When we talk about pure boxers two men really stand out right now. One is Floyd Mayweather Jr, one of the greatest in recent memory, the other is Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8, the current WBA "super" and WBO Super Bantamweight champion.
Unfortunately pure boxing, as George Foreman once observed, "The better it is, the less people appreciate it". This seems to be the case with Rigondeaux who at times makes boxing look so effortless and easy. Unfortunately however when he makes it look so simple it's easy to see why people don't appreciate it. What's the point in dominating if you can't also put on a show. Boxing whether we like it or not is a business and if you bore fans you can expect to be forgotten.
Following his fight with Nonito Donaire many felt it could be a very long time before saw Rigondeaux back in action. It's been a while I'll admit, some 8 months almost, since that fight but this weekend sees Rigondeaux returning to action as he attempts to defend both of his belts against Ghana's Joseph Agbeko (29-4, 22), a former 2-time IBF Bantamweight champion himself.
When it comes to Rigondeaux he can do everything. He makes fights, like I said, look simple. He slows down the pace when he wants, he lands every punch in the book, he makes other fighters look stupid and is a complete in the ring. Like all geniuses however he can get bored easily and as a result he can get tagged. His negativity can cause even the great man himself to get bored of things and it often seems that either Rigondeaux will destroy an opponent or get get bored of putting on a masterclass.
Agbeko doesn't have those same tricks as Rigondeaux. He's much less a skillster and more of a rough and tough type of fighter. That's not to say he lacks skills but he's more about strength and toughness than the sweet science.
Sadly for Agbeko the toughness and strength he had at 118lbs is unlikely to carry up that well at 122lbs, especially considering he's almost 34 years old and has fought just once the last 24 months. In all honesty the toughness and drive of Agbeko seemed to be leaving him in his most recent notable bout, a clear decision loss to Abner Mares.
With Rigondeaux's power, speed and technique it's hard not to see him landing crisp, clean shots on to the chin of Agbeko, eventually forcing a stoppage of the brave Ghanian who will be left chasing shadows prior to the stoppage. Rigondeaux will know that this is a fight that he needs to make an impression in and that's exactly what he will do.
Prediction-Rigondeaux TKO6
Showing posts with label Guillermo Rigondeaux. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guillermo Rigondeaux. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Nonito Donaire v Guillermo Rigondeaux
In this weekends stand out fight we see Filipino born American based pound-for-pound fighter Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20) face off against against former Cuban amateur legend Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8) in a unification of the WBO and WBA titles and a bout to decide who truly is the top dog at Super Bantamweight.
Going in to the bout Rigondeaux is the betting under-dog despite having an amazing career as both an amateur and a professional. In fact as an amateur Rigondeaux's will go down as one of the all time greats. He fought around 400 amateur fights and was rumoured to have won 388 of them, which included numerous bouts in Olympics and World Amateur champions, in fact Rigondeaux claimed 2 Olympic gold medals and two World Amateur titles as he dominated the Bantamweight division in the unpaid ranks.
As a professional Rigondeaux has been fast tracked, partly due to his amateur credentials but also partly due to the fact he made his professional debut when he was 28 years old. The speed of Rigondeaux's rise to the top was amazing and within just 18 months of his debut he had already claimed the interim WBA Super Bantamweight title. After a solitary defense of the interim belt Rigondeaux claimed the "regular" title thanks to a victory over Rico Ramos and he has since defended his title twice.
Despite his stellar record and amazing skills Rigondeaux has numerous question marks over his durability as a professional. Although he has only been down once as a professional (thanks to Ricardo Cordoba) he has been rattled several times including in his last fight against the limited Robert Marroquin. It's fair to say that Donaire hit's as hard, if not harder, than both Cordoba and Marroquin but he's also not the sort of fighter who will let a hurt opponent recover with out applying some serious pressure.
Sure Rigondeaux can hurt fighters, especially with his body shots which are amongst the best in the sport right now but the big questions regarding his chin specifically are the big worries.
With Donaire we have an exceptional fighter. Sure the 30 year old lacks the amateur pedigree of Rigondeaux but his professional achievements speak for themselves. Not only is record excellent at 31-1 but he's also unbeaten in 30 bouts (losing only his second professional contest) spread over 12 years which have seen him claiming world titles at Flyweight, Super Flyweight, Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight. He has also been given accolades including "Fighter of the Year" as he's proven to be one of the sports premier fighters.
Over the past 6 years Donaire's record has spoke for it's self with victories over a real who's who of the sport including Vic Darchinyan, Moruti Mthalane, Hernan Marquez, Fernando Montiel, Omar Andres Narvaez, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, Jeffrey Mathebula, Toshiaki Nishioka and Jorge Arce. It's little wonder that the "Filipino Flash" is so highly ranked, especially when you consider the manner of many of his victories which he has made look very easy.
Despite the fact that Donaire has scored some exceptional victories over top contenders other opponents have made Donaire look bad. For example Narvaez, Mthalane and Vazquez all frustrated Donaire despite losing. These men have shown that Donaire isn't a perfect fighter and where an opponent uses an intelligent defense they can annoy Donaire who appears to be a flat out counter puncher and struggles to force the action, this could certainly come in to play against Rigondeaux.
If Rigondeaux can frustrate Donaire with refusal to engage and his own counter punching and speed he does have a genuine chance of the upset here though he'll need to make sure Donaire can't tag him clean.
For me personally the key to this bout concerns who can be the most patient. I don't imagine this will be a classic but it should be a high speed chess match with both men looking for a gap for their sharp, technically beautiful shots. Neither man will be looking to open up too much but both will be looking to land. Whilst I think Rigondeaux will cope better with the boos that I expect we'll hear I just can't see him avoiding Donaire's power right through the bout and when he's hurt Donaire won't let im off the hook.
Prediction-Donaire TKO7
Going in to the bout Rigondeaux is the betting under-dog despite having an amazing career as both an amateur and a professional. In fact as an amateur Rigondeaux's will go down as one of the all time greats. He fought around 400 amateur fights and was rumoured to have won 388 of them, which included numerous bouts in Olympics and World Amateur champions, in fact Rigondeaux claimed 2 Olympic gold medals and two World Amateur titles as he dominated the Bantamweight division in the unpaid ranks.
As a professional Rigondeaux has been fast tracked, partly due to his amateur credentials but also partly due to the fact he made his professional debut when he was 28 years old. The speed of Rigondeaux's rise to the top was amazing and within just 18 months of his debut he had already claimed the interim WBA Super Bantamweight title. After a solitary defense of the interim belt Rigondeaux claimed the "regular" title thanks to a victory over Rico Ramos and he has since defended his title twice.
Despite his stellar record and amazing skills Rigondeaux has numerous question marks over his durability as a professional. Although he has only been down once as a professional (thanks to Ricardo Cordoba) he has been rattled several times including in his last fight against the limited Robert Marroquin. It's fair to say that Donaire hit's as hard, if not harder, than both Cordoba and Marroquin but he's also not the sort of fighter who will let a hurt opponent recover with out applying some serious pressure.
Sure Rigondeaux can hurt fighters, especially with his body shots which are amongst the best in the sport right now but the big questions regarding his chin specifically are the big worries.
With Donaire we have an exceptional fighter. Sure the 30 year old lacks the amateur pedigree of Rigondeaux but his professional achievements speak for themselves. Not only is record excellent at 31-1 but he's also unbeaten in 30 bouts (losing only his second professional contest) spread over 12 years which have seen him claiming world titles at Flyweight, Super Flyweight, Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight. He has also been given accolades including "Fighter of the Year" as he's proven to be one of the sports premier fighters.
Over the past 6 years Donaire's record has spoke for it's self with victories over a real who's who of the sport including Vic Darchinyan, Moruti Mthalane, Hernan Marquez, Fernando Montiel, Omar Andres Narvaez, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, Jeffrey Mathebula, Toshiaki Nishioka and Jorge Arce. It's little wonder that the "Filipino Flash" is so highly ranked, especially when you consider the manner of many of his victories which he has made look very easy.
Despite the fact that Donaire has scored some exceptional victories over top contenders other opponents have made Donaire look bad. For example Narvaez, Mthalane and Vazquez all frustrated Donaire despite losing. These men have shown that Donaire isn't a perfect fighter and where an opponent uses an intelligent defense they can annoy Donaire who appears to be a flat out counter puncher and struggles to force the action, this could certainly come in to play against Rigondeaux.
If Rigondeaux can frustrate Donaire with refusal to engage and his own counter punching and speed he does have a genuine chance of the upset here though he'll need to make sure Donaire can't tag him clean.
For me personally the key to this bout concerns who can be the most patient. I don't imagine this will be a classic but it should be a high speed chess match with both men looking for a gap for their sharp, technically beautiful shots. Neither man will be looking to open up too much but both will be looking to land. Whilst I think Rigondeaux will cope better with the boos that I expect we'll hear I just can't see him avoiding Donaire's power right through the bout and when he's hurt Donaire won't let im off the hook.
Prediction-Donaire TKO7
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Guillermo Rigondeaux v Robert Marroquin
Cuban former amateur standout Guillermo Rigondeaux (10-0, 8) may well be the most gifted fighter in world boxing today though sadly the current WBA Super Bantamweight champion isn't yet getting the sort of fights he deserves. This weekend Rigondeaux defends his world title against American youngster Robert Marroquin (22-1, 15) in what appears to be nothing more than a mismatch.
The unbeaten Cuban was one of, if not the best, amateur of the early 00's claiming 2 Olympic gold medals (2000, 2004) and 2 World Amateur titles (2001, 2005) whilst compiling well over 300 wins to just 12 losses. He was sensational. Power, speed, skills, timing Rigondeaux really did have it all.
In 2007 Rigondeaux defected from Cuba though was later captured and brought back to the land of his birth. Just 2 years later however Rigondeaux defected again and was this time successful as he set up home in Miami and started his professional career, a career that has so far seen him swiftly rise to world level with the those same skills he honed in the amateurs rankings.
After making his debut in May 2009, Rigondeaux swiftly raced through the rankings before claiming the interim WBA World Super Bantamweight title in just his 7th bout as he out pointed former world champion Ricardo Cordoba. It had taken Rigondeaux just 18 months to go from his debut to "interim" world champion.
After defending the "interim" WBA title once Rigondeaux would claim the full version of the WBA title by stopping the champion Rico Ramos in 6 rounds via a devastating body shot. Since winning the full version of the title Rigondeaux has made just a solitary defense as he dominated the over-matched Teon Kennedy.
At almost 32 years old Rigondeaux is "getting on a bit" though he is still very fresh due to his short professional career. He is still lightning quick with his hands and even quicker with his brain able to out think opponents as he sets traps and land with devastating counters, though he's also more than capable of going forward and being an accurate aggressive fighter. He will however be seeking to make an impression.
Challenger Robert Marroquin may be significantly younger than the champion (at just 23) though surprisingly he has significantly more professional experience at 23 fights already (and 94 rounds, to Rigondeaux's 47). Sadly however the additional professional experience is unlikely to prevent him from being any more than a sacrificial lamb.
Marroquin himself debuted back in 2008 as just a teenager and won his first 19 fights (14 of those by KO) before suffering the solitary defeat of his career by the upset minded Francisco Leal who took the fight to Marroquin on route to claiming a split decision. Since that loss however Marroquin has bounced back well and recorded 3 successive wins over limited opposition.
In terms of talent Marroquin is "solid", he has respectable power and a solid defense, however the Leal fight proved that he can be marked up. Whilst he has been dropping guys like Eduardo Arcos with solid shots in fights he is sadly taking a massive step up in class to face Rigondeaux who, like Leal is a southpaw.
Whilst some may be giving Marroquin a chance based on his record and the way he has beaten low level opponents (and seriously they have been low level opponents) I really can't see it. I can really only see one winner and that's Rigondeaux, the big question however is "how"? In all honesty Marroquin has never been hit by someone like Rigondeaux and I imagine when he's hit by Rigondeaux he will really feel it and will, as most Rigondeaux opponents, think twice about letting his hands go in fear of being countered. He may survive the distance but I don't see it.
Prediction-Rigondeaux TKO5
The unbeaten Cuban was one of, if not the best, amateur of the early 00's claiming 2 Olympic gold medals (2000, 2004) and 2 World Amateur titles (2001, 2005) whilst compiling well over 300 wins to just 12 losses. He was sensational. Power, speed, skills, timing Rigondeaux really did have it all.
In 2007 Rigondeaux defected from Cuba though was later captured and brought back to the land of his birth. Just 2 years later however Rigondeaux defected again and was this time successful as he set up home in Miami and started his professional career, a career that has so far seen him swiftly rise to world level with the those same skills he honed in the amateurs rankings.
After making his debut in May 2009, Rigondeaux swiftly raced through the rankings before claiming the interim WBA World Super Bantamweight title in just his 7th bout as he out pointed former world champion Ricardo Cordoba. It had taken Rigondeaux just 18 months to go from his debut to "interim" world champion.
After defending the "interim" WBA title once Rigondeaux would claim the full version of the WBA title by stopping the champion Rico Ramos in 6 rounds via a devastating body shot. Since winning the full version of the title Rigondeaux has made just a solitary defense as he dominated the over-matched Teon Kennedy.
At almost 32 years old Rigondeaux is "getting on a bit" though he is still very fresh due to his short professional career. He is still lightning quick with his hands and even quicker with his brain able to out think opponents as he sets traps and land with devastating counters, though he's also more than capable of going forward and being an accurate aggressive fighter. He will however be seeking to make an impression.
Challenger Robert Marroquin may be significantly younger than the champion (at just 23) though surprisingly he has significantly more professional experience at 23 fights already (and 94 rounds, to Rigondeaux's 47). Sadly however the additional professional experience is unlikely to prevent him from being any more than a sacrificial lamb.
Marroquin himself debuted back in 2008 as just a teenager and won his first 19 fights (14 of those by KO) before suffering the solitary defeat of his career by the upset minded Francisco Leal who took the fight to Marroquin on route to claiming a split decision. Since that loss however Marroquin has bounced back well and recorded 3 successive wins over limited opposition.
In terms of talent Marroquin is "solid", he has respectable power and a solid defense, however the Leal fight proved that he can be marked up. Whilst he has been dropping guys like Eduardo Arcos with solid shots in fights he is sadly taking a massive step up in class to face Rigondeaux who, like Leal is a southpaw.
Whilst some may be giving Marroquin a chance based on his record and the way he has beaten low level opponents (and seriously they have been low level opponents) I really can't see it. I can really only see one winner and that's Rigondeaux, the big question however is "how"? In all honesty Marroquin has never been hit by someone like Rigondeaux and I imagine when he's hit by Rigondeaux he will really feel it and will, as most Rigondeaux opponents, think twice about letting his hands go in fear of being countered. He may survive the distance but I don't see it.
Prediction-Rigondeaux TKO5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)