 |
| Agbeko(right) clearly has the height advantage against Rigondeaux(left) |
Boxing fans around the globe have issued Rigo with the credit he deserves - even those that describe him as "boring" gave him his dues after this victory. Since a fight between Rigo and Donaire had first been mentioned I had stated my case for why Rigo would come out victorious and the fight went exactly the way I had envisioned, Rigo's class shone that night.
Sadly not everyone could afford Rigo such praise. His own promoter Bob Arum could hardly hide his disappointment that Donaire had lost, and lost badly. Arum could only slander Rigo's fighting style, stating he needed to fight in a more 'fan-friendly' style and that he would be hard to sell. Yet ironically had nothing but positives to say of Manny Pacquiao's one-sided win over Brandon Rios. So Bob, why aren't you telling Pacquiao he needs to be more exciting, considering very few would claim that Pacquiao-Rios was more entertaining than Rigondeaux-Donaire?
 |
| Break-down: Rigondeaux proved to be on another level vs Donaire |
As you can tell my opinion of Arum is very low, which is why I will move on and talk about the fighters, generally the most important people in this industry.
Rigondeaux 12-0(8) will defend his WBA and WBO Super Bantamweight titles against the teak-tough Ghanaian Joseph Agbeko 29-4(22). Not an easy assignment, despite the 33 year old Agbeko only fighting once in the past 24 months.
The exciting Agbeko who resides out of New York has mixed with the best at Bantamweight, previously facing, Wladimir Sidorenko (L MD 12), Vic Darchinyan (W UD 12), Yonnhy Perez (L UD 12 & W UD 12) and Abner Mares (L MD 12 & L UD 12). Not a bad resume, and he merited a victory in the first encounter with Mares when the eventual winner landed over a dozen low blows, including one that resulted in a knockdown when the blow was clearly way below the belt. Mares was fortunate to survive a disqualification or at the very least a couple point deductions that ultimately would have seen Agbeko as the victor.
Agbeko carries power in his sometimes wild shots, but hasn't scored a stoppage win since 2007, and moving up to Super Bantamweight will either bring the power back or diminish it further.
Either way the elusive Cuban will be hard to hit and the wild swings will be avoided and countered. Rigondeaux is not known as a powerful puncher but usually drops his opponents with the general speed of his punches, and that will likely be the case on Saturday.
I envision Agbeko hitting the canvas once or twice as Rigo picks him off throughout the contest. And while Agbeko will continue to push and throw punches, judges will be hard pressed to afford him more than a couple of rounds in another dominant performance from Guillermo Rigondeaux.
On a must-see undercard Glen Tapia 20-0(12) takes a step up in class when facing knockout artist James Kirkland 31-1(27).
 |
| Don't blink: Tapia(left) is explosive in the ring while Kirkland(right) is explosive both in and out of the ring |
The boxing bad boy from Texas has been out of the ring for 21 months after yet another stint behind bars. Kirkland is far from a polished boxer but considering he only has 1 defeat on his resume despite his beyond-the-ropes troubles. A first round defeat to Nobuhiro Ishida was likely a result of the time out of the ring following his second prison sentence, but a 6th round stoppage of Alfredo Angulo proved exactly how tough this 'Mandingo Warrior' is.
Still Tapia can punch himself, but is known more for his skills and ability to break down his opponents, having not displayed that power at the level Kirkland has fought at. Tapia will take confidence from the way in which Carlos Molina out boxed Kirkland last year before he was harshly disqualified in the 10th round after his corner entered the ring. Then again Tapia will be easier to draw into a slugfest than Molina, who is more of a spoiler while Tapia loves to entertain the crowd as well as entertain himself.
The feeling is that this fight may not go long, which will be an incredible shame, albeit the 6 rounds that Kirkland and Angulo shared was fight of the year material. If Tapia becomes involved early the pick will be for Kirkland to throw all he can, finishing Tapia inside 3 rounds. On the other hand if Tapia can survive the early onslaught he can become more involved as the fight goes along, as Kirkland slows down. This way Tapia can finish a tired Kirkland around the 6th session.
Also on the undercard Matthew Macklin 29-5(20) will take on Willie Nelson replacement Lamar Russ 14-0(7).
Macklin is in a must-win situation following the 3rd stoppage defeat of his career when counted out in the third round against Gennady Golovkin. While fellow defeats to Sergio Martinez (RTD 11) and Felix Sturm (SD 12), a controversial decision, are no embarrassment, the Birmingham man may be running out of chances.
 |
| Tough as it gets: Russ(right) has sparred with Golovkin(right) |
The reward for a win on Saturday could be a St Patricks day clash with Andy Lee, but Russ will be the one to receive the biggest reward if he can shock the odds. This will be a huge step up in class for Russ but it may be perfect timing against the 31 year old Macklin. It's also unlikely Russ will fear Macklin's power, having sparred with the ferocious Gennady Golovkin, and will be feeling very confident following his recent sparring wars with the Middleweight number 1.
Macklin's win over Joachim Alcine (KO 1) was impressive but the Canadian is a Light Middleweight and has lost 3 fights in a row since facing Macklin.
While the logical choice would be for Macklin to walk Russ down, who will try to keep the contest at range, I have the slightest feeling that Russ will come of age at Boardwalk Hall, outscoring Macklin in this 10 round bout.
No comments:
Post a Comment