Very poorly managed and promoted. How can a fighter so talented, be struggling to make money and gain recognition outside of hardened boxing fans ? Besides the managerial and promotional issues, he's just too damn good for the division, and nobody wants to take the risk against him. Whether they just accept they'd be beaten, or whether its because they would be taking a chance in a fight that may not generate any money i don't know. At the moment i'd say Frampton and Quigg are fighting for the number 2 spot, i'd give neither more than a punchers chance against Rigo. Lets hope that this is just a blip, and that the big fights can be made.
Well, if everyone was avoiding him, he could have moved up a division and become less dangerous. Lomachenko wants a piece of him, which is probably why they let him on the PPV.
The Chacal on this site isn't the same person as the Chacal on the other site. That spastic can't fit my shoes - Chacal (from chb)
Seeing as nobody here seems to know, Rigondeaux has inked a 4 year $10 million contract with RocNation that includes 3 fights in year one then 2 fights a year for the following 3 years. That's $10 million in 9 fights (meaning he is averaging over a million and considerably more than his career high payday per fight) and then rigo will presumably retire after that. The goal is obviously Rigo - Lomachenko and I expect that after this weekend we will see Lomachenko - Donaire headline a card in Cali and perhaps Rigo - Vargas or Rigo - Ceja (assuming he doesn't have a current tie to PBC due to Haymon having options on him) on the undercard to try and build the fight also using Donaire's name to get the Cali crown who love him onto the show and also using many ties to rigo - donaire to get the audience watching on HBO excited about the fight. Then we'll get Rigo - Lomachenko and after Rigo will do his own thing and Lomachenko will move up in weight win or lose for the likes of Gamboa, Walters and Siri. Book it.
Drian Francisco is considerably better than the guy ward was going for. The guy who KO'd Francisco is not "a journeyman" he is 24(18)-5-2 with most of his losses and draws being early in his career. Not a bad fighter. Francisco was a top contender a few years back so for a fight on a weeks notice it's not bad at all.
Oh, and here's the source for my figures. http://www.elnuevoherald.com/deportes/boxeo/article44891430.html
Along Denoy arguably beat Sonny Boy Jaro who, despite being one of the worst world champions in history, was still a world champion after he stopped Wonjongkam and he gave Igarishi a VERY close fight in his first defence. Or perhaps Rey Loreto who recently KTFO'd Joyi twice and beat several other top fighters like Porpramook. Not sure if you're familiar with Loreto but he's a very good fighter converse to his record. He kinda had one of those Darnell Boone careers, but his wins over Joyi were awesome to watch. I'd say it's between those two. Obviously I'm not claming Canoy or Francisco to be world level. But they are both top asian boxers, and Canoy has a solid resume for the continental level. Did you make the mistake of assuming I don't follow the asian scene?
Are you kidding me Rigo refusing an HBO offer in one of the biggest PPV of the year have some common sense.
And a SB.... And as we all know the lower weight fighters tend to get older quicker as far as boxing goes. He really shouldn't be wasting time.
Oi vei. Along Denoy? Really? Because he managed to have a close fight with SBJ? (whom you acknowledge was punching well above his grade in his brief fluky stint as world titlist...) Guess what, so did 14-14-3 Gerpaul Valero. So is Valero anything close to world class? ...as for Loreto, yes, I know exactly who Rey is. :roll: Joyi is a 32 year old former straw. Pretty safe to say he is past his sell-by, and has begun the post-half-life downward spiral after his torch-passing loss to Budler. The fact that Loreto caught him twice consecutively on this spiral doesn't suggest that Loreto is himself among the best @ light fly or close to it. Great champions get old and start losing to mediocre fighters. All too familiar a story. All due respect to Rey, he showed up and took care of business on both occasions and nobody can ever take away from him that he's 2-0 (2) over a respected former champ, but nobody who follows the lighter weights is going to say with a straight face they believe Joyi to still be what he once used to be. Yes, precisely, for continental (or hell, being generous, even the broader O&P which includes much non-Asian territory) level - which still leaves a sizable chasm to fall hopelessly short of world class, let alone being remotely worthy for a date with a top p4p operator in Rigondeaux. Denoy, Francisco, Canoy, Loreto, and Jaro are, to a man, solid, respectable game & gutsy journeymen - and yes, that is appropriate usage in every sense of the word. They're of a sort that can make for competitive match-ups at the domestic, greater regional, and even Oriental & Pacific level, with, yes, the potential to catch the odd world class name on a bad night or starting to sour on the vine and score an upset - but that isn't what is being discussed here. We are discussing Guillermo Rigondeaux - he isn't merely world class. He's a top h2h p4p boxer, period. For him any of those names represents a trawl of the absolute bottom of the ocean floor in terms of seeking out competition that can, well, provide him any competition. Now that isn't to say that Francisco managing to catch him on the chin would be a sign of the apocalypse, or that you could dredge up this post and say "LOOK! You claimed Francisco wasn't on his level!! :tong" and have anything to seriously gloat about. That isn't me hedging, either. That is the nature of Rigondeaux. He is, at his best, head and shoulders above everyone in a rather wide swath of the lower-weight range. He is also capable of fighting down to his opponents' level, which is exactly why seeing him in with someone like a Drian Francisco is so troubling. Not only is this a complete waste of his (and the fans') time when he could be taking on top world ranked super bantams instead, but in the event that Francisco does catch him snoozing at the wheel and score the upset it will be attributable more to Rigondeaux's habitual self-handicapping adjustments than Francisco's quality, and will lead to Rigondeaux being unfairly dismissed as having not been that good, and this is all very avoidable by simply not putting him in with low-caliber opponents. Throw him in with the best, and he rises to meet the occasion (see Donaire, or Ramos who never has been the same ever since). Put him in with lesser foes, however, and unless he destroys them in a hurry (see Casey or Looknongyangtoy) or settles into a comfortable enough rhythm to stymie them (see Marroquin or Agbeko) he will coast and get a bit disorganized and have scares (see Cordoba or Amagasa) - from which luck and good recovery can only spare him the ignominy of consequential defeat so many times. At his age he needs to be matched with the best so we can see him ply his skills (while they last) against the best and not risk him becoming a Nkosinathi Joyi on the resume of some random Loreto sort. Did you make the same mistake yourself the other way? :hey
You are talking like Rigo controls his destiny you know better promoters and tv are. Now he's with a caliber promoter let's see what comes up credit to him when his name was called with a short notice and he said yes, enjoy the moment.
