I don't think that either one of them knew enough about fighting to be in a fight like that. They had skills and, obviously, all the heart in the world, but they didn't know how to fight hard and survive it.
There is an element of pro wrestling in a a good pro fight. You get in, throw punches, put on a good fight, but you walk away, you don't die. That is how guys did it years ago, when they fought (like in this fight) with 4oz gloves, and did it every 2 weeks. You stay at the end of punching range, you slip and you roll and you parry. You get paid and get on the train, fight once on the way, and rematch the guy in Cleveland.
Some of that was in this fight. Akeem using his shoulder to push Quiroga into his right hand, or Quiroga stepping around to his right. They were guys that were learning and were pretty slick. But they got to fighting with those tiny gloves and they had been sparring with big gloves...That is a whole different game defensively. You cannot lay up and cover up with tiny gloves, like Akeem was trying to do, and it essentially killed him.