There is one December fight that has flown under the radar to some degree. A fight between two of the sport’s biggest punchers, and two men with near flawless skillsets in what could be an 11th hour candidate for fight of the year. On December 9th “The World’s Most Famous Arena” will host another highly anticipated contest as two former Olympic gold medalists, WBO junior lightweight champion Vasyl Lomnachenko, and Guillermo Rigondeaux do battle.
The Fighters
Rigondeaux (17-0-0, 1 no decision, 11 knockouts) has established himself as one of the sports premiere fighters since making his professional debut back in 2009. The 37-year-old Cuban defector (now living in Miami) has held the WBA and lineal super bantamweight titles for over 2,500 days. He also held the WBC Silver and Ring Magazine titles in that same weight class. Now given the alphabet soup status of today’s title belts, that may not seem impressive, however, it’s worth noting that to collect those belts Rigondeaux had to go through some top-notch marquee opposition. Defeating the likes of Nonito Donaire, Roberto Marroquin, Rico Ramos and Ricardo Corboda to name a few.
The 2004 Olympic gold medalist is ranked as the No. 1 super bantamweight by ESPN, Ring Magazine, and BoxRec. Ring also has him as the No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer in the world while ESPN has him ranked at No. 7 in that same category. Now “El Chacal” is moving up two weight classes to challenge one of the hottest names to step in the ring in the last couple of years.
Enter Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1-0, 7 KO’s) is everything most trainers look for when molding a new fighter. He’s young (29-years-old), he’s fast, he punches with both power and speed, and he’s proven he can handle two different weight classes. The 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medalist won the WBO featherweight title in just his third professional fight. He relinquished the belt when he defeated Roman Martinez last year to claim his current title which he’s defending against Rigondeaux.
In addition to Martinez “Hi-Tech” has also overpowered the likes of Miguel Marriaga, Jason Sosa, Gary Russell Jr. and Orlando Salido. Not a bad resume for someone who’s only 10 fights into his career. Among junior lightweights Lomachenko is ranked No. 1 by BoxRec, ESPN and Ring. In the pound-for-pound section the Ukrainian native is ranked No. 2 by ESPN, No. 3 by Ring and No. 4 by BoxRec.
Our take on the fight, after the jump…
The Fight
Given that both fighters’ have a high propensity for scoring knockouts, many predict this fight not to go the distance. However, as anyone will tell you, that scenario is easier said than done. Lomachenko will likely go into this bout looking to overwhelm Rigondeaux with his speed, wear him down, then finish him off with one final blow. But Rigondeaux has proven time and time again that he can handle speed/power punchers and absorb hits. His plan will be to make Lomachenko tire himself out before landing his own punishing blows.
There is no doubt that this fight will be the toughest challenge of both men’s careers. The fact that ESPN is televising the fight for free means that there is tremendous potential for exposure, ratings, and a solid pay day for everyone involved.
This fight may not change the course of the sport’s history, but has the makings of being one of those great fights among boxing’s big little men, such as Salvador Sanchez vs. Wilfredo Gomez or Jeff Fenech vs. Azuma Nelson, thus forever altering the careers and trajectory of these two men.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9iO7NdAThI