing Champions card was broadcast on Fox Sports 1, while several preliminary bouts aired on FS2.

Quillin started out sharp, pot-shotting his much slower opponent over the first two rounds. Angulo landed a nice right hand, left hook combo toward the end of the third that excited the crowd, but Quillin took it well. However, Perro Angulo landed another big overhand right toward the end of the fourth that clearly hurt Quillin, who had been winning the round big until that point.

.@ElPERRO82 lands a massive right hand and stuns @KIDCHOCOLATE ???? #QuillinAngulo pic.twitter.com/TpZ7kgKwlS

— PBC (@premierboxing) September 22, 2019

By the start of the fifth round Quillin had landed 108 punches to just 48 for Angulo, but it was the Mexican who appeared to have done more damage with his power. This trend would continue through the fight. Angulo, trained by Abel Sanchez for this fight, kept stalking forward, applying constant physical and mental pressure on the New Yorker.

Late in the sixth Angulo landed a left hook that buckled Quillin’s legs, beginning a sequence where both fighters traded viciously in the center of the ring. The next few rounds were more of the same, with Quillin jabbing on the back foot and Angulo stalking, landing an occasional big shot. In terms of body language, it was Angulo coming forward and the American constantly backing up. However, any time Angulo landed something big he simply couldn’t follow up.

ICYMI: @kidchocolate and @ElPERRO82 trade blows during non-stop action in RD7! #QuillinAngulo pic.twitter.com/Gz9bXB6zUT

— PBC (@premierboxing) September 22, 2019

It felt as though the fight was up for grabs in the final round. Quillin had been hurt multiple times, stumbling back to his corner using the ropes for support after several rounds. Yet he was doing the more consistent work, punching in combination while Angulo was mostly throwing one punch at a time.

Although Quillin landed 291 overall punches to Angulo’s 164, Perro edged him in power connects.

In the co-main, Brooklyn lightweight prospect Chris Colbert remained perfect with a crushing first-round knockout over Mexican Miguel Beltran Jr. Colbert, a former New York Golden Gloves champion, drilled Beltran with a right hand behind the ear that sent him face first into the canvas, where he remained for several minutes. It was an impressive performance from Colbert, who improves to 13-0 (5 KOs).

In undercard action, welterweight veteran Thomas Dulorme scored a unanimous decision win over Los Angeles based prospect Terrel Williams. Although Williams threw more punches, it was Dulorme who landed more and made them count.

Late in the tenth and final round, Dulorme dropped Williams with a flush left hook. Williams was able to beat the count and hold on to the final bell, but he was on unsteady legs. The judges scored it 98-91 twice and 96-93 for Puerto Rican, who improves to 25-3-1 (16 KOs). Meanwhile Williams suffered his first loss, falling to 18-1 (13 KOs).

Earlier on in the night, super lightweight prospect Gary Antuanne Russell improved to 11-0 (11 KOs) with a first round knockout win over Luis Ronaldo Castillo (20-5, 15 KOs). The 2016 Olympian and brother of current featherweight world title holder Gary Russell Jr. is yet to go past the fourth round as a pro.

Michael Montero can be found on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram via @MonteroOnBoxing. His weekly podcast ‘The Neutral Corner’ can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio and elsewhere.