In truth Lomachenko Rigondeaux did not prove to be the ultra- technical back and forth chess match that many diehard boxing fans hoped it would be, but it did add weight to the argument that Vasyl Lomachenko 10 (8 KO’s)-1 (0 KO’s)-0 is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Coming into the fight Lomachenko was the favourite and many thought that the younger man’s speed and size would be able to overpower the smaller Rigondeaux 17 (11 KO’s)-1 (1 KO)-0, but very few people thought that the fight would be so one- sided.
Both Rigondeaux and Lomachenko base their game on controlling the overall pace and rhythm of a fight, but from the outset it seemed that Rigondeaux was slightly unprepared for the constant movement that Lomachenko brought. Apart from the opening round, in which both fighters were taking a good look at their counterpart, gathering data, Lomachenko won each round convincingly, feinting on the way in and landing flurries of not necessarily hard but nonetheless scoring shots.
Rigondeaux, who was moving up two weight divisions seemed very wary of throwing his trademark left hand from the outset, but when he injured the hand after the second round the writing seemed to be on the wall. From this point on Rigondeaux never looked his normal calm self, opting to clinch as Lomachenko switched angles using his foot movement attempting to work. This culminated in Rigondeaux being deducted a point in the 5th round. What happened after will leave for many an unsavoury taste in the mouth for such a high- profile fight. Between the 6th and 7th round Rigondeaux quit on his stool citing the hand injury.
Though the extent of the injury is not known, he is flying back to Cuba to get an x-ray, one must think that with an opportunity such as this Rigondeaux should have tried to stick it out for a few extra rounds, and try and make something happen. This all destroys the small amount of credibility that Rigondeaux has within the general public, and makes subsequent fights against top level names such as: Carl Frampton, and Leo Santa- Cruz even more unlikely than they already were.
As for Lomachenko though he says about Rigondeaux “this is not his weight, so it’s not a big win for me”, Lomachenko is now unequivocally the top fighter around 130 pounds but it isn’t clear what his next move will be. The super- featherweight division isn’t the deepest in the sport and I doubt that the top featherweights will be willing to step up and face Lomachenko looking at the nature of this win. I predict that Lomachenko will stay at this weight for 2018 and then perhaps look to moving up to lightweight in the early part of 2019. Lomachenko is not the biggest super- featherweight in the world but his stamina and skills should give him some success in the lightweight division if that is a challenge that appeals to him.
Regarding Rigondeaux this was a gamble that didn’t work out, no one can fault the man for the challenging himself, moving up two weight divisions and fighting one of the best in the sport. But perhaps if Rigondeaux went out on his shield and got stopped he would have got some of the respect from boxing fans that he always deserved, but the way the fight ended will mean that Rigondeaux and the fans once again will be at odds, and that really has been a sad consistency in his whole career.