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It was a meeting of amateur legends and professional world champions, a matchup of two, two-time Olympic gold medalists. But it was one-way traffic tonight in New York, as Vasyl Lomachenko dominated Guillermo Rigondeaux, who quit after the sixth round, claiming a hand injury.
Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KO) has now forced four straight opponents, all of them good fighters, to simply throw in the towel, wanting no more to do with him. The 29-year-old retained his WBO super featherweight title with the win, and looked exceptional once again, this time against a defensive master who simply couldn’t do a thing with him.
While it has to be stated that Rigondeaux (17-1, 11 KO) was the smaller, older man, moving up two weight classes, it also then has to be stated that Rigondeaux made clear before the fight that he didn’t want anyone to blame the weight difference, that this was a fight he wanted, that he specifically went after and got.
In the end, Lomachenko was simply a better fighter. Yes, he was bigger, and yes, he’s eight years Rigondeaux’s junior. But Lomachenko was also faster, stronger, and more dynamic, especially on offense. He fought with supreme confidence as early as round two, after a feeling out first round where, apparently, Lomachenko felt out no significant threat from the Cuban super bantamweight champion.
Rigondeaux simply couldn’t get a thing going against Lomachenko, who seemed to anticipate every move Rigondeaux would try to make, including having his corner warn referee Steve Willis of Rigondeaux’s holding tactics, which wound up being a big part of the fight. As Rigondeaux grew frustrated, the holding increased, and he was docked a point in the sixth (and what turned out to be final) round, which was earned.
Put plainly, Vasyl Lomachenko was too much for Guillermo Rigondeaux in pretty much every way tonight, once again proving his dominance and making as much a case as he can that he is the current best boxer in the world, pound-for-pound.
“Maybe I should change my last name to NoMaschenko,” Lomachenko joked after the fight.
But he wasn’t all jokes, and even said that he felt Rigondeaux wasn’t a great opponent for him, but with compliments to his opponent at the same time.
“He’s a good fighter. He’s a top fighter,” Lomachenko said of Rigondeaux. “He’s a king in boxing, but a king in his weight category. It wasn’t his weight, so it’s not a big win for me, because it’s not his weight category.”
Rigondeaux blamed the hand injury, and nothing else, refusing to discredit Lomachenko’s win based on the size difference between the two.
“I lost, it was because of my hand. In the second round I injured the top of it, and I could no longer continue,” Rigondeaux said through a translator, ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna. “He’s a very technical fighter, very quick, very explosive.”
Rigondeaux said he’ll be back and he’s ready to face anyone, and also said the weight wasn’t a real problem for him.
“It wasn’t about the weight. It was just the hand that I injured. That’s why I could not continue. I do give Vasyl Lomachenko credit, though. He is an excellent boxer.”