The Boxing Glove Big Fight Preview: Guillermo Rigondeaux vs Moises Flores... Return Of The Jackal

By Peter Silkov

Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11koes) returns to the ring next week, June 17, at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, on the undercard of the much-awaited Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev rematch. While Ward vs Kovalev 2 is obviously the main attraction, the true die hard boxing connoisseur will also be eager to see ‘The Jackal’ back in action once more, when he defends his WBA and IBO world super-bantamweight titles against the unbeaten Moises Flores (25-0, 17koes.) It is difficult to find a boxer of recent years who has been more mistreated both by the sports media, a section of the fans, and some of the most prominent promoters. Promoter Bob Arum’s outright vendetta against Rigondeaux, since ‘The Jackal’ humiliated and beat Nonito Donaire back in 2013, has been shameless. Rigondeaux has been effectively blackballed and shunted into the sidelines. He has also had to take a huge amount of abuse, ranging from him being a ‘boring’ boxer to other, far more personal insults. At times, the disparaging remarks aimed at Rigondeaux have carried the unmistakable smell of racism.

Photo: Boxing Insider

For any boxer to have to suffer such treatment in the 21st century is unacceptable.The fact that Rigondeaux is one of the most gifted boxers of his generation, who left behind his family in Cuba, in order to follow a professional career in the USA, makes his treatment even more outrageous.

Rigondeaux has a polarising effect upon most boxing fans. His highly technical counter-punching skills are not appreciated by all. Yet he has a speed and grace which is rarely seen in the ring these days. In addition to his speed, and defensive ability, Rigondeaux can also punch (as witnessed by 2 of his last 3 opponents suffering broken jaws against him). These are the ‘old school’ skills, which those who really appreciate the ‘sweet science’ identify as making Rigondeaux one of the top boxers in the world today, pound for pound. Rigondeaux’s biggest problem, especially since he beat Donaire, has been finding opponents willing to fight him.

Photo: BBC

Since he beat Donaire in April 2013, Rigondeaux has fought just 5 times. He has also endured being stripped of his various world titles for ‘inactivity’ when he couldn’t find top opponents willing to face him. It was ludicrous to see him deprived of his titles by men in suits, and then these titles being bestowed upon fighters who did not want to face him in the ring. Rigondeaux was left to watch as Carl Frampton, Scott Quigg and Leo Santa Cruz, held their own little round robin of fights, eventually all moving up to featherweight, so that they could continue to avoid him.

Now 36 years old, time is running short for Rigondeaux to make use of his exceptional boxing prowess. He will be hoping that Saturday will mark a new beginning in his career, and that being showcased on the undercard of Ward vs Kovalev 2, will finally lead to the kind of big fight which he has been yearning for since he beat Donaire.

Photo: Probox

Standing in his way will be the substantial figure of unbeaten Mexican Moises Flores, who stands 5' feet 9” to Rigondeaux’s 5' feet 4”, and carries a formidable dig in his hands. One that has seen him score 17 knockouts in his 25 victories.

Rigondeaux is a throwback fighter in that, he does not put on huge amounts of weight between the weigh-in and fight time. If anything Rigo looks as if he could make the 118 bantamweight limit if he wanted. On fight night he will be dwarfed by Flores, who is also likely to enter the ring with a substantial weight advantage on his 5” 9”frame. Yet ‘The Jackal’ is a special boxer, who, skills-wise, is leagues above anyone else whom Flores has faced previously in his career. Rigondeaux also likes opponents who come at him aggressively, which is Flores style.

Unless ‘The Jackal’ has slipped physically, due to his encroaching age and enforced competitive activity, he should be able to handle Flores comfortably. It is to be hoped that Flores, when he tastes Rigondeaux’s punching power will not simply go into his shell, like so many of ‘The Jackal’s previous opponents.

Against an aggressive and willing fighter, which Flores has proved to be so far in his career, Rigondeaux is likely to be able to show off his best skills in addition to his punching power. Flores only chance of victory here will be via a stoppage, and he may well start very fast, in the hope of catching the older Rigondeaux early.

If Flores fights, with this tactic in mind, then this could very well be the fight of the night, with Rigondeaux being able to showcase his mix of speed, skill and power, on the way to scoring a late round stoppage of Flores. Look for a victory for ‘The Jackal’ somewhere between the 8^th and 10^th rounds.

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Big Fight Report: The Jackal Ends Dickens' Dream With One Punch

By Peter Silkov

It took just one punch for Guillermo Rigondeaux to show tonight, July 16th, why he is boxing’s most avoided champion. ‘The Jackal’ successfully defended his WBA world super-bantamweight title at the Ice Arena, in Cardiff, Wales, when challenger, Jazza Dickens, was pulled out by his corner after the 2nd round with a broken jaw. The injury was caused in the 2nd round, when Rigondeaux landed the punch of the fight, a left hand to the side of Dickens face, which the challenger did well to take without going down.  However when Dickens returned to his corner a few minutes later, it was found that his jaw was broken and despite his protests, he was pulled out of the fight.

It’s hard to think of a more heartbreaking result for Dickens, who was holding his own, aside from that one big punch from the champion. The brief fight had been uneventful up to the point of impact, with Rigondeaux making his usual slow start in the 1st round as he studied his challenger and Dickens himself trying not to give anything away.  What few punches did connect cleanly in the 1st round came from Rigondeaux. 

The second round followed a similar pattern as the 1st, with both champion and challenger boxing cautiously, but even at this cautious pace, it was easy to see the class in Rigondeaux work. What punches Dickens did throw were missing by mere fractions of inches, as the champion moved his head and upper body to slip the punches almost imperceptibly.  This is where Rigondeaux’s genius lays, he is a master counter-puncher, almost a lost art in this ancient sport, and an art which is certainly undervalued by many of today’s so called experts and certain promoters.

The Jackal waits for one chance, one opening, then he strikes.  This is what happened when he landed with that one punch on Dickens’ face.  The challenger had been fighting an intelligent fight, trying not to give anything away, yet also attempting at times to land some punches of his own, while remaining cagey.  In the end, Rigo landed that one, dynamite left hand, and that was all he needed.

It was a bittersweet victory for The Jackal, whose appearance in front of the Welsh fans was disappointingly brief.  On one hand the champion had showed that his reflexes look to have remained sharp, despite his age and recent inactivity, he also showed the potency of his punching power, which is a big clue as to why his opponents are so often unwilling to come forwards against him.

Photo:Sky sports

Unfortunately for Rigo, he was unable to gain many rounds, which he probably regrets.   

Rigondeaux now seems to be set for a return to Wales on September 17, 2016,  with his opponent unknown.  Once again it is unlikely that ’The Jackal’ will find too many fighters that are eager to face him, and we all know why.

Watch the fight:

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Preview & Prediction: Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. James ‘Jazza’ Dickens

By Peter Silkov

This Saturday, July 16th, will be the return of Guillermo Rigondeaux (16-0, 10koes) to the ring, defending his WBA world super-bantamweight championship against England’s James ‘Jazza’ Dickens (22-1,), at the Ice Arena in Cardiff, Wales.  Rigondeaux is very possibly the best, pound-for-pound, boxer in the world when it comes to pure boxing skill.  Yet, he can also claim to be the worst treated boxer in the world as well.  For all his ability, indeed because of it, Rigondeaux has become the most avoided boxer in the sport, with other fighters stating that he is too boring, and too unpopular with the fans, to merit fighting.

Since he out-classed Nonito Donaire in April 2013, Guillermo Rigondeaux has been essentially blacklisted.  After he beat Donaire, promoter, Bob Arum, turned what should have been a breakthrough victory for The Jackal, onto its head. Arum, who promoted both Rigondeaux and Donaire seemed to take great exception to Rigondeaux beating Donaire, and from that point on set out to criticize, belittle, and discredit Rigondeaux.  Eventually ’The Jackal’ cut his promotional ties with Bob Arum and Top Rank, but the damage has already been done to his reputation.  When your own promoter is branding you too ‘boring’ and describing executives as being prone to ‘throwing up’ when your name is mentioned, then the effect can be quite devastating.

In the 3 years and 3 months since his bittersweet victory over Donaire, ‘The Jackal’ has fought just 4 times, and the big fights that he had wished for against the likes of Carl Frampton, Scott Quigg, and Leo Santa Cruz, have been no where to be seen.  Rigondeaux’s prospective opponents excuse themselves from fighting him by citing the fact that he is boring and cannot draw big money for fights.

Ironically, Frampton and Quigg ended up fighting each other in a ‘super fight’ showdown, which tunrned out to be a dud, and showed just why both boxers had been so keen not to meet Rigondeaux in the ring.

Jazza Dickens, who holds the British Super-bantamweight title, deserves a great amount of respect for taking on the fight that so many ’big names’ have avoided.

Dickens is a boxer with a nicely balanced style, but in Rigondeaux he will be meeting a man who is in a class by himself in many ways.  ’The Jackal’ is a counter-puncher with exceptional speed, accuracy, and power, when he chooses to use it.

Against Dickens, we should see ’The Jackal’ produce a dominating performance, which will culminate in him stopping Dickens by the mid-way point of the fight.

For Dickens, this is the kind of fight that can enhance his career, even if he loses, but for Rigondeaux, this fight represents a chance for Rigondeaux to show just what so many fighters at super-bantamweight are so afraid of.



iFL TV Interviews Rigondeaux from Cardiff, Wales:

iFL TV Interviews Dickens from Cardiff, Wales:
 

Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Guillermo Rigondeaux Returns to the Ring Saturday November 21

Guillermo Rigondeaux, (15-0, 10koes) generally acknowledged as one of the best boxers, pound-for-pound, in the world, returns to the ring this Saturday, November 21st on the Miguel Cotto vs. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez under-card, at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Rigondeaux, who has been unable to find any high ranking opponents willing to meet him, will face fringe contender Drian Francisco (28-3-1, 22koes) who hails from Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. It is not clear if any titles will be on the line when Rigondeaux faces Francisco, since recently he has been unceremoniously stripped of his WBO and WBA world Super-Bantamweight titles, but is still the holder of The Ring magazine super-Bantamweight belt.  Ironically, Rigondeaux, who was stripped on the basis of his ‘inactivity’, will now be fighting before the matches take place to decide his successors to the WBO and WBA belts.

This will be the brilliant Cuban’s first fight since his clinical destruction of Hisashi Amagasa in Osaka, Japan, last New Years Eve.  Since then, managerial and promotional problems, and his inability to find suitable opposition willing to fight him, have beset Rigondeaux.  Over two and a half years since he dismantled Nonito Donaire, with a masterful exhibition of counterpunching, Guillermo Rigondeaux struggles to find work in the ring.  He is an artist who has been blacklisted.

While his return on Saturday is obviously good news, it is still far from an ideal situation.  The opponent has been found at late notice, and the fight has received almost no publicity.  As with his last fight, Rigondeaux will be appearing with little fanfare or acclaim.  Depending on the schedule of his fight, there is a good possibility that this match will be in front of a sparse crowd. All of this must be a bitter irony for a man who already held the WBA belt, then went on to beat Donaire in 2013 for the WBO World super bantamweight title. After this victory, he must have felt like he proved himself to be an elite star, and with that stardom, doors should have opened to the big time and big fights. But, it hasn’t turned out that way.  Rigondeaux is still waiting for his big fight and big pay day.

For Drian Francisco, this is a fight of a lifetime.  Francisco is 33 years old and has been boxing professionally since 2005, and in that time, he has won several titles, including the WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight title, and the Interim WBA World Super-Flyweight titles.  Two fights ago, on May 30, 2015, Francisco was stopped in the 1st round by Jason Canoy, a defeat that he puts down to going into the fight sick.  It is the only stoppage defeat so far of his career.  This fight could transform Francisco’s life and career if he is able to produce a huge upset and defeat Rigondeaux. On the other hand, this match is very much one of the ‘no-win’ variety for Rigondeaux. If he beats Francisco with ease, he will be doing nothing more than what is expected of him. However, if he struggles, after being out of the ring for almost a year, then the chances are that a lackadaisical performance will be used as yet another excuse by the top fighters not to face him. Indeed, a defeat at this point for Rigondeaux could be an almost terminal blow to his career.

The best hope for Rigondeaux is that he can make short work of Francisco and that this contest may lead to other more challenging and meaningful fights under the Golden Boy banner.  Rigondeaux will be hoping that sooner, rather than later, he will be headlining a big show himself, rather than fighting on its undercard.  Yet, he does not want to overlook Francisco, who is a good solid boxer, with a good punch, just the kind of fighter who can be dangerous if he is underrated or overlooked.  There are those who have been looking to knock Rigondeaux off his perch, and an upset win over Guillermo would make Francisco an overnight star, at a time when Asian fighters are a sought after commodity with the emergence of China as the new, largely untapped, audience.  An on-form Rigondeaux should not have much trouble with Francisco, but the hope is that his recent inactivity, and various promotional and managerial distractions will not have taken too much of a toll on ‘The Jackal.’


   

Copyright © 2015 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Guillermo Rigondeaux Destroys Sod Kokietgym: The Jackal Unleashed

Photo: Chris Farina

By Peter Silkov

In the 1.44 seconds that it took Guillermo Rigondeaux (14-0, 9koes) to defend his World super bantamweight title against Sod Kokietgym (63-3-1, 28koes) earlier today, July 19, you could sense a quiet, almost silent fury that was almost palpable. It’s very possible that Rigondeaux was picturing the face of someone else upon the head of his opponent at the Sod Kokietgym, Venetian Resort, in Macao, China.  Certainly, Rigondeaux’s very public falling out with his promoter Bob Arum and the network HBO would have given the champion ample material for just such visualizations.  Rigondeaux was as cool and relaxed as ever on the surface, but the finish of Sod Kokietgym’s world title challenge came with a clinical and venomous right hand and left hook combination which seemed to vent quite a lot of the anger and frustration,  that has built up over the past 15 months.

Since he defeated and embarrassed Nonito Donaire in their unification fight last year, Guillermo Rigondeaux has been the target of an unprecedented campaign of career assassination by Bob Arum and HBO, in addition to various members of the boxing media who were happy to jump upon the anti-Rigondondeaux bandwagon.  Indeed, not since the days of Sonny Liston has a reigning world champion been treated with such barefaced contempt and discrimination.  

Any thoughts that the venerable Arum and HBO might soften their attitude for this defence, which marked the final fight of the champion’s contract with Arum, would have been quickly dispelled by the fact that Rigondeaux was handed a challenger who is unknown outside his native Thailand, save for two previous world title attempts, way back in 2005 and 2006.  It was almost as if HBO and Arum were doing their best to place their man in a no-win situation. The pre-fight build-up could be at best described as scant.  Many boxing fans seemed almost unaware of Rigondeaux’s first outing of 2014 until a few days before the event in Macao. Then, the event itself was lovingly built all around Zou Shiming; Bob Arum’s little Chinese pot of gold. Does it matter that Shiming can’t really fight at a world-class level?

When fight night in Macao finally came, Rigondeaux found himself buried in the undercard, without even the dulcet tones of Michael Buffer to announce him. 
The fight started with ’The Jackal’ finding his range with his sword-like southpaw jab, seemingly with his first punch. This might have been only Rigondeaux’s second competitive outing in fifteen months, but he looked as sharp as ever. Rigondeaux was landing the jab at will, with his left-hand poised by his chest, ready to fire. While the challenger made lunging attempts to come forward, Rigondeaux manoeuvred nimbly about the ring, with his legs seemingly barely moving. The action came abruptly to a halt after an accidental head clash that looked to be caused by Kokietgym lunging forwards into the champion.  Kokietgym seemed in some distress, as he recoiled back in pain, and then fell onto his knees upon the canvas, while gesticulating at the referee Mark Nelson.  The challenger was still grimacing and shaking his head, after he had regained his feet and walked into a corner, while the referee talked to him.  At this point, the referee seemed satisfied that Kokietgym was fit to carry on, and waved the fight to continue. The two men briefly touched gloves, in mid-ring, then, Rigondeaux landed a right hand and a left hook, which were like lightning bolts, and it is doubtful the challenger saw either punch, before falling down in a heap once more. Although he beat the count, Kokietgym looked in no condition to continue and despite his protests; the fight was waved off by Referee Nelson.

Some might try to say that Rigondeaux displayed a less than sporting side to himself by jumping upon his opponent so quickly after the accidental head clash, but the same people would probably have criticised Rigo had he allowed his challenger to recover and get into the fight. Faced with an unheralded challenger, and with everything to lose, but precious little to gain, Rigondeaux did the best and most impressive thing under such circumstances, and destroyed his opponent. For all of those who had called him boring, Rigondeaux’s display carried an air of cultured viciousness about it. Whether such a performance will encourage any of the other big names at 122 pounds to enter the same ring as him is another question. The likes of Kiko Martinez, Scott Quigg, Leo Santa Cruz, and Carl Frampton seem to be quite content to squabble amongst themselves and stay out of the way of the division’s real world champion. Now that he is free of the spiteful clutches of Bob Arum and HBO, we can only hope that he finds himself a new promoter and network, which will appreciate him, and work to get him the big fights, which he craves and deserves. Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza has already stated an interest in taking on Rigondeaux and such a move could pave the way for a fresh start for ’The Jackal’.

The ’Main event’ at Macao was Zou Shiming’s (5-0, 1ko) 10-round joust with Luis De La Rosa (23-4-1, 13koes) for something called the WBO International flyweight title.  Rosa had built his record up against mostly poor opposition, and has been beaten every time he has stepped up in class, including two stoppage defeats.  However, despite winning a wide point’s decision, the closest that Shiming came to scoring a stoppage against Rosa was the severe cut that Rosa suffered due to a head clash mid-way through the fight. Shiming’s lack of power is still impossible to avoid, despite the best efforts of trainer Freddie Roach. Rosa came bravely forward all through the fight, and while he never seemed to hurt Shiming, he never seemed to be overly hurt or in trouble himself, except for the aforementioned cut. Shiming has certainly improved since his debut as a professional, but improvement as a professional and being a fledgling world champion, are two vastly different things. 

It is the fact that, while some amateur stars grow in ability and stature when they turn professional, (as has Rigondeaux) others find their weaknesses and limitations exposed, as they never were in the amateur world.  Unfortunately, for Zou Shiming he falls into the latter bracket.  At the age of 33 years old and with the whole of China following his progress, there is huge pressure on Shiming to become a world champion in the very near future. However, with even the fringe ’world champions’ at flyweight being leagues above what Shiming has had to face so far as a professional, uncle Bob Arum will have his work cut out for him trying to fix this one.  Then again, where there is over one billion people, there must be a way!

Copyright © 2014 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com