By Chris Williams: WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) claims he’s not bigger than his opponent Guillermo ‘The Jackal’ Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs) even though he fights 2 divisions above him and looks considerably taller and heavier.
Rigondeaux fights in the super bantamweight division and stands 5’4” compared to Lomachenko’s 5’6”. Rigondeaux rehydrates to a little over 122 lbs. Lomachenlo appears to rehydrate close to 140 for his fights at super featherweight. We’re probably talking about 15 pounds difference between the heavier Lomachenko and the lighter Rigondeaux.
Size is important for the December 9 fight between Rigondeaux and Lomachenko, because the Cuban star is moving up 2 weight divisions to fight at 130.
“He’s not small, I’m not bigger than him — I think we are the same size. Maybe I’m a little bit (taller) — maybe a little bit, but I think we are the same size. We’ll see at (the) New York press conference,” said Lomachenko to RingTV.com in suggesting that he’s the same size as the shorter and lighter Rigondeaux.
I don’t know if Lomachenko actually believes he’s the same size as Rigondeaux. But I guess if Lomachenko repeats his claims of him being the same size as Rigondeaux, some of the casual boxing fans will believe him and give him credit if he wins the fight. Unfortunately, the boxing fans are going to see the size difference between the 2 fighters when they face each other inside the ring on December 9 on ESPN from Madison Square Garden in New York.
If ESPN weighs the 2 fighters before they step inside the ring, then the boxing fans will know conclusively if Lomachenko and Rigondeaux are the same size or not. Luckily for Lomachenko, ESPN might not weigh him and Rigondeaux on the day of the fight.
Lomachenko is going to need to keep repeating his line about him being the same size as Rigondeaux if he wants boxing fans to believe him. I don’t think that’s going to fly with knowledgeable boxing fans. Lomachenko is huge compared to Rigondeaux. All you must do is look at the two fighters’ recent fights to know that Lomachenko looks to be at least 10 to 15 pounds heavier. It would be like taking Lomachenko and tossing him into the ring with a light welterweight like Terence Crawford, and saying they’re both the same size. People would laugh at Lomachenko if he tried to say he was the same size as Crawford, because he’s clearly not. Rigondeaux is not the same size as Lomachenko. If he was the same size, he’s be fighting at super featherweight instead of super bantamweight. It’s too bad Lomachenko is trying to convince boxing fans that he and Rigondeaux are the same size. It suggests that he could be worried that he won’t receive credit from the boxing fans if he beats Rigondeaux.
Both fighters will need to weigh in on the day of the fight as part of a morning check weight to ensure that they don’t go beyond 138 pounds after rehydrating.
Rigondeaux has a 2 1/2” reach advantage over Lomachenko, as well as a speed and skill advantage. Both fighters have captured gold medal in the Olympics. In Lomachenko’s sake, he’s won 2 Olympic gold medals. Rigondeaux probably would have done the same or even won 3 gold medals if he hadn’t left Cuba to come to the U.S. Rigondeaux had the talent to keep winning gold medals in the Olympics if he had stayed in his native Cuba.
A loss for Rigondeaux to Lomachenko will result in him being stripped of his World Boxing Association super bantamweight title. The WBA has reportedly said that they’ll strip Rigondeaux if he gets beaten by Lomachenko, even though he’s moving up 2 divisions to take that fight at super featherweight for the WBO 130 lb. title. It’s not a big deal though. Rigondeaux has the kind of talent to where he can easily move back down and capture another belt at 122 no matter who he faces. There’s no one in the super bantamweight division that can hang with Rigondeaux right now. The WBA would inconvenience Rigondeaux by stripping him of his title, but they wouldn’t stunt his career.
Rigondeaux is too talented for him to be shutout by all the sanctioning bodies at 122. I think it would be the WBA’s loss if they strip Rigondeaux, because the fighter that replaces Rigondeaux will be perceived as a paper champion.
Lomachenko is bigger, but the southpaw Rigondeaux will be the faster guy of the two by far. Rigondeaux is also a vicious body puncher, and that’s an area of weakness for Lomachenko. In Lomachenko’s only loss of his career to Orlando Salido in 2014, he was attacked with body shots for 12 rounds, and he ended up losing the fight by a 12 round split decision.
Lomachenko gave up any chance he ever had to try and win the fight when he decided to hold Saido all night to keep him from throwing to the body. Lomachenko didn’t look ready to fight a guy with a body attack like Salido at the time. I don’t know if Lomachenko has improved since then in defending or taking body shots, because he’s not having to fight guys that throw to the body a lot.