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 Tsurkan ready to give 'Perro' a dog fight!
Story by Mariano A. Agmi
Photo by Ed Mullholland, Fightwireimages.com
Andrey Tsurkan has his work cut out for him on Saturday, October 4th, when he meets undefeated jr. middleweight prospect Alfredo Angulo on HBO’s Boxing After Dark.
The 30-year-old, Brooklyn-based Ukrainian is giving himself the best chance to win his biggest fight to date by elongating his training camp to be in optimum shape for what many think will be a grueling match-up.
“Everything is great, I’m already on weight and I can’t wait to fight,” says Tsurkan. “I’m five months removed from my last fight and I never left the gym. I literally work in the gym, training everyday and running six to seven miles a day.”
A two-time former Olympian, Andrey emigrated from Ukraine in 1999 after competing in over 250 amateur fights. Like many of his former Olympic teammates, Tsurkan came to the US in search of a better life and with dreams of becoming a world champion.
“I was 21 years old when I came here,” he says. “At the time, I didn’t speak English and had $20 in my pocket. Now I have a beautiful family, a nice home, a career, and I built everything myself. For that, I love this country.”
Andrey compiled a professional record of 26-3 with 17 knockouts. He is best known for his 2006 8-round TKO win over Hector Camacho Jr. In that bout, Andrey showed tremendous determination and a remarkable work-rate as he wore Camacho down with round after round of relentless pressure.
However, after the victory, Tsurkan did not fight again for almost a year while promoter Joe DeGuardia searched for bigger opportunities. After a stay-busy win, Andrey finally found that opportunity against the undefeated Yuri Foreman in a bout televised on ESPN2. Although many observers thought Andrey won the fight with sheer aggression, Foreman walked away with a controversial split-decision victory.
“Anyone who saw that fight knows I won. I told ESPN afterwards: ‘Boxing is a man’s sport. You have to show heart. People come to see action during a fight.’ All Foreman did was run, but the politics of this sport make it so that sometimes the wrong guy wins.”
Tsurkan has no need to worry that his opponent will run on October 4th. In Alfredo Angulo (13-0, 10 KOs), Andrey will face a young and aggressive fighter who only knows how to fight one way: forward.
“Angulo is a tough guy – he’s young, he has heart and is active but I have much more experience and it will show during the fight,” says Tsurkan.
As Angulo’s nickname indicates, “Perro” (Spanish for “dog”) is an offensive-minded pressure fighter in the same mold as his more famous countryman Antonio Margarito. Angulo is a blue-chip prospect who is being groomed to take over the Jr. Middleweight division from aging champions Vernon Forrest (WBC), Verno Phillips (IBF) and Daniel Santos (WBA).
In his way stands Tsurkan, who believes that Angulo’s style is tailor-made for him:
“I don’t have to chase this guy – he’ll be right there for me. That is the type of style I like to fight. I don’t like to have to chase him all around the ring”.
To assist Andrey in preparation for this difficult task is 37-year-old trainer Michael “Mike Red” Skowronski. Red has worked with Tsurkan since his last fight against the always durable Jesse Feliciano. In that bout, Tsurkan showed an improved boxing style, using an educated jab, a varied body attack and better defense in dominating Feliciano for an 8th round technical knockout.
Red is convinced that this type of intelligent aggression will be the key to Andrey’s success on October 4th. The New Jersey-based trainer believes that Tsurkan must apply relentless pressure to take Angulo out of his comfort zone, forcing Angulo to fight going backwards and exploiting his inexperience by extending Angulo past the early rounds.
Tsurkan agrees:
“In the first few rounds, a fighter feels fresh and strong. This guy has never fought for more than 6 rounds. That’s when the picture changes. After 6 rounds, I’ll pressure him until he breaks down.”
Tsurkan and Red have only worked together for two training camps, but they have already built a solid relationship based on mutual respect and a tireless work ethic.
“The Feliciano fight was my first one working with Michael. I’m very happy with him. I wish I could have met him earlier in my career. But we have a lot of time and there is a lot for me to do in this sport. Michael has tons of experience and is teaching me a lot about boxing.”
Red, who also trains cruiserweight contender Tomasz Adamek, has worked for years under the tutelage of trainers Buddy McGirt, George Benton and Lou Duva. Red feels that Tsurkan will have to be at his best to beat Angulo, but the trainer has confidence that his charge has the will, work-ethic and style to pull off the upset.
“Andrey works unbelievably hard. I actually have to slow him down during training, sometimes forcing him to take a day off so that he doesn’t overdo it.”
Indeed, Andrey seems to have the right frame of mind just days before this important fight. He feels that his and Angulo’s style will make for an explosive match-up that will be decided by his wealth of experience.
“That is my advantage. I have more experience and I have to work my jab, keep pressuring him and go to the body. Usually, he pressures the other fighter. Let’s see how he fights when someone is pressuring him. I have a good chin and I’m going to be right in front of him. I can’t wait to get in the ring and fight.”
Regardless of the outcome, this bout should be a dog fight for as long as it lasts.
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Angulo vs. Tsurkan will be shown live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark and is part of a triple header that also features Sergio Martinez vs. Alex Bunema and Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Marcos Ramirez.
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