This is one of the most highly anticipated matchups amongst boxing purists, as two amateur legends and technical masters face off.

This is truly a fight between two of the top five pound-for-pound boxers in the world, and a convincing win by either could make a convincing case for being number one pound-for-pound.

## Guillermo Rigondeaux

Guillermo Rigondeaux belongs to that small but serially excellent class of Cuban amateurs, and many would already put in the top two or three Cuban legends such as Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon.

As an amateur, he won seven Cuban national championships, along with two world championships, and two Olympic gold medals. He amassed an amazing amateur record of 463-12, with his last loss being in 2003.

Guillermo’s highly decorated amateur was cut short however, as he faced the issue that many of Cuba’s most talented athletes face, and that is the decision to leave the country(to defect) in order to become professional and earn big money even if it means leaving their families behind in Cuba.

Rigondeaux attempted to defect from Cuba in 2007 but was caught by authorities, along with Olympic team mate Erislandy Lara, and both were banned from competed in the 2008 Olympic Games, of which Rigo was surely expected to take gold yet again. Both Rigo and Lara were able to successfully escape later in 2009 and began their professional careers.

As a professional, Rigondeaux has had a relatively slow paced career at only 17-0 with 11 KOs, but he has shown a level of dominance in the ring that few can match. His most notable win was against Nonito Donaire, in which he suffered the only knockdown of his career but still got up to win a unanimous decision in commanding fashion. Rigo draws many comparisons to Floyd Mayweather and justly so. His defensive skills and ability to stay calm are among the top that the sport has ever seen lately. Even when Nonito Donaire dropped Rigo with one of his signature left hooks(one of the best left hooks in boxing), his facial expression never changed, and he calmly got up and kept on boxing and winning.

Vasyl Lomachenko

At the age of 29, Ukrainian-born Vasyl Lomachenko is already one of the best athletes in the world when it comes to dominating their particular sport. Just like Rigondeaux, he has an extremely impressive amateur pedigree, also sporting two Olympic gold medals, two world championships and ending his amateur career with a phenomenal record of 396-1, with that sole loss being avenged twice.

With only 9 wins(7 KOs) and one loss as a professional, his career might seem short numerically, but what he has already accomplished is astounding. He landed a shot at a world title in only his second pro fight, and lost an extremely close split decision to one of the most rugged veterans in any weight class, Orlando Salido(who had over 50 fights and 18 years as a professional). Immediately following the loss, he got another title shot against the young and prodigal talent, Gary Russell Jr. What should have been an even match turned out to be a boxing clinic put on by Lomachenko, in spite of Russell having a definite hand speed advantage.

This theme has stayed the same throughout the rest of Lomachenko’s career as he has routinely shut out veterans who have 20-30 fights already. Vasyl first won the title in the 126 pound division, but quickly moved up to capture a title at 130 pounds, where he still fights now. His biggest professional win was another shut out of power-punching Jamaican Nicholas Walter.

Lately he has faced lower level competition which draws some criticism, but most likely this is due to the fact that it becomes very hard to negotiate matches when you are a young,prodigy who is already considered the number one talent in the world in the sport.

Prediction...

This is honestly one of the closest and most competitive matches that could be made right now, and I’m personally elated that it finally came together. The fight may not produce fireworks that will draw in mainstream fans, but for those who appreciate the technical craft of boxing, they will be in for a treat.

With that said, my prediction is a close but unanimous decision win for Lomachenko.

I’m a huge fan of both gentlemen and their unique styles, but Vasyl has the advantage in size, age, speed, youthful energy and higher output style of boxing. Loma is more like a hungry young lion who aggressively goes after his prey, while Rigo is an old, savvy lion that quietly and patiently waits for the prey to walk right by so he can have an easy target. In a truly technical sense, it’s hard to say who is actually better than the other, and I have a hard time imagining either boxer shutting the other one out on a basis of pure skill and technique.

Don’t expect a Gatti vs Ward style of slugfest, but anyone who as appreciation for the technical aspect of the sweet science should tune in, the fight will be airing live on ESPN. Assuming Lomachenko wins, it sets up other potential superfights against such people as Mikey Garcia, which has already been teased to fans early this year. Personally I would rather see Loma take on fellow 130lbs title holder Gervonta “Tank” Davis while Mikey Garcia could instead fight Terence Crawford before he(Crawford) moves up to 147 lbs forever.

Pics:
via worldboxingnews
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southpark via giphy

Sources:
http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Guillermo_Rigondeaux_Ortiz
http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Vasyl_Lomachenko
http://www.worldboxingnews.net/2017/09/29/news/lomachenko-v-rigondeaux-heads-to-boxnation-on-uk-tv
http://www.latimes.com/sports/boxing/la-sp-garcia-lomachenko-possible-showdown-20170803-htmlstory.html