by Chris Williams: Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) is taking unbeaten Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs) very seriously for their fight coming up in less than a month on December 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
There are a lot of boxing fans that are looking forward to the Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux fight, which will be televised on ESPN live on December 9. Having the fight shown on ESPN rather than one of the premium networks, means that more boxing fans will tune in potentially.
It’s still unclear whether the casual fans will show interest in seeing Lomachenko and Rigondeaux fight on ESPN, considering that neither of them are huge stars nationwide in the U.S. Lomachenko has a following in the New York area, as does Rigondeaux, but neither of them are followed the way guys like Saul Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are/were.
The 29-year-old Lomachenko will have a big age as well as size advantage over the 37-year-old Rigondeaux, who will be moving up 2 divisions to take the weight at 130 pounds. Its 8 pounds that Rigondeaux will need to move up in weight to take on Lomachenko. That’s a significant amount of weight.
It would be like asking Lomachenko to move up to light welterweight and take on the top fighters in the division. As good as he is, Lomachenko might be able to get away with it, but he would have a lot of grueling fights against the bigger and stronger fighters in that weight class. Lomachenko didn’t want to meet Rigondeaux halfway for a catch-weight between 122 and 130. It’s too bad. Lomachenko won’t get the credit that he craves if he beats Rigondeaux. The fans will say Lomachenko won due to the weight.
“I’ve wanted to make this fight a couple of years ago in another weight division when I was a [Featherweight]. We made it [now]. On December 9th it’ll be a great fight,” said Lomachenko to ESPN.com.
The biggest obstacle that has prevented Lomachenko and Rigondeaux facing each other in the past was the weight. Rigondeaux didn’t want to deal with Lomachenko’s weight advantage back when he was fighting at featherweight. Now that Lomachenko is fighting at super featherweight and Rigondeaux is getting older, it’s made the Cuban fighter more willing to give in. It’s too bad Rigondeaux didn’t fight Lomachenko when he was at 126, because that would have been a lot easier than it is now.
Lomachenko’s weight after he rehydrates has to be seen as a major concern for Rigondeaux, in view of the fact that his weight is normally close to the 122 pound level for his fights at super bantamweight. Lomachenko could wind up near 140 after he rehydrates, which would give him close to a 20 pound weight advantage over Rigondeaux by the time the two fighters step foot inside the ring on December 9. 20 lbs. is a lot of weight for any weight class, but when you’re talking about for the smaller weight classes, it’s a tremendous advantage.
“I will try and show my best boxing and my best skill, this fight will be [historic], this fight is important,” said Lomachenko. “Rigondeaux is a top guy and one of the top pound-for-pound. For me it’s a big challenge!”
Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux is a fight between 2 time Olympic gold medalists. The sport of boxing has never seen a fight between fighters with 2 Olympic gold medal victories before.
