By: Ken Hissner
Two of the greatest amateur boxers in the history of amateur boxing will meet December 9th at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.
WBO World Super featherweight champion from the Ukraine Vasyl “High-Tech” Lomachenko, 9-1 (7), defends his title against the WBA & WBO Super World Bantamweight champion Cuban Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux, 17-0 (11). Both boxers are 2-time Olympic Gold Medalists.
The 37 year-old Rigondeaux was 463-12 in the amateurs winning Olympic Gold in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. The 29 year-old Lomachenko on the other hand was a reported 396-1 winning Gold in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Both are southpaws.
In Rigondeaux’s last fight in June of 2017 it appeared he knocked out Moises Flores. It would later be changed to a No Contest after review that he hit Flores “after the bell” ended the round.
Rigondeaux will be jumping two weight divisions to challenge for Lomachenko’s title. This could be a major factor in the outcome of the match. He’s also only fought once a year in 2015, 2016 and so far in 2017. Lomachenko has fought twice a year in 2015, 2016 and so far in 2017. He went from being the WBO World Featherweight champion to winning the Super featherweight title.
“I am promising to squash him,” said Lomachenko. “It is going to be a massacre,” said Rigondeaux.
This writer has challenged fellow Philadelphia writer/lawyer from Jamaica George Hanson to a “dinner bet” picking Lomachenko while he picked Rigondeaux.