The genius of Guillermo Rigondeaux depends
on how you view the sport of boxing. The fans that crave non-stop
action with hardly any attention to defense despise Rigondeaux.
Cuba’s
Rigondeaux, 37, is nearing the end of a career that seems destined
to be cast as a boring waste of time, everything that’s wrong with
the sport.
But isn’t it called the sweet science, an endeavor
that requires mastery to balance intellect and movement?
Rigondeaux’s
body of work has indeed been brilliant in its results: two Olympic
gold medals and a 17-0 professional record with 11 knockouts. This
success has led to the biggest fight of he career, Saturday night’s
ESPN televised showdown at Madison Square Garden’s Theater against
fellow double gold medallist Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, seven KOs), with
Lomachenko’s World Boxing Organization super featherweight belt on
the line.
“I know I really can’t affect people’s opinions about
me and I don’t really dwell on it – but I went up to 130 pounds because
it was the only way I could get this fight made,” Rigondeaux said
through an interpreter recently. “I would rather it have been at a
lower weight, but I want to show the world that I can do it by moving
up two weight classes.
“The disconnect is between those who
don’t appreciate what I do in the ring. You’re never going to make
everybody agree on one thing, some like it, some don’t, but that’s
just my ethic and that’s what I do.”
What Rigondaux wants to
show is that no man, even the well distinguished, 29 year old Lomachenko
and his love for the attack, can solve the fighting riddler who is
considered one of the hardest working boxers in the sport.
Several
boxers and trainers are forecasting a Rigondeaux triumph because of
his work ethic.
Skeptics, in many cases, are hopeful this
is the end of Rigondeaux, who was the most popular boxer to ever defect
from Cuba.
What he found in remaining so true to his disciplined
style is that American fans can’t tolerate the maddening spurts when
absolutely nothing is happening in the ring. Something is happening,
but it’s unseen to viewers because it occurring in the synapses of
Rigondeaux’s brain. With constant observation and positioning he exploits
an opponent’s slip, punishing him with powerful and precise snaps
to the head and body.
Rigondeaux trainer Pedro Diaz, who’s worked
with several Cuban fighters and world champions, said: “I believe
boxing has its own art. Anybody can get in the ring and throw punches
and go forward. The true boxer of quality and style is like Rigondeaux.
You think, manage your technique every moment of the fight. Rigo knows
how to fight all three distances and has all the characteristics of
a great champion. You’ll see why his style is unique, a style of excellence.”
But the lack of physical activity proved too maddening for his
former promoter, Top Rank’s Bob Arum, so they parted ways with Arum
devoting his salesmanship to Lomachenko, whom the promoter has referred
to as boxing’s “Picasso” and his best talent since Muhammad Ali.