Rigondeaux-Amagasa set for Dec. 31

[Fibroso]

Rigondeaux-Amagasa set for Dec. 31
By Dan Rafael ESPN

Unified junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux is headed to Asia for his second consecutive title defense when he takes on Hisashi Amagasa on Dec. 31 at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, Japan, manager Gary Hyde told ESPN.com.

Rigondeaux, who will be making his sixth title defense, made defense No. 5 in Macau, scoring a first-round knockout of Thailand's Sod Kokietgym.
The reason necessitating the overseas trips for Rigondeaux, a two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist, who defected and now lives in Miami, is because he is not in demand by the top American boxing networks, HBO and Showtime, due to his highly technical and defensive style.
After the fight with Kokietgym, Rigondeaux's contract with co-promoter Top Rank expired, and it declined to re-sign him.
Hyde is just pleased to get Rigondeaux a fight, one for which he will earn $500,000, regardless of where it is taking place.
"First and foremost I am pleased that Rigo will be back in action this year, and if it has to be in Asia again, so be it," Hyde told ESPN.com. "My one wish for 2015 is that the other 122-pound belt holders step up to the plate and challenge the only true champion of the division."
In his defining fight, Rigondeaux (14-0, 9 KOs), 34, a southpaw, unified two belts in April 2013 in New York, when he survived a 10th-round knockdown and won a unanimous decision against 2012 fighter of the year Nonito Donaire. The 29-year-old Amagasa (28-4-2, 19 KOs), who will be stepping up to face, by far, the most significant opponent of his career, is riding a 13-fight winning streak dating to 2010. He has not lost since dropping a decision to former world titleholder Ryol Li Lee, whom he beat in a 2013 rematch.
"The Japanese challenger Amagasa is very tall, just over 5-foot-10, but Rigo [who is 5-4½] is a universal fighter who can adapt to every opponent's style," Hyde said. "I have absolutely no worries about going to Asia again as Rigo travels very well. He will put on another sensational display to end a frustrating year."

[Fibroso]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdCFdQJd4QA
Guillermo Rigondeaux keeps title

Unified junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux survived a pair of stunning seventh-round knockdowns but retained his 122-pound belts when Hisashi Amagasa, the left side of his face badly swollen, retired on his stool after the 11th round on Wednesday at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, Japan.
The fight was just one of five world title bouts at two locations on Wednesday in Japan, where major New Year's Eve cards have become something of a tradition. There was a third card on Tuesday that included three more world title bouts.
Rigondeaux, a two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist who defected and now lives in Miami, was making his sixth title defense and seemed to be in command of the fight through the sixth round as he pumped his right jab and continually moved to the side to keep Amagasa away from him. But the 5-foot-10½ Amagasa, who owned a 6½-inch height advantage, was aggressive, put a lot of pressure on Rigondeaux and had his moments.
His biggest came in the seventh round, when he broke through and knocked Rigondeaux down twice.
With about 30 seconds left in the round, Rigondeaux was backing up when Amagasa caught him on the chin with a right hand. Rigondeaux went down, but he got up quickly and did not appear badly hurt. When the fight resumed, Amagasa, who was facing a top opponent for the first time, went right at him. He landed a right hand and a left during a flurry that sent Rigondeaux to the mat again, this time face-first. Again, Rigondeaux rose quickly and tried to convince referee Michael Ortega that he had slipped.
The 29-year-old Amagasa (28-5-2, 19 KOs), of Japan, a featherweight who dropped down in weight to challenge Rigondeaux, did not have a chance to get off another punch after the second knockdown because the round ended.
Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KOs), 34, quickly took control of the fight again in eighth round, and midway through the 10th round, he connected with a straight left hand that dropped Amagasa to his rear end in the center of the ring. By that time, Amagasa had swelling around his right eye and the left side of his face was also beginning to look disfigured from what appeared to be a possible broken jaw or cheek.
Rigondeaux dominated the 11th round as the swelling on Amagasa's face got even worse. After the round, Amagasa retired on his stool.
Rigondeaux was winning easily on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage: 107-99, 107-99 and 105-101.
Rigondeaux was fighting in Asia for the second consecutive time, having also defended his title in Macau, China, in July. That fight was the final one on his contract with promoter Top Rank, which declined to renew his deal because none of the American television networks were interested in putting on Rigondeaux's fights thanks to his cautious and technical style that generally led to boring fights. His performance against Amagasa, however, was much more entertaining than many of his past fights.
Rigondeaux, who survived a knockdown to unify two belts in a decision win against 2012 fighter of the year Nonito Donaire in April 2013, would like to further unify titles and has called out Leo Santa Cruz to no avail.
Gary Hyde, Rigondeaux's manager, said before Wednesday's fight that if Rigondeaux won, he already had an offer for his next fight to also be in Japan.
Takayama claims two strawweight belts
Also on the card, Japan's Katsunari Takayama knocked out countryman Go Odaira at 2 minutes, 24 seconds of the seventh round to win two vacant strawweight titles.
The 105-pound titles in boxing's smallest weight division became vacant when Mexico's Francisco Rodriguez Jr., who unified the belts by outpointing Takayama in a hellacious battle on Aug. 9 in what was selected as "http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/12091528/rodriguez-takayama-named-2014-fight-year"]the 2014 ESPN.com fight of the year, relinquished them because he could no longer make weight and decided to move up to a heavier division.
Takayama (28-7, 11 KOs), 31, who had his hometown crowd behind him, was fighting for the first time since the memorable loss to Rodriguez. He was not matched very tough against Odaira (11-4-3, 1 KO), a 30-year-old southpaw with limited experience.



In a notable undercard fight, former strawweight and junior flyweight titleholder Kazuto Ioka scored a one-punch knockout of Jean Piero Perez, 33, of Venezuela, in the fifth round of a flyweight bout.
Ioka landed a powerful straight right hand that dropped Perez (20-8-1, 14 KOs) hard. He got to his knees, but fell again, and referee Jun Kawakami counted him out at 2 minutes, 9 seconds.
Ioka (16-1, 9 KOs), 25, of Japan, was fighting for the second time since losing a split decision challenging flyweight titlist Amnat Ruenroeng in May. Perez lost his third fight in a row, all by knockout, and for the fourth time in his past five fights.

[Bonzo]

Rigo looks to be an average fighter when he runs out of gas for his bike.
He gets hit quite often and hard(he was not fighting one of the stars of the division) and seems very vulnerable to engage.
I hope for him he keeps a good reserve in that tank because he won't be fighting state side any time soon.

[Bonzo]

Boxing robot overcomes two knockdowns to systematically destroy mere Japanese human | January 1, 2015 |

http://www.boxing247.com/wp-content/uploads/guillermorigondeaux_postfight.jpg (http://www.boxing247.com/boxing-result/boxing-robot-overcomes-two-knockdowns-to-systematically-destroy-mere-japanese-human/37240)


Anyone who stayed awake through the encounter between boxing’s most avoided robot, Guillermo Rigondeaux, and mere human, Hisashi Amagasa, would have been delighted to see Rigondeaux get knocked down twice and visibly hurt in round 7.
The start of the fight was typical Rigondeaux, an incredible display of balance, poise and posturing that would be heralded by the Royal Ballet School, but had everyone else nodding off more then a room full of junkies. There’s only so much “sweet science” I could marvel at before my mind wondered and started thinking about why the Japanese decided to count up to 3 minutes instead of down, and why so many in the crowd were wearing respiratory face masks.


There were a few highlights where Amagasa was pummeled with straight lefts, enhanced by the excitable Japanese commentators, that do for a Rigondeaux fight the equivalent of a laugh track for the Big Bang Theory, but the action was far and few between. As per most Rigondeaux fights, the systematic boxing mixed with a lack of risk and emotions left it unexciting.
In round 7, Amagasa scored a knocked down with a straight right while Rigondeaux was circling around him, reminiscent of Rigondeaux’s knockdown from Donaire. Rigondeaux was visibly shaken and Amagasa punched and pushed him down again as Rigondeaux desperately tried to hold and tie Amagasa up. Unfortunately for Amagasa, the bell sounded for the end of the round, which gave Rigondeaux a chance to reboot and come back more viciously.
In round 10, Rigondeaux exacted revenge with a knockdown and a follow up beating that left Amagasa’s face so swollen that it resembled the exaggerations made in Japanese anime. The beating continued in round 11 and Amagasa’s corner decided the fruit sized swellings on his face didn’t look “berry” good and they’d be “coco-nuts” to let him enter round 12.
A “sub-lime” fighter having to fight in Japan, a day before New Years Eve is a sign of the times. The knockdowns proved that the robot is not invincible and that every system can be hacked. Even so, the other super-bantamweight champions will most likely avoid him and either way; clinical and easy wins over any one of them would further his negative reputation. I’d like to see Rigondeaux go up in weight and fight a top-notch powerhouse like Nicholas Walters, in the hopes that we can watch him prevail under “grape” duress while displaying human qualities and therefore garnering the empathy and admiration of the fans.

[Fibroso]

They gave him half a mill to steal his title in Japan and he beat the chit out of the Jap in his ground. He took just one good punch from a guy that was taller, younger and with a longer reach. Rigo is used to travel, he"s done it for free all his life, so for money it's much nicer. This fight was ten times better than Pac/Algerie. Some one in USA will change his mind on Guillermo since as you mention he's vulnerable and will try to beat him. The results will be the same, he'll win again.

[Bonzo]

Fibs as long as he can run he will win.
I give him that.

[rudee]

Shows me that once he stops running, his jaw runs outta gas.
Will not do well in the USA..
Will have a tough time getting fights here.

[Fibroso]

Santa Cruz said,
"I feel great about my upcoming fight with Ruiz. He is a strong fighter, undefeated in the past two years and the kind of opponent I want to fight," Santa Cruz said. "I want to put on a great show on Jan. 17 and show boxing fans that I am a strong fighter ready to go to the next level and take on the top, tough fighters in the division: [unified champion] Guillermo Rigondeaux, [titleholder] Scott Quigg, [titleholder] Carl Frampton and [former titleholder] Abner Mares."
Rigondeaux, who survived a knockdown to unify two belts in a decision win against 2012 fighter of the year Nonito Donaire in April 2013, would like to further unify titles and has called out Leo Santa Cruz to no avail.

Leo wont step up to fight him, using the same excuse as the rest of the latino fighters in the division. He'll beat all of them!!
At least, Japs are willing to do so. Tokio will be his home town for a while.