Vasyl Lomachenko and
Guillermo Rigondeaux
Last night’s clash between Ukrainian world super-featherweight champion
Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux, the Cuban-born super-bantamweight
champion was a long awaited date of this year’s boxing calendar. Although it
was not contracted as a “catchweight” contest so as to narrow the disparities
in both men’s weights, it was eagerly anticipated by aficionados of the fight
game because they are two of the greatest amateur boxers in recent history.
Each man won two consecutive Olympic gold medals and each had well over 300
amateur contests with Lomachenko losing only once and Rigondeaux on twelve
occasions. So while ever mindful of the boxing maxim that a “Good big ‘un
always beats a good little ‘un”, many felt that the level of skill possessed by
the smaller man would diminish the significance of weight and make it an even
contest of sorts. However, what transpired was a stunningly one-sided contest
which ended with Rigondeaux quitting on his stool.
I thought
that many ‘neutral’ people would be for Guillermo Rigondeaux in the lead up to
his clash with Vasyl Lomachenko. What not to root for in a man who was punished
for attempting to defect from Castro’s Cuba only to make good his escape in a
subsequent effort and begin a professional career in the United States?
But in
America, he fell foul of his despotic promoter Bob Arum, and even though he
became a multiple champion, he was avoided by scared opponents who used the
innovative excuse that he was “too boring”. Getting on in age and acutely aware
of the need for a payday, Rigondeaux chased Lomachenko for a marketable fight
between two of the most talented figures in the history of amateur boxing who
as professionals are feared champions.
However,
instead of a catchweight contest, Lomachenko -guided by a shrewd and
unforgiving Arum- insisted that Rigondeaux jump two weight divisions and
recieve the lower end of the available purse monies: Rigondeaux is reputed to
have earned $400,000 to Lomachenko’s $1.5 million. To compound things, the WBA
announced that Rigondeaux would lose his title if he lost to Lomachenko even
though the fight was not scheduled for that weight.
As Virgil
Hunter, the trainer of Andre Ward, said, “it’s borderline criminal”.
This is why I
would have expected most to have been rooting for “Rigo”. While the odds
continued to be stacked against him, many felt that by fighting at his
efficient weight and utilising his slick skills, Rigondeaux might have had
enough to neutralise Lomchenko’s split-second changes in ‘angles’ with his own brand
of athletic agility and that his explosive one-hit power could be as effective
against a bigger opponent.
Yet, while
the disadvantages of weight, age, as well as Rigondeaux’s comparative lack of
bouts over the past few years must be factored in to explain his poor
showing, many onlookers are convinced
that Lomachenko’s unique brand of boxing skills which utilises a complex
geometry of foot movement and a high punch rate was the decisive factor in
Rigondeaux’s physical and psychological unravelling. He succeeded in forcing
Rigondeaux to quit much in the manner that Sugar Ray Leonard outboxed Roberto
Duran into saying the notorious words: “No Mas”. It is unlikely that any x-ray
slides or photographs purporting to corroborate Rigondeaux’s alleged hand
injury would displace this opinion.
Teddy
Brenner, a legendary matchmaker at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, once
said of the great Nigerian boxer Dick Tiger as he fought in his twilight years
having moved up to the light heavyweight division: “He always gives away
height, weight and reach, but he never gives away heart”.
I thought
that was going to be a fitting accolade to Rigondeaux’s challenge to
Lomachenko, but apart from the fact that Rigondeaux had a reach advantage over
his taller, heavier opponent, it appears that Lomachenko took away his heart.
© Adeyinka
Makinde (2017)
Adeyinka
Makinde is the author of DICK TIGER: The
Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal and
JERSEY BOY: The Life and Mob Slaying of Frankie DePaula
No comments:
Post a Comment