Guillermo Rigondeaux WINS Again – Boxing News
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By Lou Eisen
On December 31, the very last day of 2014, Cuban great Guillermo Rigondeaux, 15-0, 10 KO’s once again showcased his truly remarkable pugilistic skill set to once again reaffirm that he is by far, the most talented technical boxer in the world today. Rigondeaux’s opponent was not a pushover by any means. Rather it was the highly rated blond haired Japanese slugger Hisashi Amagasa, 28-5-2, 19 KO’s who has some pretty heady names on his resume, including Ryol Li Lee.
Amagasa had held the OPBF (Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation) featherweight crown since 2013. This fight was supposed to have been nothing more than a simple tune-up for the defending WBO/WBA world super bantamweight titlist from Cuba, now living in Florida. The height differential between the two combatants was startling to say the least. That alone gave Amagasa a huge advantage, although whether or not he would use it to help his cause was entirely up to him.
The champion is very short, only standing 5’4” tall while the challenger stood precisely one half-inch over 5’10”, giving him a substantial edge in height of six and one half inches over Rigondeaux. Rigondeaux, who may just be the brainiest fighter in the game, along with his fellow Cuban star Erislandy Lara, had the perfect answer to nullify his Japanese foe’s edge in altitude. He fought from a crouch, making himself a much smaller target, thereby forcing Amagasa to try and come inside on him, which was Rigondeaux’s plan all along.
Amagasa also possessed a three and one half-inch reach advantage, which he negated by choosing to come inside on Rigondeaux. A fighter as tall and with the wingspan of Amagasa needs plenty of room in order to get the required leverage his shots need to do any damage to his ring rival. That means he needed to back up off of Rigondeaux, which he rarely accomplished. Why on earth Amagasa constantly took away his own natural advantages is anybody’s guess but he clearly fought the wrong fight to beat the much smaller champion.
Rigondeaux also showed his ring smarts in every round, switching up his attack consistently so as to never allow Amagasa to get very comfortable with any one ring style that Rigondeaux presented to him. Rigondeaux was able to throw his right jab through Amagasa’s high guard all night long while catching him time and time again with right hands that he threw around the challenger’s highly held hands. Rigondeaux smartly caught the challenger with looping overhand lefts in every round. Rigondeaux wisely switched his attack from the body to the head and back, while never allowing the overmatched challenger to successfully defend against any of his prodigious and lightning-quick combinations.
Rigondeaux is such a well rounded, and technically brilliant boxer that he can easily adapt to any style that is presented to him in the ring. He also has an uncanny ability to anticipate exactly what his opponent is about to do next. Mind you, it is important to remember that Rigondeaux does make the odd mistake occasionally in the squared circle over the course of a fight. He is, after all, human and not a robot, despite what some of his boosters might say. In round five, Rigondeaux badly wobbled Amagasa twice, with a left hook and a roundhouse right hand but the Japanese challenger remained on his feet while displaying true grit by fighting back with fierce determination. In round seven, Amagasa’s resilience paid off as he dropped Rigondeaux with a straight right hand flush on the chin.
Rigondeaux beat the count and Amagasa wobbled him again with some good flush shots and then pushed him to the canvas, which referee Rudy Ortega mistakenly called a knockdown. Whether or not the second knockdown was legal or not is open to debate but what is certain is that it totally changed the complexion of the fight by allowing Amagasa to gain considerable ground on the judge’s scorecards. Rigondeaux rallied in round eight to batter Amagasa with straight, accurate left hands flush on the chin and directly on Amagasa’s ghastly swollen left eye. Rigondeaux smartly used his educated feet and powerful jab to get inside Amagasa’s reach, thereby completely taking away the badly bruised and beaten challenger’s punching room and leverage.
In round nine, Rigondeaux started to up the ante by pounding on Amagasa with stinging right hands around his guard, complemented by powerful straight lefts right down the middle. One of Rigondeaux’s right hands broke the challenger’s jaw, swelling the left side of Amagasa’s face into a grotesque mask. Although some fans may not have realized it at the time, Rigondeaux was chopping Amagasa down to size while preparing to knock him out.
In round ten, Rigondeaux savagely attacked Amagasa’s spleen with vicious right hands to the body. He then began to go upstairs with the right hand as well with great success. Rigondeaux then faked a right hook to the head and threw a big left hand straight down the pike, which dropped Amagasa to the canvas with a loud, resounding thud while breaking his orbital bone. The challenger was exhausted and in desperate trouble as his left eye was rapidly swelling shut. If the bell had not rung, he would never have lasted the round.
Rigondeaux maddeningly took his time pot-shotting Amagasa in round 11 when one good flurry would have surely ended the fight. Referee Rudy Ortega smartly stopped the fight after round 11. Amagassa’s badly broken and misshapen jaw and horrifically shattered left orbital bone permanently removed any doubt about Rigondeaux’s supposed lack of power. It is not exaggeration to claim that as of this very moment in time, Rigondeaux is the best fighter in the world today. Anyone that foolishly disagrees with that assessment is more than welcome to get in the ring with him.
