Victorious Rigondeaux Likes His Style Just Fine

Published

11 years ago

December 8, 2013

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – When you stop and think about it, boxing fans are no different than moviegoers that have to decide which flick they want to see on a given night out. Whether you’re heading to the arena or your local cinema, the choice sometimes has to be made between The Fast and the Furious and Driving Miss Daisy.

No one can dispute that Guillermo Rigondeaux (13-0, 8KOs), who successfully defended his WBA and WBO super bantamweight championships here Saturday night with a typically efficient unanimous decision over Joseph Agbeko (29-5, 22 KOs), is a defensive genius. Most opponents can barely touch the two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba when he is in peak form, and the 33-year-old southpaw certainly appeared to be at or near the top of his game against Agbeko, a former two-time world bantamweight titlist from Ghana who would have preferred to turn the fight into a pugilistic demolition derby instead of another mostly uneventful drive down safe streets by the man known as “El Chacal.” Judges Ron McNair, Eugene Grant and Robin Taylor all had Rigondeaux pitching a 120-108 shutout.

Really, how we get our entertainment is a matter of personal preference, and there are those who will always prefer a screeching, high-speed ride on the wild side to someone expertly demonstrating the proper way to parallel-park.

Count Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum, who promotes the Miami-based Rigondeaux, among those who would like to see the master technician add a bit more pizzazz to his exquisite displays of ring generalship. Like a lot of people, Arum has a fondness for guys who go down in the trenches, to spill a little blood, even if some of it is their own, and score dramatic knockouts.

After Rigondeaux’s nearly flawless unanimous decision on April 13 over Nonito Donaire, the Boxing Writers Association of America’s 2012 Fighter of the Year, Arum – who also promotes Donaire – reacted to the outcome as if he’d just found a roach floating in the punch bowl at the party he was throwing. He complained that Rigondeaux was not a TV-friendly kind of fighter, and that “every time I mention him (to HBO Sports executives), they throw up.”

The suits at HBO, which televised three of Saturday night’s bouts in the Adrian Phillips Ballroom of Boardwalk Hall – super welterweight slugger James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) weathered an early assault from Glen Tapia (20-1, 12 KOs) to score a brutal, sixth-round technical knockout and two-time former world title challenger Matthew Macklin (30-5, 20 KOs) scored a 10-round, unanimous decision over Lamar Russ (14-1, 7 KOs) in the others – apparently suppressed their gag reflexes long enough to give Rigondeaux another high-visibility shot at winning over viewers who worshipped at the altar of the late Arturo Gatti. Suffice to say the jury is still out as far as future projections regarding Rigondeaux’s ability to ever produce the kind of thrills and high Nielsen ratings Gatti so routinely delivered.

“I wouldn’t blame HBO for never putting Rigondeaux back on,” longtime HBO analyst Larry Merchant said after the Cuban, who defected to the United States in February 2009, had clinically dissected Donaire. “I think Rigondeaux is a talented, beautiful boxer, but prizefighting is about entertainment. You want a fighter that can excite.”

For his part, Rigondeaux – who believes he is a better all-around fighter, pound-for-pound, than Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Andre Ward – isn’t disposed to do much tinkering. What’s that saying? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“I fight my own way, my own style,” Rigondeaux said a couple of days before he schooled Agbeko. “I do what I need to do to win.”

And what of Arum’s occasionally unflattering critiques of Rigondeaux’s obviously successful but comparatively bland style?

“Bob Arum is not the one doing the fighting,” Rigondeaux said. “If he’s not pleased with me or how I fight, maybe he should consider letting me out of my contract. I’m sure there are other promoters who would love to have Guillermo Rigondeaux fighting for them.”

Upon further review, as NFL officials are wont to say, Rigondeaux softened that stance somewhat. Hey, Arum is still signing his paychecks.

“I understand Bob Arum has a job to do,” he said. “I’m very appreciative that Bob Arum has helped me make some money. I have nothing bad to say about him.”

Of course, Rigondeaux would like for Arum not to have anything bad to say about him, either. Telling it like it is, or how you think it is, is a knife that cuts both ways.

“In the ring, I always feel that I can do whatever I want, that I’m in total control at all times,” said Rigondeaux, who added that his punching power is often underrated by media know-nothings who see only his impenetrable defense. “Anybody can beat anybody else on a given night, right? That’s what they say. So let the others think they have a chance to beat me. Line them up. I’ll fight anybody. But the problem is that nobody wants to fight me.”

Agbeko might have wanted to fight, but he spent 12 rounds pawing at the empty air that Rigondeaux had just vacated. The punch stats were, action-craving spectators, abysmal: Agbeko landed just 48 of 349 (14 percent) to 144 of 859 (17 percent) for Rigondeaux. Both finished below the dreaded Mendoza Line.

“It was just hard to get to him,”Agbeko said. “He’s very fast and he has great foot movement.”

For his part, Rigondeaux was hardly dismayed by the sporadic boos and catcalls that rang out in the last several rounds.

Buoyed by a crowd that was very vocal in its support for him, Tapia, a resident of Passaic, N.J., who sold over 1,000 tickets to family members, friends and supporters, came out winging in the first round against Kirkland. By the time the bell rang to end the stanza, Kirkland had a mouse under his left eye and the understanding he probably was in not in for the easiest of nights.

But electing to stand and trade with Kirkland, one of boxing’s more damage-inflicting hitters, is probably a dubious strategy, as Tapia soon came to realize. Kirkland began to get far the better of the exchanges and by the end of the fifth Tapia looked ready to go – more than ready, in fact. Referee Steve Smoger appeared inclined to stop the bout then, but ring physician Blair Bergen looked Tapia over and, with some hesitation, gave the OK for him to continue.

“I did (think about stopping it), but the doctor told me it was all right for (Tapia) to continue,” Smoger said. “I was on the verge of doing it a couple of times, but then the kid returned fire.”

Tapia, however, was only on the receiving end, all but defenseless, when Smoger wrapped his protective arms around him 38 seconds into Round 6.

Kirkland, who landed 305 of 644 punches – 287 of the connects were power shots – lauded the bloodied Tapia, who was quickly taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, for the courage he had displayed.

“It was a real war,” Kirkland said. “I told everyone it would be this way. We traded some good shots. I came in with a game plan and I stuck to it. I had to be a warrior, and I was.”

Macklin, who was able to impose his superior strength on Russ and wear him down a bit more with each succeeding round, immediately called for a rematch with Germany’s Felix Sturm (39-3-2, 18 KOs), who dethroned IBF champion Darren Barker (26-2, 16 KOs) on an emphatic second-round stoppage Saturday in Stuttgart, Germany. When they met on June 25, 2011, Sturm retained the WBA 160-pound crown on a split decision.

“I feel good,” Macklin said after he had handed Russ his first professional defeat. “I was a little impatient in the beginning, trying for the knockout. I relaxed later and felt more comfortable.”

In non-televised bouts of note, super featherweight Toka Kahn Clary (9-0-1, 6 KOs) scored a six-round unanimous decision over Ramsey Luna (11-1, 5 KOs) in a battle of unbeatens; super middleweight prospect Jesse Hart (11-0, 10 KOs) continued to impress with a first-round stoppage of Tyrell Hendrix (10-3-1, 3 KOs), and Russian middleweight Matt Korobov (22-0, 13 KOs), who was wobbled in Round 1, seized control thereafter, dropping a game Derek Edwards (26-3-1, 13 KOs) three times in all before Smoger stepped in 28 seconds into the ninth round.

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Bernard Fernandez

Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2025

David A. Avila

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Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.

Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.

“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.

After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.

Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.

One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”

Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.

“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”

Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.

A real fight was happening.

Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.

Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.

In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.

“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”

Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.

In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.

“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”

Espinoza Wins

WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.

“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.

Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.

Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.

It was Espinoza’s third title defense.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.

The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.

The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.

Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.

Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.

A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.

In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.

Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.

Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.

In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.

Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.

Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.

In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.

Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.

Semi-wind-up

In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.

A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.

The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.

Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.

Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.

Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.

Heavyweights

In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.

Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.

The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.

In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions

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