Guillermo Rigondeaux

Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡiˈʎermo riɣonˈdo]; born September 30, 1980) is a Cuban professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships at super bantamweight, including the WBA (Super) and lineal titles since 2013, and previously the WBO and Ring magazine titles from 2013 to 2015 and 2016 respectively. As of December 2016, Rigondeaux is ranked as the world's number one super bantamweight by The Ring, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) and BoxRec; The Ring also ranks him as the seventh best boxer, pound for pound.
As an amateur, Rigondeaux won consecutive gold medals in the bantamweight division at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. He is also a seven-time Cuban national champion at bantamweight (2000–2006), finishing his amateur career with a record of nearly 475 fights with 12 losses; the last of these losses occurring in 2003. After Rigondeaux's defection in 2009, he turned professional and remains undefeated.
Widely considered to be one of the greatest amateur boxers of all time, Rigondeaux has been lauded by boxing trainer Freddie Roach as being: "Probably the greatest talent I've ever seen." Rigondeaux is known for his hand speed, counterpunching and elusiveness, and has proved an exceptional difficult fighter to hit. A documentary on Rigondeaux is in the works by filmmaker Brin-Jonathan Butler. Butler also published a biography of Rigondeaux entitled A Cuban Boxer's Journey: From Castro's Traitor to American Champion, published by Picador USA.

Amateur career

Olympic results

2000

• Defeated Moez Zemzeni (Tunisia) KO 1
• Defeated Kazumasa Tsujimoto (Japan) RSC 3
• Defeated Agasi Agaguloglu (Azerbaijan) 14-5
• Defeated Clarence Vinson (United States) 18-6
• Defeated Raimkul Malakhbekov (Russia) 18-12

2004

• Round of 32: Defeated Liu Yuan of China – PTS (21-7)
• Round of 16: Defeated Mehar Ullah of Pakistan – RSC 3
• Quarterfinals: Defeated Gennady Kovalev of Russia – PTS (20-5)
• Semifinals: Defeated Bahodirjon Sooltonov of Uzbekistan – PTS (27-13)
• Gold Medal Match: Defeated Worapoj Petchkoom of Thailand – PTS (22-13)

Other highlights

• 2000 Cuban national amateur champion - bantamweight
• 2001 Cuban national amateur champion - bantamweight
• 2001 World amateur champion - bantamweight (in Belfast, Northern Ireland)
  • Defeated Kazumasa Tsujimoto (Japan) RSC 2
  • Defeated Reidar Walstad (Norway) RSC 2
  • Defeated Artur Mikaelian (Greece) 24-8
  • Defeated Sergey Danilchenko (Ukraine) 15-6
  • Defeated Aghasi Mammadov (Turkey) 30-24
• 2002 Cuban national amateur champion - bantamweight
• 2002 World Cup champion - bantamweight (in Astana, Kazakhstan)
  • Defeated Justin Kane (Australia) RSC 1
  • Defeated Keren Gurgen (Turkey) RSC 1
  • Defeated Chotipat Wongprates (Thailand) 13-2
  • Defeated Toljen Kanatov (Kazakhstan) 7-6
• 2003 Cuban national amateur champion - bantamweight
• 2003 competed as a bantamweight at World championships in Bangkok, Thailand. Results were:
  • Defeated Andrzej Liczik (Poland) 15-1
  • Lost to Aghasi Mammadov (Azerbaijan) 13-16
• 2003 Bantamweight gold medalist at Pan-American games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
  • Defeated Argenis Mendez (Dominican Republic) 17-2
  • Defeated Alexander Espinoza (Venezuela) RSC 2
  • Defeated Andrew Kooner (Canada) 22-2
  • Defeated Abner Mares (Mexico) 17-7
• 2004 Cuban national amateur champion - bantamweight
• 2005 Cuban national amateur champion - bantamweight
• 2005 World amateur champion at bantamweight in competition held in Mianyang, PR China
  • Defeated Vladislav Sokolov (Latvia) RTD 2
  • Defeated Ougonchulun Batkhuu (Mongolia) RSC
  • Defeated Bahodirjon Sooltonov (Uzbekistan) RSC 3
  • Defeated Ali Hallab (France) 37-23
  • Defeated Rustamhodza Rahimov (Germany) 19-9
• 2005 Bantamweight gold medalist at World Cup in Moscow, Russia.
  • Defeated Worapoj Petchkoom (Thailand) 34-16
  • Defeated Zsolt Bedák (Hungary) 28-11
  • Defeated Murat Aiyrmasov (Kazakhstan) 34-7
  • Defeated Maksim Khalikov (Russia) 37-21
• 2006 Cuban national amateur champion
• 2006 Bantamweight gold medalist at Central American Games in Cartagena, Colombia
  • Defeated Juan Velasquez (Puerto Rico) 10-1
  • Defeated Jhonatan Romero (Colombia) walk-over
  • Defeated Arturo Santos Reyes (Mexico) 14-3
• 2006 Bantamweight gold medalist at Nations Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan
  • Defeated Mirzhan Rakhimzhanov (Kazakhstan) 28-10
  • Defeated Rau'shee Warren (United States) 21-17
  • Defeated Elshad Guliyev (Azerbaijan) walk-over
  • Defeated Ali Aliyev (Russia) RSC 3

Defection

On July 22, 2007, Rigondeaux and teammate Erislandy Lara failed to appear for their scheduled bouts at the Pan American Games in Brazil. It was initially announced that Rigondeaux was to turn professional, joining fellow 2004 Cuban Olympians Odlanier Solis, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Yan Barthelemy, who defected earlier in 2007. As with the other Cuban defectors, Rigondeaux signed a promotional deal with Ahmet Oener and ARENA Box-Promotion. However, on August 2, Rigondeaux and Lara were taken into police custody in Brazil, stating that they wanted to return home to Cuba. However, Cuban leader Fidel Castro then stated that Rigondeaux and Lara could not box again for the Cuban team. In February 2009, Rigondeaux defected again via Mexico City to Miami, and signed with Arena Box-Promotion.

Professional career

Early fights

On February 23, 2009, Rigondeaux was announced to have defected along with 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist Yudel Johnson, Yordanis Despaigne and Yuniel Dorticos and is now in Miami and is managed by Irishman Gary Hyde. He will be training in the same gym as Yuriorkis Gamboa, Erislandi Lara and Odlanier Solis. and will continue his career as a professional once he completes all the residency requirements. He left behind his wife Farah Colina, a 7-year-old son and a 17-year-old stepson in Cuba. He is also reportedly staying in the home of countryman and featherweight contender Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Rigondeaux won his professional debut on May 22 with a third-round TKO over Juan Noriega in Miami. Although he did not maintain a busy punch volume, Rigondeaux still landed hard shots. Noriega barely countered Rigondeaux's punches and the referee found the opportunity to stop the fight after Rigondeaux connected with a solid right to the head. On July 17 he won his second pro fight against Robert Guillen by first round knock out. Rigondeaux wasn't active but he hit Guillen with a great hard counter punch to the body which left him rolling on the canvas in pain.

On September 18, Rigondeaux beat Giovanni Andrade by 3rd round TKO to win the NABA Super Bantamweight title, dropping Andrade once in each of rounds two and three.

On December 16, 2009 Rigondeaux won a Unanimous Decision over Lante Addy in 8 rounds, dropping Addy once in round one.

On February 5, 2010, Rigondeaux scored a 1st round Knockout against Adolfo Landeros, dropping Landeros with a hard left uppercut to the body.

Rigondeaux then signed a three-year contract with Bob Arum's Top Rank in July 2010. He is also co-promoted by Boris Arencibia's Caribe Promotions.

The Ricardo Cordoba fight was on the HBO televised undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito WBC Light Middleweight title fight at Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, in front of 70,000 people. This was the biggest fight in Rigondeaux's career to date. Rigondeaux knocked Cordoba down in the 4th with a body shot, but was judged to be knocked down in turn in the 6th, in what appeared to be a slip. Despite appearing to win clearly, the fight was judged a split decision, with Rigondeaux the victor and becoming a world champion in his 7th bout (though interim) winning the WBA Super Bantamweight title.

The fight against Willie Casey was live on RTÉ (Ireland) at the City West Convention Centre, Dublin, Ireland on the 19th of March 2011. This was Rigondeaux's first defense of his WBA Interim Title. A sweeping left uppercut in the opening round caught Casey flush and sent him back on his rear causing his glove to touch the mat at 1:45. He was up immediately and received a mandatory eight-count. A combination capped with a left hook sent Casey falling across the ring and down at 2:19. He was able to make it to his feet but was visibly wobbled. A follow-up barrage sent Casey stumbling forward. At that, the referee stepped in and waved an end to the bout.

WBA super bantamweight champion

Rigondeaux vs. Ramos

Rigondeaux won the "full" WBA World Super Bantamweight title by knocking out champion and Ring No. 2 ranked Super Bantamweight Rico Ramos (20-0, 11 KOs) in the 6th round. On January 20, 2012 Rigondeaux controlled the opening round against a tentative Ramos. He quickly moved into range and fired the left hand both to the body and upstairs. A straight left hand caught Ramos against the ropes and sent him down at 2:24 of the opening round. He was up quickly and received a mandatory eight-count. Rigondeaux attacked but Ramos gathered himself and finished the round. Output waned in the 2nd and 3rd Rounds both fighters looked for countering opportunities with neither seeming overly willing to open up. An accidental clash of heads opened a small cut on the outside of Ramos's left eyebrow near the end of Round 4. Rigondeaux was warned in Round 6 for pulling down the back of Ramos's head. Immediately after the warning, Rigondeaux came forward with a barrage and landed a clean left hand to the body that sent Ramos to the mat grimacing in pain. He remained down on his back as the referee reached the count of ten.

Rigondeaux has been trained under Ismael Salas after working with Freddie Roach, Alejandro "Pupi" Torre and Ronnie Shields, and has worked out with Jorge Rubio at his Xtreme Gym in Hialeah, Florida for the Teon Kennedy fight. DJ Montanocordoba has served as his physical conditioner.

Miscellaneous defences

Despite Rigondeaux and his camp's great efforts to make a fight with any of the other 122 pound champions, they have been dodged by the other champions such as Nonito Donaire, Toshiaki Nishioka, Jeffrey Mathebula and Abner Mares. Rigondeaux said, "They are cowards". That was why Rigondeaux said thanks to Teon Kennedy for being there at the pre-fight press conference and fought against him on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Rigondeaux knew the split decision victory against Ricardo Cordoba did not please the HBO people, and learned from it the importance of aggressiveness. From the standpoint of promotion, the second appearance on HBO was crucial to him. He did not want to make the same mistake as he did two years ago. Rigondeaux impressively stopped Kennedy in the 5th round after knocking him down five times all with his left cross, leading Kennedy to say "He just hits you with punches that you can't see". He has differentiated from the Cordoba fight. Now that he realized that he needed to not only win a fight but also entertain, his promoter Bob Arum stated that Rigondeaux could one day face Nonito Donaire, Jorge Arce, or Wilfredo Vázquez, Jr.

He fought against Roberto Marroquin on the undercard of the Sergio Martínez vs. Julio César Chávez, Jr. at the Thomas & Mack Center on September 15, 2012. It was a relatively easy night for Rigondeaux, who outworked and outlanded Marroquin and seemed to just cruise through the fight. Rigondeaux gave his young opponent the first knockdown of his career in the 5th round and scored another knockdown in the 12th round. The judges scored the bout: 118-108, 118-108 and 118-109, all three in favour of Rigondeaux who retained his WBA title by unanimous decision.

Unified super bantamweight champion

Rigondeaux vs. Donaire

Rigondeaux fought WBO and The Ring champion Nonito Donaire at Radio City Music Hall on April 13, 2013 in a unification fight. Rigondeaux left his trainer Jorge Rubio in order to start training with his former amateur trainer Pedro Diaz for this fight. Donaire came into the fight as the No. 5 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Rigondeaux defeated Donaire by unanimous decision with the scores of 114–113, 115–112, and 116–111, though the fight was considered much wider than the judges scorecards indicated. Rigondeaux frustrated Donaire early and often with his quick lead right hook, and left hand. Rigondeaux would continue to land the cleaner punches and dip out of range from Donaire for the first nine rounds of the fight. In the 10th round, while Rigondeaux attempted to clinch with Donaire, he was pushed off and caught with a straight left hand from Donaire, sending him to the canvas. Rigondeaux appeared to hurt Donaire with a straight left early in the 12th round, when Donaire covered up a severely swollen right eye and began bleeding from his mouth. Rigondeaux ended the round and fight targeting Donaire with his left hand, backing Donaire up.

Rigondeaux out landed and out punched Donaire throughout the fight, winning a clear unanimous decision to unify titles and win The Ring Super Bantamweight title from Donaire. RingTV.com scored it 117–110 in favor of Rigondeaux, and HBO's Harold Lederman had it 118–109 for him.

Rigondeaux vs. Agbeko, Kokietgym

Rigondeaux successfully defeated Joseph Agbeko on December 7, 2013 at the Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. Rigondeaux won every round on all three judges scorecards (120-108) and retained the Lineal, WBO, and Ring Magazine World junior featherweight titles and the WBA Super World super bantamweight title.

Top Rank announced the next defense would be against veteran Sod Kokietgym (63-2-1, 28 KOs) on July 19, 2014 at the Cotai Arena in Macao. Rigondeaux won the bout , after the fight was stopped half way through the first round. Kokietgym hit the canvas due to a hard, accidental head-butt, he was given time to recover, however when he got up, the two touched gloves as respect before Rigondeaux threw an ungentlemanly 'sucker punch' right hook to end the fight while they touched gloves with the other glove. This resembled the ending of the welterweight world title bout between Floyd Mayweather versus Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas. This was the first professional fight for Rigondeaux outside of the United States and Kokietgym entered the fight having not lost in over eight years.

Rigondeaux vs. Amagasa, Francisco

Rigondeaux retained lineal, WBO, and Ring Magazine World junior featherweight titles and the WBA Super World super bantamweight title against Japan's Hisashi Amagasa in Japan. Rigondeaux was down twice in the seventh round but stated one of them was a slip/push. Amagasa was down in the 9th. Referee Mike Ortega stopped the bout after Amagasa failed to get up off his stool after round 11.

Rigondeaux defeated Drian Fancisco (28-3-1, 22 KOs) via unanimous decision (97-93, 100-90 twice) on November 21, 2015 in at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas.

Scheduled bout in UK and visa issues

Rigondeaux was scheduled to fight Liverpool's James 'Jazza' Dickens (22-1, 7KOs) on March 12, 2016 at the Echo Arena, on the under-card of Terry Flanagan vs. Derry Matthews. This would the UK debut for Rigondeaux, who was training in Russia. It was announced on the fight night that the fight was off and Rigondeaux had returned to the United States due to failing to obtain a UK visa. Dickens still fought on the undercard defeating Reynaldo Cajina.

Continued reign as champion

On May 14, 2016 Rigondeaux was re-instated as the WBA 'Super' World Super Bantamweight champion due to Carl Frampton being stripped of the belt for failing to negotiate his first defence. Rigondeaux would most likely defend the title against Jazza Dickens or WBA bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell. WBA ordered Rigondeaux to face interim titleholder Moises Flores (24-0, 17 KOs), of Mexico, by August 1, in a mandatory defence.

Rigondeaux vs. Dickens

It was confirmed that Rigondeaux would defend his Lineal and WBA 'Super' World title against Jazza Dickens on July 16 at the Ice Arena in Cardiff. The fight was originally scheduled for March, however was cancelled due to Rigondeaux having VISA issues. This was Rigondeaux's first fight in the UK. Rigondeaux retained his belts after breaking Dickens jaw in round 2 with a huge left hand. Dickens was forced to retire after the round.

Rigondeaux vs. Flores

On July 20, in their continued desire to reduce the number of champions, the WBA ordered Rigondeaux to make a mandatory defence of his title against their interim titleholder, 29-year-old Mexican boxer Moises Flores (25-0, 17 KO). On December 7, the WBA announced a purse bid would be held on December 19 at the WBA headquarters in Panama City with a minimum bid of $150,000 with Rigondeaux receiving the bigger split of 75% and 25% going to Flores. A deal was reached before the scheduled purse bids. Flores said he would be dedicating this fight to Alejandro Gonzalez, a boxer who was killed in Mexico in December. The fight would likely take place on the Roc Nation Sports card on February 25, 2017 live on HBO ppv, a co-feature to light-middleweight fight Cotto-Kirkland. Flores' IBO world title will also be at stake.

Professional boxing record