One of the most celebrated amateurs of all time, Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux, decided in 2009 it was time to leave his homeland of Cuba and get paid for his undoubted talents.
Having had to abort his initial attempt in August 2007, Rigondeaux finally defected in February 2009. After undergoing a rigorous training programme that helped get him back into the best fighting shape of his life, he made his much anticipated debut in May 2009. Since then, he has run his record to an impressive 5-0 (4). The latest win took place at a recent edition of “Friday Night Fights” where he was matched with Adolfo Landeros.
Landeros had clearly seen better days but was expected to bestow Rigondeaux a few rounds. The 30 year old Mexican was known for his toughness sporting a 20-12-1(13) ledger going in but, he’d never fought anyone of Rigondeaux’s immense quality and was dually bowled out in just 28 seconds. Rigondeaux threw a combination that saw his beleaguered opponent looking to cover up prior to being thrown a picture-perfect left hook to the body which saw Landeros writhing around in agony for several minutes.
Going in to this fight, some had questioned Rigondeaux’s ability to fight on the front foot and go for the kill. Even his trainer, Freddy Roach, was unsure about Rigondeaux having to carry the fight and not look to play the role of counterpuncher. However, if this performance was anything to go by, he is most certainly the dynamic fighter that audiences want to see time and time again. He says of this and the win over Landeros, “I didn’t even get going but I have been working on fighting more aggressively and I showed Friday night how I can be as effective when attacking as defensively”.
Last September, Roach spoke about Rigondeaux’s forthcoming fight with Giovanni Andrade, where he waxed lyrical about his charge’s defensive skills adding that the Cuban would win a world title inside of 10 fights. It is something Rigondeaux firmly believes he can achieve, “I am a novice-pro but ready to fight for a world title that should answer your question. I am preserved and seldom hit because of my defensive skills so I will be champion into my late 30s”.
Interestingly, going into his last fight he weighed just 1lb over the Bantamweight limit, while a beefier Landeros was 6lbs heavier. Rigondeaux rationalises this, “I will fight in March this year for the 118lbs title and then I will move back up to 122lbs and then 126lbs. I will be a three weight champion in the next 18 months”. This is undeniably a hectic schedule but, the experience of regularly fighting every other day during competitions for sustained periods of time, should benefit him considerably.
Rigondeaux’s impressive skills were in evidence in the Amateurs for the best part of a decade when, in addition to several other titles, he twice won both the celebrated Olympic and World titles. When asked of which title he was most proud, he stated unequivocally, “Olympic Gold because it is the most prestigious and very competitive”. However, he was far more reticent when asked about his toughest opponent, “I fought many tough guys so I would not like to single one out in case I disappoint some of the others. There are a lot of very tough amateurs on the world circuit”. During his amateur tenure, several different records have been published for him but he claims his record was 247 fights with only 3 losses.
Since joining Roach in Los Angeles at the famed Wild Card gym, Rigondeaux has become somewhat of a gym rat and affirms, “In the pro game I have to train very hard and be very disciplined. I love training hard and sparring with experienced opponents”. When asked about sparring with those experienced opponents he added “Manny and Amir are very exciting fighters. I would love to spar both of them because I will gain a lot from them and they will from me but, we are in the same team so the competitiveness will be there but it’s not the same as actual combat”.
Rigondeaux is well practiced in two of boxing’s lost arts; bodypunching and slick defensive moves that only Floyd Mayweather Jnr, Ivan Calderon are capable of today. His hero Pernell Whitaker, who briefly worked with Rigondeaux when he first arrived in America, was also slick and brought a ton of old school tricks to every fight. The Boxing I.Q that these two possessed make the mind boggle.
Since going pro, there have been a few documented problems behind the scenes in relation to ascertaining the identity of Rigondeaux’s manager. Following arbitration late last year, it was revealed that Irish businessman Gary Hyde holds this position. Rigondeaux commented, “Gary was the first manager to sign me and looked after me when I had nothing in Cuba. When I left Cuba I met with some other people who took advantage of my situation but all the problems are behind me now and I have a good team around me”.
When talking about his early years and how it moulded him mentally and physically as a fighter he says “I used to pull large tanks of water for many miles to my family home from the village so I think that’s where I get my base strength. As for the boxing in Cuba, if you don’t get on the national team life is very difficult so when I joined boxing first, I found it very natural and spent most of my days practicing”. Rigondeaux’s self-discipline ensures that he trains religiously three times a day and whilst he is left with little time for other enjoyments, when he does have chance to relax, he enjoys Rega Bo music – both listening and dancing to it!
