Last time a top lb-4-lb fighter got schooled by someone with 11 pro fights.

Yeah, worse things have been tolerated, real crafty fighters use it often, not surprised it's a Cuban trademark. Donaire was clueless, he barely ever tried to turn with Rigo and follow up.

 

We'd be treated to another ten years of boring fights and running like last night. We recently did a poll of the best fights of the decade 2000-2009 down in the Classics section. Pacquiao is in 3 of the top 15 and Floyd doesn't make the top 40. Rigo's like that, loads of skill, but not really a crowd-pleaser.

 

No problem! It's downright insane how tough some of those old timers got matched up right out of the gate.

I rate LaBarba's win slightly higher because he was a teenage boy doing what an ATG Olympian grown man just did, but to phrase it like that sounds too diminishing to what Rigondeaux accomplished, and it really was one hell of a performance. The fact that we have to go back to great wins in boxing history to find parallels speaks for itself.

 

LaBarba is a great shout.

Jeffries beat Fitz in his 13th fight, but it owed less to schooling and more to steamrollering a guy 40lbs lighter.

Veeraphol beat Chuwatana in his 4th pro fight, but the latter obviously wasn't a p4p guy.

Benitez' p4p days were probably over when Davey Moore beat him in his 15th pro fight, and again it wasn't exactly what you'd call a schooling.

Whichever way you shake it, Rigo's win is an exceptional achievement. Like Rock0052 says, if we're all racking our brains trying to think of comparable wins that in itself speaks volumes. There have been quite a few recent fighters who have won world titles in around a dozen fights (Tszyu, Moore, Reid), but they generally found a beatable champion who was a natural step up at that point in their careers.