Guillermo Rigondeaux Arrives Stateside
by Brickhaus on Feb 23, 2009 12:01 PM EST
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The Miami Herald (Spanish language) is reporting that Cuban boxer Guillermo Rigondeaux has defected to the United States and has met with his former teammates after their card in Fort Lauderdale this past Friday. Rigondeaux, a two-time bantamweight gold medalist, is generally regarded as the top Cuban boxing talent of this generation. If this rumor is true and he joins up with Ahmet Oner's Arena Box promotions, that will mean that Oner will have five top Cuban amateurs under one banner, including top prospects Yuriorkis Gamboa and Erislandy Lara (the ever-fattening Odlanier Solis and quasi-bust Yan Barthelemy being the others). Rigondeaux's amateur record is purportedly 243-4, although he hasn't been allowed to box for a year and a half.
Rignodeaux had previously attempted to defect. The first time, he and Lara defected to Brazil in 2007, but were arrested by Brazilian authorities before they could make it to Germany for asylum. Supposedly, the two boxers said they wanted to go back to Cuba, which would be inconsistent with Lara's second successful defection attempt a few months later. Rigondeaux was then kicked off the Cuban boxing team, and has not been in a ring since then.
As the most talented of the group of Cubans, and being under the banner of a promoter who's not afraid to challenge his fighters (even if he's afraid to let them lose when they're about to get knocked out), expect to see Rigondeaux fighting against the top tier relatively quickly. At this point, he's already 27 years old, which is already pretty old for someone at the lower weights.
Update (4:05 pm) - Arena Box has confirmed Rigondeaux's defection and signing with Arena Box. They will unveil the official announcement early next week.
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By the way
How do you get the picture to show up in the upper right hand corner, like most of the main posts?
Vogt early, Vogt often.
it's a pain in the ass
You have to do it manually in the FanPosts for whatever reason. I’m actually going to ask why that is. Aligning images doesn’t seem like something that should be limited to just regular front page posters. It’s kind of a chore to do it even with the “easy” system, too, since you have to edit the HTML for it to show up right anyway. class has to be “photo right” then you have to do an align tag after that.
"If they cut my bald head open, they will find one big boxing glove. That's all I am. I live it." -- Marvin Hagler
by Scott Christ on Feb 23, 2009 4:56 PM EST up reply actions
I don't know him
but I really like the Cuban fighting style. If he can put punches together anything like Gamboa I’ll be impressed. Excited to see him in the ring.
Wonder if he can adjust to pro boxing.
Gamboa has huge talent but he also has huge problems. Notably he drops his hands and when that happens he ends up on his but. With about 250 fights already will he be able to adapt. I hope they move him like they are with Gamboa especially since he has a couple of years on him already.
Gamboa’s hands-dropping really isn’t the problem. It’s his atrocious balance and the fact that he winds up wide so often. His footwork stinks. I think Lara may soon emerge as a better prospect than Gamboa.
"If they cut my bald head open, they will find one big boxing glove. That's all I am. I live it." -- Marvin Hagler
by Scott Christ on Feb 23, 2009 5:43 PM EST up reply actions
It is a problem
It may not be the only problem, but consistently fighting with both hands at his waist is a major problem.
I doubt that was an amateur flaw
Gamboa’s hands-down style seems to be a result of his mix of incredible athletic gifts and incredible cockiness. It doesn’t strike me as a pro versus amateur adaption problem (except perhaps that you pay for it more in the pro ranks).
It’s a problem, but it isn’t the problem. He generally goes down not because his hands are low but because he gets hit off balance.
"If they cut my bald head open, they will find one big boxing glove. That's all I am. I live it." -- Marvin Hagler
by Scott Christ on Feb 23, 2009 7:50 PM EST up reply actions
Any word on who would train him?
"I want to see ocean. I want to see black people. I want to see palms." - Wladimir Klitschko
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