LOMACHENKO: I WILL NOT BE SURPRISED IF RIGONDEAUX QUITS LIKE WALTERS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 08 Dec 2017
Vasyl Lomachenko says he wouldn?t be surprised if Guillermo Rigondeaux decides to quit the fight like what Nicholas Walters did. The Ukrainian southpaw boasted that he believes he can make the Cuban foe Rigondeaux surrender when they face each other in a much awaited superfeatherweight title fight on Saturday. The then undefeated Walters of Jamaica entangled with Lomachenko last year in Las Vegas, and stopped fighting after being severely beaten in seven rounds.
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Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) is trying to humiliate Rigondeaux the same way he did to Walters. ?I?m not gonna be surprised if he?s gonna quit,? Lomachenko said. But Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs, 1 NC) is more skillful than Walters (26-1-1, 21 KOs) or Jason Sosa (20-3-4, 15 KOs), another Lomachenko foe who quit the fight after he was battered for nine rounds last April 8 in Maryland.
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The 37-year-old Cuban super bantamweight champ has fought just three combined rounds in the past two years. Rigondeaux will challenge Lomachenko for the WBO super featherweight title in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Even though he thinks he can make Rigondeaux quit, the 29-year-old Lomachenko respects his talents. ?He?s very smart, he?s fast, he has ability and he has a lot of skills,? Lomachenko said. ?This is the reason this bout was made.?
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Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) is trying to humiliate Rigondeaux the same way he did to Walters. ?I?m not gonna be surprised if he?s gonna quit,? Lomachenko said. But Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs, 1 NC) is more skillful than Walters (26-1-1, 21 KOs) or Jason Sosa (20-3-4, 15 KOs), another Lomachenko foe who quit the fight after he was battered for nine rounds last April 8 in Maryland.
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Vasyl Lomachenko won a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships, successive gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and consecutive gold at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships. As of September 2017, Lomachenko is ranked as the world's second best boxer, pound for pound by ESPN, third by The Ring and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and fourth by BoxRec.
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The Ring named Lomachenko as their Prospect of the Year in 2013. CBS Sports and HBO Sports named him Boxer of the Year in 2016. He was the WBO featherweight titllist from 2014 to 2016, winning the title in only his third professional fight. He is currently the WBO super featherweight champion since 2016.
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Michael Conlan (4-0, 4KOs) will fight on the undercard of Lomachenko versus Rigondeaux. The 26-year-old former Olympian will clash with Argentinean Luis Fernando Molina (7-3-1, 0 KO) in a six rounder. But the former world amateur champion Conlan is also assessing the cateers of the two of the world boxing?s best fighters pound-for-pound. ?I think both Rigo and Lomachenko are unbelievable fighters,? said Conlan. ?I?ve looked up to them my whole amateur career and now obviously in my professional career."
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He sees the possibility of facing one of the two legendary amateurs and world champs. ?But one day soon I expect to be fighting one of them, so I wouldn?t feel star stuck about being on the bill or anything like that. I?m fighting on the bill with two of the greatest amateurs to ever live and potentially two Hall of Fame pros as well so it is exciting ? but I always have the end goal in mind as well, which is that one of them could be a future opponent.?
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When asked about the status of Manny Pacquiao's boxing career, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com that his fighter is having a hard time adjusting his full time job as a senator with his boxing career. "Pacquiao is obviously, again, a full-time senator and he wants to fight - but he wants to continue as a full-time senator and it's very difficult for him to find the time to train and spar," Arum said. A rematch with Jeff Horn slated for November was cancelled when the fighting senator withdrew.
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Horn will make his first defense of the WBO welterweight title he won from Pacquiao, on December 13 against British contender Jeff Corcoran. The winner of that match will be mandated to defend it against former undisputed junior welterweight titlist Terence Crawford, who also fights under Top Rank. And Pacquiao will face the winner of the three-fighter WBO title encounter. "I think we're going to work on him doing a fight in the spring and then to fight the winner of this Crawford, Horn-Corcoran situation, the WBO champion," said Arum.
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Adones Aguelo lost to WBO No. 4 lightweight contender Nihito Arakawa of Japan by a unanimous decision in a ren-round non-title fight Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Arakawa (31-6-1, 18 KOs), who weighed in at 137.75 lbs, convinced all the three judges with the scores of 97-93, 97-93, and 98-93 over the durable Aguelo (28-17-2, 19 KOs), who came in at 138 lbs. Arakawa, a shaven headed fighter, according to Fightnews.com, "took the initiative with his faster combinations, but whenever he mixed it up, Aguelo furiously retaliated with persistent body shots to the Japanese lefty, who had to return to his original outboxing strategy."
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Aguelo gave his all and performed above expectations, handing Arakawa a tough resistance especially in the later rounds of the fight held at the Korakuen Hall at the Japanese capital. Aguelo has now lost eight straight fights against fighters abroad. But he had a string of wins against Filipino fighters among them Rex Olisa, Rodel Wenceslao, Richard Betos (twice), Bonnie Makiling, and Bryan Samson. Except for Olisa who went the distance, Aguelo stopped all his other local opponents.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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