By Chris Williams: Two-time Olympic gold medalist and current undefeated WBA World super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs) says he wants to fight WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs) at a catchweight. Rigondeaux saw how Lomachenko beat former WBA featherweight champion Nicholas Walters last Saturday night, and he was not impressed.
Rigondeaux doesn’t like the way that Walters quit after the 7th round. He thinks he should have stayed in there and found a way to win. Rigondeaux also takes issue with how Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum was pouring compliments over his head after the win.
Rigondeaux says that Arum had called him boring three years ago after he’d beaten Nonito Donaire by a 12 round unanimous. Rigondeaux didn’t get the compliments for beating Donaire that Lomachenko got for beating a quitter in Walters.
Here’s what Rigondeaux said on his Twitter about Lomachenko and Arum:
“I beat a Nonito that Show up2battle and Bob called me boring,” said Rigondeaux. “Vasyl Lomachenko beat a quitter [Nicholas Walters] and he is call a Matrix🖕🏿Want my invicto come get it. Who is more scared of the possible catchweight #RigoLoma? @BobArum @TooFred @vasyllomachenko @HBO you NEVER SAY THAT ABOUT ME WHEN I BEAT Nonito. Actually u never say da about Floyd Mayweather either. It is true that Vasyl Lomachenko and I are both champions. But between him and me, only one still invicto [undefeated] is me. I am ready 4 a catchweight. I will never get that fight 4 one reason and one reason only. Top Rank boxing knows I train hard every day with Pedro Diaz and I don’t quit. Apparently in #Boxing 2B a #Matrix you have 2B Caucasian. Don’t remember ANYONE calling Floyd, Ward, or even my friend Crawford a MATRIX. I have been in the losing end of some of my fights. But Max Kellerman is right, that doesn’t mean we should quit. Fight on, find a way!”
Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s much chance of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum having the 28-year-old Lomachenko come down in weight to fight Rigondeaux, 36, at a catchweight. I think that’s a fight will never ever happen. Rigondeaux doesn’t have the popularity in terms of a large fan base in the U.S right now for him to get a catchweight fight against Lomachenko.
Even if Rigondeaux moved up in weight eight pounds and agreed to fight Lomachenko at 130, I still don’t think he would get the fight. Rigondeaux would be giving away 14 pounds in weight if he took that fight, as he reportedly fights right at the 122lb limit for his fights at super bantamweight. Lomachenko says he rehydrated to 136lbs for his fight against Nicholas Walters last Saturday night. That’s a lot of weight that Lomachenko would have over Rigondeaux. 14 pounds might not seem like much of a weight difference if the two fighters were heavyweights, but in the lower weights, 14 pounds is a HUGE difference in weight.
I don’t think the fight would be a fair one, even if there was interest on Arum’s part in matching Lomachenko against Rigondeaux. Lomachenko is just too big for the Cuban fighter.
It would be an interesting fight for the boxing fans to see two former two-time Olympic gold medalists face each other in Lomachenko and Rigondeaux. Lomachenko captured gold medals for Ukraine in 2008 and 2012.
Rigondeaux won two Olympic gold medals for Cuba in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. Rigondeaux is eight years older than Lomachenko. However, Rigondeaux hasn’t started to show any signs of aging yet. He still has his cat-like reflexes working for him even as he approaches his 37th birthday. We’ll see if Lomachenko will age as well when he’s the same age. Given that Lomachenko could be moving up in weight to lightweight, he could find it tougher going.
Arum wants Lomachenko to fight Orlando Salido or WBO super featherweight champion Francisco Vargas next. Those would likely be bigger fights for Lomachenko than a match against the Cuban Rigondeaux. Salido and Vargas are Mexican fighters, and Arum might have an easier time promoting those fights than he would a match between Lomachenko and Rigondeaux.
Arum is also talking about having Lomachenko move up to lightweight after his next fight to challenge WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan potentially. If that fight comes off, then it’s doubtful that Lomachenko will come back down to super featherweight for any reason. Unless Rigondeaux wants to follow Lomachenko up to lightweight, it’s even less likely the two fighters will face each other.
Rigondeaux will probably need to be satisfied with him being a champion at 122. I think the odds of Arum agreeing to a fight between Rigondeaux and Lomachenko are about zero. Rigondeaux already beat one of Arum’s stars in Donaire, and his career hasn’t been the same ever since that fight. It would be a bad move for Arum if he let Rigondeaux get a shot at beating another one of his fighters in Lomachenko. The odds would be in Lomachenko’s favor in beating Rigondeaux, but you still couldn’t rule out a win for the Cuban fighter.
Assuming that Rigondeaux exposes Lomachenko worse than Orlando Salido did, then it would be tough for Arum to turn Lomachenko into a star. Arum could still go ahead and match Lomachenko against Manny Pacquiao in 2017 like he’s been talking about, but I don’t think the fight would do well on pay-per-view with the boxing fans. The fans would remember how Lomachenko lost to Rigondeaux.
It would sad news for Arum, because Lomachenko couldn’t carry the torch for Pacquiao as Top Rank’s next PPV star after the Filipino fighter retires from the sport. Top Rank doesn’t have a successor yet to Pacquiao in terms of a pay-per-view attraction. If Lomachenko or Terence Crawford can take Pacquiao’s scalp, there’s a chance that one of them can become Top Rank’s new PPV attraction, and continue to bring money in for the promotional company for the next 5 to 10 years. Rigondeaux is probably too risky for Lomachenko, because of his hand speed and defensive skills. I don’t think Arum will even consider the possibility of letting Rigondeaux have a second chance of beating another one of his stars in his Top Rank stable, even though Lomachenko would have a huge weight advantage over the Cuban fighter.