~ Guillermo RIGONDEAUX to fight on the Berto-Quintana card! ~

Reviews and thoughts on Rigo’s Friday debut:

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=19916&more=1
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=19919&more=1
http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/1061991.html
http://www.ringtv.com/blog/700/weekend_review_rigondeauxs_big_night/
http://queensberry-rules.com/2009/0...s-off-another-upset-erislandry-lara-step.html
http://www.boxingnews24.com/2009/05/rigondeaux-wins-his-pro-debut-by-tko/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090523/ap_on_sp_bo_st/box_rigondeaux_debut
http://www.boxingnews24.com/2009/05/rigondeaux-defeats-noriega/
http://blackathlete.net/artman2/publish/Boxing_19/A_Look_At_Last_Friday_s_Action.shtml
http://www.boxnews.com.ua/en/news/5...utduels-Gutierrez-Rigondeaux-Debuts-with-a-KO
http://www.secondsout.com/reports/fight-reports/smith-lara-and-rigondeaux-win-on-friday-night-fights
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4200787
http://www.maxboxing.com/Mulcahey/Mulcahey052209.asp
http://www.fightnews.com/?p=11967
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=4202444

 

Quality read:


Sometimes matchmaking is a crap shoot

By Michael Rosenthal


When the opening bell sounded for Guillermo Rigondeaux’s pro debut against Juan Noriega, it was immediately obvious that Noriega had no business being in the ring.

The raw fighter from Danville, Ark. -- with only five fights against other raw fighters to his credit -- was terrified and barely able to defend himself against the two-time Olympic champion from Cuba. Noriega landed two punches in two-plus rounds.

In short, the disparity in skill was so great that the fight should never have been made.

Should we be outraged? That might be a natural reaction to such a travesty. However, the bottom line is this: Matchmaking is an inexact risk-vs.-reward science, one in which even the best in the business get it wrong more than they’d like to admit.

It seems we’re stuck with the status quo.

“I go back watching fights more than 50 years,” said television broadcaster Jim Lampley. “That’s on television, though, high-level fights. I’ve only watched everything from soup to nuts, watching extreme undercard fights, for 23 years. I don’t think I’ve seen any significant evolution one way or another during that time.

“The first 12, 13 guys Mike Tyson fought were risking their lives. Nobody said anything about it. It was part of the routine. It’s been that way for a long time.”

The paramount goal of a matchmaker is not to overmatch the fighter of the person who signs his paycheck. The second goal is not to undermatch the fighter, which only cheats the fans and doesn’t help a young fighter develop.

The problem is finding a happy medium.

The Rigondeaux-Noriega fight was made by respected matchmaker Eric Bottjer, who wasn’t’ remotely defensive when the matchup was questioned.

Bottjer said Rigondeaux’s handlers were nervous going into the fight, which was on ESPN2 last Friday. The 122-pounder was the best amateur in the world but hadn’t fought in two years. They didn’t want to push Rigondeaux too hard but also didn’t want him to blow out a stiff in 20 seconds.

In the end, several prospective opponents turned down the opportunity. And one who accepted, Issac Hidalgo of Tucson, Ariz., later pulled out after his brother gained a firm understanding of whom Rigondeaux is.

“When I called these guys, I would tell them immediately that this guy is a very good fighter,” Bottjer said. “I’d tell them he was a world amateur champion, Olympic champion, what they were getting into so to speak. Then, when they express some interest, they google the guy and freak out.

“Hidalgo was pulled out by his brother. He probably did him a favor.”

Bottjer decided upon Noriega for one main reason: The young fighter had gone four full rounds with unbeaten Jose Guzman, the brother of two-time junior lightweight titleholder Joan Guzman. And that fight was at 130 pounds, meaning he was a relatively big, presumably strong guy.

Sound thinking, it would seem. Unfortunately, Noriega collapsed without providing resistance.

“You try to find a medium but it’s very hard,” Bottjer said. “I would’ve loved to have been a matchmaker 30 years ago, when there was no Fight Fax, no medical cards, no medical tests and 15,000 active fighters. Now there are less than 5,000 active fighters in the U.S. The commissions are tough to deal with. The states each have separate rules, separate medicals.

“And people who are opponents are getting smart. They realize we’re faced with a supply-and-demand problem –- little supply, big demand. They know they can pick and choose who they want to fight.”

Bottjer’s brethren in the business came to his defense.

Trainer Joe Goossen put it succinctly: “The guy was making his pro debut. You gotta find out where he is in his first fight. It’s a gimmie. Gimmies usually just aren’t on TV. I give him the benefit of the doubt in this case.”

Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions and Bruce Trampler of Top Rank are matchmakers who can empathize with Bodtjer.

Golden Boy and Top Rank were criticized when three young undercard fighters -– Juan Manuel Lopez, Victor Ortiz and Daniel Jacobs blew out their seemingly overmatched opponents in one, two and two rounds, respectively.

However, their opponents had a combined record of 69-6.

“Victor fought Jeffrey Resto,” Gomez said. “Resto was a top prospect at one time. He’d only been knocked out one time and that was a TKO. He got hurt and quit. I stand by that fight. On paper, it looked like a good fight. And nobody criticized it before hand.

“You just never know what’s going to happen. That’s boxing.”

Trampler also used Tyson as an example. He said some of his opponents were decent fighters -- until the opening bell rang.

“Some of them just froze,” he said. “You could see they were scared to death and got out as quickly as they could, maybe including Michael Spinks. I wouldn’t say a great fighter was scared stiff but he fought like he was. (Noriega) might’ve been scared. When a fighter stands in his corner and hears the announcer give a big buildup to his opponent, I’ve seen guys run out of the ring. I’ve seen come collapse.”

Then there’s this situation:

“You call around for an opponent and talk to a manager or a trainer,” Trampler said. “He says, “Rosenthal has been in the gym. He’ll take the fight.” You say, “Is he in shape?” The guys says, “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. He’ll be there.” Then you find out maybe he wasn’t in the gym so much; maybe he only trained a couple of days.

“And then you get a first-round knockout. What can you do?”

Well, one thing you can do is move on.

Bodtjer said Rigondeaux’s next opponent will be a step up from Noriega as the Cuban’s handlers hope to move him quickly toward the top. One possibility is Angel Priolo, who has lost his last six fights but is 30-7, with 20 knockouts.

And while Noriega probably isn’t destined to become a very good fighter, he’ll always have a good story to tell.

“He can go home and tell his children and one day his grandchildren that he fought a two-time Cuban gold medalist,” Lampley said. “And he’ll say that he fought the hell out of him and was brave as hell, that he gave it his best shot.”

Then at least it won’t have been a waste of time.