Guillermo Rigondeaux says he will climb back onto pound-for-pounds lists at 118 pounds and then move back up to 122.
If anyone has a right to think big, it’s Guillermo Rigondeaux.
The 39-year-old Cuban defector is a two-time Olympic champion, former unified 122-pound titleholder and a longtime member of the pound-for-pound club, a distinction that ended when he moved up to 130 pounds to face Vasiliy Lomachenko and was knocked out in 2017.
At that point, many believed the aging boxing wizard was more or less finished as an elite fighter. Wellllllllll …
Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs) has won three consecutive fights since his setback, two at a more natural 122 pounds and one – a decision over Liborio Solis – at 118 on Feb. 8, his most recent fight.
And he says he’s just getting started even as he approaches 40. He told El Nuevo Herald that he plans to climb back onto pound-for-pound lists at 118 pounds and then move back up to 122.
Rigondeaux won what the WBC calls its “regular” title when he beat Solis. Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize that belt.
“I was the pound-for-pound champion at 122,” he said. “I’m going to be the best, pound-for-pound in the 118-pound division and then I’m going to go up again for 122. So you know, I’m not done yet. It’s now that I start.’
“… “We’re not done, now we start. The Jackal is not finished, now it starts. I’m still a champion at 118. I’m here. I keep making history. I’m a three-time world champion: two at 122 and one at 118.”
What’s next?
Japanese star Naoya Inoue is the actual WBA 118-pound titleholder and holds another belt. However, he was set to face fellow beltholder John Riel Casimero in a unification bout when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
The fourth titleholder is Nordine Oubaali but he’s expected to defend against No. 1 contender Nonito Donaire.
That leaves Rigondeaux’s immediate future uncertain, although it sounds as if he’ll be ready to go when the phone rings.
Guillermo Rigondeaux wants to move down to 115 pounds and win a title there, according to his trainer, Ronnie Shields.
Guillermo Rigondeaux has two immediate goals at 39 years old.
One, the two-time Olympic champion wants to unify 118-pound titles after he moved down from 122 to outpoint Liborio Solis and win a vacant title last month. And two, believe it or not, he wants to move down to 115 to win a belt in that division. He certainly has no problems making 118 even though he fought at 128½ in his loss to Vassiliy Lomachenko.
Call him the incredible shrinking man.
“I put him on the scale even before the last fight,” Ronnie Shields, Rigondeaux’s trainer, said on The PBC Podcast. “He comes into the gym at 121 pounds. So three pounds is nothing. He actually wants to go down to 115 just to win a belt there just to say he did it … and then go back up to 118.
“I told him, at 39 years old, he’s doing the opposite of what everyone else in boxing is doing. Everybody else is going up to fight in different divisions; he’s going down.”
Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs) has won three consecutive fights since Lomachenko forced him to retire after six rounds in December 2017, two by knockout and a split decision over Solis that most people believe should’ve been unanimous.
Shields considers the Lomachenko setback a blip.
“He never should’ve [fought] Lomachenko,” Shields said. “He was just way to small for him. … To put him in that fight was really ridiculous. The powers that be did it and he paid the consequences. At the same time, he came back and now he feels good.
“Even at 39, he’s capable of beating a lot of people out there.”
Especially if he doesn’t try fight like a slugger.
Rigondeaux surprised everyone by trading punches in a wild slugfest against Julio Ceja last June, winning by eighth-round knockout. And then, against Solis, he came out with a similar mindset in the opening round.
That didn’t sit well with Shields, who set him straight after the round. Rigondeaux responded by boxing the rest of the way.
“I tell him, ‘Look, you’re a pure boxer,’” Shields said. “That’s what you have to be. You can punch but, at the same time, defense works for you. Offense takes over everything. So after the first round, he came out and he finally started boxing, started getting his rhythm.
“He took 31 punches in the first round and then he took 33 punches in the other 11 rounds. And that’s the way it should be for a guy like him. … That’s the Rigo who won two gold medals and was the unified champion in the 122-pound division.”
Buster Douglas’ stunning knockout of Mike Tyson 30 years ago remains the standard by which other upsets are judged.
GOOD
Yesterday Tokyo time – today in the U.S. – was the 30th anniversary of Buster Douglas’ seismic upset of Mike Tyson.
Whether that result was “good” depends on your perspective. If you were a Tyson fan, it was not good. If you celebrate the historic moments in a sport rich in lore, as I do, Douglas’ knockout remains as fascinating today as it was in 1990.
Douglas proved that a capable, motivated fighter – particularly one as big as the 6-foot-3½ Douglas – who wasn’t terrified of Tyson could be competitive with one of the sport’s most intimidating figures.
Inspired by the death of his mother, Douglas, a good boxer, brought experience and determination into the ring against the then-unbeaten Tyson and, even though he went down himself, shocked the world by ending the fight in the 10th round.
Douglas hurt a fading Tyson with a right uppercut and then followed with a left-right-left that put him down for the first time in his career. Tyson, dazed and guided by instinct, managed to stumble to his feet but it was too late. Referee Octavio Meyran waved his arms to end the fight and an era.
The image is indelible: the great Iron Mike, on hands and knees, fumbling for his mouthpiece, a beaten man. He was never the same.
Of course, many fascinating elements are attached to the fight. One that always stood out for me: Tyson was only 23 years old at the time, meaning he was more of less a shooting star who began his decline much earlier than most fighters.
Tyson was good post-Douglas and always compelling – he regained a portion of the heavyweight title after emerging from prison years later – but he was never the force of nature he had been before Douglas.
Guillermo Rigondeaux (left) probably will never win over fans in spite of his greatness. Amanda Westcott / Showtime
BAD
Guillermo Rigondeaux is stuck being who he is. And that’s not the worst thing in the world.
The two-time Olympic champion gave us a glimpse of his warrior side when he went toe to toe and then knocked out Julio Ceja in June. And he provided one more peek at that version of himself in the opening round against Liborio Solis in his first fight at 118 pounds on the Gary Russell Jr.-Tugstsogt Nyambayar card Saturday.
And then it was over. The Rigondeaux, who was tagged by Solis a few times in the first round, went back to the safety-first boxer we’ve grown to know and not-quite-love over the past decade-plus.
The Cuban proved he has more than enough at 39 years old to beat a solid fighter like Solis when he fights his way, which is to jab and move and land just enough punches to win on the scorecards. That’s how he walked away with a split-decision victory over Solis that should’ve been unanimous.
The problem? He was booed late in the fight because of a lack of action. Of course, that’s understandable. The fans come to see warfare, not dancing.
Still, to boo Rigondeaux is harsh. The man has mastered the technical side of boxing to a degree rarely seen. He’s a true artist. At the very least, fans should keep that in mind when they watch his fights even if he hasn’t mastered the entertainment side of the sport.
Maybe he’ll have to beat someone like Naoya Inoue – which I believe is possible – to get the respect he deserves.
Tugstsogt Nyambayar (left) came up short but undoubtedly learned a great deal against Gary Russell Jr. Amanda Westcott / Showtime
WORSE
Tugstsogt Nyambayar seemed to be kicking himself when he said after losing a unanimous decision to Gary Russell Jr. that he “made a mistake waiting for him during the fight.” And he might’ve been right to do so.
Nyambayar, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist from Mongolia, fought the more-experienced Russell on even terms from the fifth round on in the featherweight title fight.
The problem, from Nyambayar’s perspective, is that he gave away the first four rounds and couldn’t make up the lost ground. He tried. Starting in Round 5, he attacked Russell with the kind of ferocity necessary to at least somewhat neutralize Russell’s speed and polished skill set but didn’t have enough time.
Thus, the self-flagellation made sense. Nyambayar probably could’ve scored a career-defining victory or least come closer to doing so.
In the end, he’ll have to be satisfied with a learning experience. One, if he had any doubt about his ability to compete with a top-tier opponent, that has been resolved. Two, he learned not to dig himself into a hole. And, three, there are many more subtle things a fighter learns in such a competitive 12-round fight.
Nyambayar is justifiably disappointed in the result and himself. At the same time, he’ll be a better fighter going forward. That is extremely bad news for prospective opponents in and around his weight.
Guillermo Rigondeaux reverted to the safety-first fighter he had been his entire career. The fans didn’t like it. And neither did his opponent. Rigondeaux, the two-time Olympic champion from Cuba, boxed carefully and successfully from the second …
Guillermo Rigondeaux reverted to the safety-first fighter he had been his entire career. The fans didn’t like it. And neither did his opponent.
Rigondeaux, the two-time Olympic champion from Cuba, boxed carefully and successfully from the second round on against Liborio Solis to win a split decision on the Gary Russell Jr.-Tugstsogt Nyambayar card Saturday in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Two judges scored the fight for Rigondeaux, 115-112 and 116-111. The third had Solis winning, 115-112.
Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs) was willing to exchange with Solis (30-6-1, 14 KOs) in the opening round – as he had in his last fight, against Julio Ceja – and paid a price. Solis landed two shots that seemed to hurt his Cuban opponent.
From then on, Rigondeaux, heeding the advice of trainer Ronnie Shields, boxed like the fighter of old. He used his footwork and quickness to avoid trouble and do just enough on offense to win the fight.
Rigondeaux’s biggest round was the seventh, when he hurt Solis with a left uppercut and put him down with two more lefts. Rigondeaux also hurt Solis in the 10th but the Venezuelan was able to remain on his feet.
The 12th round was largely uneventful except for booing from the spectators, who were frustrated over a lack of action.
Rigondeaux, a 39-year-old who has heard a lot of boos, was asked afterward whether he cares. He said, “No, not at all.”
Not when he wins.
The bout was billed as a title fight because it was for the vacant WBA “regular” 118-pound belt. However, Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize that title.
Guillermo Rigondeaux showed fans his exciting side when he outbrawled Julio Ceja but his trainer, Ronnie Shields, wants him to tone it down.
Just when it got fun to watch Guillermo Rigondeaux …
Rigondeaux’s trainer, Ronnie Shields, told BoxingScene.com that he’d like his 39-year-old protégé to box more against Liborio Solis on Saturday than he did in a wild knockout victory over Julio Ceja in his most-recent fight.
Rigondeaux, known his entire career for his sublime skills, took many hard shots against Ceja but stopped him with a single straight left in Round 8.
“That was his own thing,” Shields told BoxingScene. “He did that himself. And I kind of got on him in the corner. ‘That’s not the way I trained you for this fight. I don’t know what you’re trying to prove.’ But he told me afterwards, ‘I saw something that, you know, I’d let him get close and then I figured if I can hit him, I can hurt him.’ That did happen, but I didn’t like him taking shots the way he was taking them to prove something.
“I told him he’s too old to prove anything. Just be himself and box and do the things that got him to where he’s at right now. So, he said, ‘I understand. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.’ ”
Shields went on: “I thought he was trying to prove something to people. ‘Oh, I could take a punch.’ I told him, ‘You don’t have to do that. Be yourself! Forget what people say. I don’t care. I want you to move around the ring. I want you to box. You’re gonna catch up to the guy and you’re gonna hit him with something and it’s gonna be over. You’ve got that ability to do that.’”
Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) will be fighting as a 118-pounder for the first time when he faces Solis (30-5-1, 14 KOs) on the Gary Russell Jr.-Tugstsogt Nyambayar card in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Guillermo Rigondeaux will be fighting Liborio Solis on Saturday for what the WBA calls its vacant “regular” bantamweight title.
Guillermo Rigondeaux will be fighting Liborio Solis on Saturday for what the WBA calls its vacant “regular” bantamweight title, a bogus belt which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize. Naoya Inoue is the actual 118-pound titleholder.
That’s how the fight is being sold, though. The two-time Olympic champion and former 122-pound titleholder says he’s trying to win a belt in a second division. And he’s obviously excited about it.
The fight is on the Gary Russell Jr.-Tugstsogt Nyambayar card in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Showtime.
“I’m trying to make history by winning a third world title in a second weight class, while also matching my two gold medals,” said Rigondeaux, who will fight at 118 pounds for the first time in his career. “I want to make a statement and solidify my legacy as one of the best Cuban fighters ever. I want the boxing world to be talking about me, as I seek to become a world champion once again. February 8 will be a special day for me and my family.”
Rigondeaux said the move to bantamweight has been a positive.
“I know at super bantamweight I am a force to be reckoned with,” he said. “Now that I’m moving down to bantamweight, I feel stronger and I’m getting the most out of my skills. The bantamweight and super bantamweight divisions are filled with great fighters to test myself against. It’s a very exciting time, and I am training very hard for each opportunity that is granted to me.”
This will be the second fight for which Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) has worked with trainer Ronnie Shields in Houston. Shields has been impressed with the 39-year-old’s work ethic.
“He is very focused, and one of the hardest workers in the gym,” Shields said. “Rigondeaux is so determined to become a world champion once again. He comes to camp every single day with that goal, and I don’t see any way he doesn’t achieve it.”
Rigondeaux looked like a different fighter in his last bout, an eighth-round knockout of Julio Ceja in June. The Cuban discarded his typical safety-first style and slugged his way to victory.
He hasn’t divulged his strategy for this fight. He only said that he has a lot of respect for Solis (30-5-1, 14 KOs), a seasoned veteran and longtime contender from Venezuela, and plans to give a strong performance.
“Solis is a good opponent and a worthy challenger, but I am ready to reclaim my status as a world champion,” Rigondeaux said. “I’m going to show people why I am one of the best boxers of my generation.
“This is a very big deal for me. For years I was one of the best fighters in the world, if not, the best fighter in the world. When you’re a champion, you only fight the top opponents and those are the type of fights I want. I’m going to start another long reign as champion beginning February 8.”
Gary Russell Jr. will face Tugstsogt Nyambayar in the fifth defense of his featherweight title on Feb. 8 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Gary Russell Jr. will face Tugstsogt Nyambayar in the fifth defense of his featherweight title on Feb. 8 in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Showtime, it was announced Monday.
Russell (30-1, 18 KOs) has fought only four times since he won a 126-pound belt in a stoppage of Jhonny Gonzalez in March 2015.
In an apparent bid to become more active, Russell faces an intriguing, yet unknown featherweight from Mongolia. Nyambayar, who now lives and trains in Carson, California,won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
Yet Nyambayar has fought only 11 times as a pro since then. The 27-year-old, nicknamed “King Tug,’’ has won them all, scoring nine stoppages in an impressive run that made him the mandatory challenger for Russell’s belt.
“Gary Russell Jr. has proven himself to be at the very elite level of this sport and one of the best fighters in the featherweight division,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “His speed, power and overall skill set has made him a must-watch every time he steps into that ring.
“He’s going to get all he can handle from an undefeated fighter in ‘King Tug’ Nyambayar, who has the pedigree and power to make this a memorable fight.’’
The card at Allentown’s PPL Center also will include former champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) against Venezuelan Liborio Solis (30-5-1, 14 KOs) for a junior featherweight title.
The Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Liborio Solis bantamweight bout is no longer a go after Solis was not able to get a valid visa.
Guillermo Rigondeaux will have to wait for another day to make his bantamweight debut.
According to multiple media outlets, the Cuban southpaw’s scheduled fight against Venezuelan Liborio Solis on the Tony Harrison-Jermell Charlo II card this Saturday in Ontario, Calif. was scrapped because Solis couldn’t get a visa in time for the fight.
Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) is coming off an unexpected slugfest against Julio Ceja at the junior featherweight limit in June, in which the Cuban won by eighth-round technical knockout. Rigondeaux hasn’t campaigned at 118 pounds since his amateur days.
Rigondeaux was a two-time Olympic champion and has won two junior featherweight titles as a professional.
Premier Boxing Champions has had bad luck with bantamweight bouts. Last month, the Luis Nery-Emmanuel Rodriguez bantamweight fight was nixed after Nery failed to make weight.
Cuban slickster Guillermo Rigondeaux will face Liborio Solis on the undercard of the Tony Harrison-Jermell Charlo rematch on December 21.
We’ll see soon whether Guillermo Rigondeaux has really turned into a slugger.
The noted Cuban slickster will move down in weight to face Panamanian Liborio Solis in a 12-round bantamweight contest on the Tony Harrison-Jermell Charlo II card Dec. 21 in Ontario, California, it was announced today in a press release.
Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 knockouts) has been roundly criticized for putting on dull performances. However, in his last fight, he surprised viewers by staying in the pocket and trading punches with Julio Ceja, who was stopped by a whistling left hand in the eighth round of a junior featherweight fight he was winning on the cards.
After the bout, the victor seemed to suggest that his tactics were a response to his critics. It could be that at age 39, Rigondeaux no longer has the legs to evade his opponents for 12 rounds.
As for the 37-year-old Solis (30-5-1, 14 KOs), this will be his first fight on U.S. soil. He has dropped decisions to former titleholders Shinsuke Yamanka and Jamie McDonnell but is riding a five-fight win streak.
The card will also feature hard-hitting Nigerian heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba (11-0, 9 KOs) in a 10-rounder against Iago Kiladze (26-4-1, 18 KOs).
