Saturday night on ESPN, two amateur legends and professional world titleholders will meet in a main event featuring arguably the biggest combined sets of accomplishments in the history of the sport. Fights do not get more prestigious than Vasyl Lomachenko versus Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Things have come full circle for Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs). Much like Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs), the Cuban amateur star debuted with a very rare pair of Olympic gold medals having won gold in 2000 and 2004. Much like his Ukrainian counterpart, Rigondeaux also did this with Top Rank and took on strong opposition early in his career, picking up his first world title before his tenth pro fight and having won a secondary version a few fights before that even.
Yet, now Vasyl Lomachenko is a star and Guillermo Rigondeaux has been stuck in Roc Nation purgatory. The Cuban largely owes this to his own safety first style that has consistently made for super dull bouts. After what should have been a career defining win in dominating pound for pound elite Filipino Nonito Donaire live on HBO, even his own promoter in Top Rank’s Bob Arum was publicly trashing his style. Shortly after, Arum released Rigo into promotional free agency. I can’t remember a story of a promoter willingly cutting a truly world class fighter from his roster, but that is what Arum did with Guillermo Rigondeaux.
The Cuban then signed with Roc Nation Sports. That didn’t seem so bad at the time, but since then we have learned what a horrific promotional outfit that arm of Jay-Z’s brand really is. They have found him only one fight a year since 2014 and none against any real name fighters. No one wants to fight Guillermo Rigondeaux because they won’t look good. Roc Nation has unsurprisingly failed to find any creative solutions.
It is easy to sympathize with the plight of Guillermo Rigondeaux. He fled Cuba and landed on US shores with the promise of a lucrative professional boxing career. He has defeated everyone put in front of him. Other than a few flash knockdowns scored against him, Rigo has beat everyone easily too. He won a world title and briefly unified it with another before the second was taken from him. He has done everything anyone could ever have asked of him. Except, that is, he hasn’t been able to be someone else in the ring. Guillermo Rigondeaux’s crime has been being Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Now he is 37 and has to move up two weight classes to get another top fighter in the ring. For some reason the WBA is taking his world title away should he lose this fight too even though, again, this fight is two weight classes above that of his title.
Yet, I started this by saying he has come full circle. Sure, the odds are infinitely stacked against him come Saturday night, but he is also once again main eventing a major Top Rank card on national television. I don’t think I can even begin to imagine how satisfying it would be personally for Guillermo Rigondeaux to sabotage a Top Rank money train at this point given how they basically tanked his career by dumping him for being the fighter they signed to begin with.
The problem in this revenge narrative is, of course, Vasyl Lomachenko. Not only has the Ukrainian been campaigning two weight classes north of the Cuban, but he is planning on jumping up another one potentially in his very next fight. It should be noted that size is a weird thing in boxing at times though. Here, despite the obvious fact that Vasyl Lomachenko is the bigger man, Guillermo Rigondeaux actually has the longer reach.
If the only issue here was size, I’d be confident even a 37 year old Guillermo Rigondeaux could overcome it. After all, when counting amateur and professional accolades combined, Rigo is unquestionably one of the greatest boxers of all time. There is another issue here, however, and that is the fact that I think Vasyl Lomachenko is the best fighter in boxing if Andre Ward is truly retired. Loma is already a two division titleholder without having won his tenth fight. Except for trying to take on Orlando Salido in only his second pro fight, he has absolutely routed everyone along the way too. Unlike Guillermo, Vasyl has done it excitingly. His last three opponents have all been beaten into quitting on their stool, even. I don’t think I have ever seen a three fight streak of RTDs before.
I don’t think a 37 year old Guillermo Rigondeaux can move up two weight classes and beat Vasyl Lomachenko in 2017, but that small shred of possibility is pretty exciting in itself. At this point, I do not think but know that no one else south of lightweight is going to give the elite Ukrainian any problems. Again, I wouldn’t put my money on it, but I can visualize an outcome where Guillermo Rigondeaux frustrates Vasyl Lomachenko into a loss. I can’t say that about anyone else south of 135 pounds.
There are many ways to make a great fight. One is to take two action fighters and stick them in the ring together. That is what HBO is doing with their card against this against this Saturday, but it is not what this is. In truth, don’t be shocked if this is a dull fight. Remember, Guillermo Rigondeaux is here. Yet, that isn’t the only ruler by which to measure a scheduled fight. When you have someone who has been truly untouchable like a Vasyl Lomachenko and suddenly find him in against an opponent who you know has at least a remote shot, that is a special fight too.
How many times did we go into a Floyd Mayweather Jr fight thinking there was a legitimate chance he might lose, even if it was unlikely? For the undeluded, very few. This is one of those, except in this case both fighters are Floyd Mayweather Jr. Both have been untouchable. Yet, come Saturday night, one will suddenly fall. Sure, it will probably be the older, outsized Cuban, but it might not be too. Rigo last lost a fight in way back fourteen years ago in 2003. Can we really count him out?
The show’s co-main event pits unbeaten 23 year old junior lightweight prospect Christopher Diaz (21-0, 13 KOs) of Puerto Rico against Bryant Cruz (18-2, 9 KOs). Cruz has been exposed a bit in his last few fights. If Diaz is the prospect Top Rank wants him to be, he should roll here. Major Olympic prospects Michael Conlan (4-0, 4 KOs) and Shakur Stevenson (3-0, 1 KO) will also be highlighted on the broadcast.
ESPN will have the call at 9 PM Eastern.
