Guillermo Rigondeaux suffers upset loss to Vincent Astrolabio

Last weekend was one of the wildest in recent memory when it came to unexpected outcomes, and that’s not even mentioning the ones that slipped under the radar, like Guillermo Rigondeaux’s Saturday upset loss to Vincent Astrolabio in Dubai.

In what was reportedly a standard-issue Rigondeaux (20-3, 13 KO) fight, the 24-year-old Astrolabio (17-3, 12 KO) scored a critical eighth-round knockdown that led to 95-94 cards across the board. The full fight’s up on YouTube in various places for those masochistic enough to watch and score it themselves, but the consensus seems to be that those were fair cards.

If Rigondeaux’s time as an elite wasn’t already over, it is now. His horrific performance against John Riel Casimero tanked basically all the goodwill he’d ever mustered, and Astrolabio, who sports losses to journeymen John Mark Apolinario and Yuki Strong Kobiyashi, wasn’t some unheralded up-and-comer coming into his own.

It’s been...I wouldn’t say fun, Rigo, but it’s been interesting. I’m thinking it’s time.