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Guillermo Rigondeaux: A Champion In
and Out of the Ring...
CORK,
Ireland (March 25, 2011) –
WBA Interim Super Bantamweight champion
Guillermo ‘El Chacal’ Rigondeaux (8-0, 6 KOs), arguably the
greatest amateur boxer of all time, retained his world title last Saturday
night by beating previously undefeated hometown favorite and former European
champion, Willie ‘Big Bang” Casey (11-1, 7 KOs), in impressive
fashion at City West Convention Center in Dublin.
The
Guillermo-Casey title fight featured a pair of undefeated boxers headlining
a show promoted by Top Rank, Nowhere 2 Hyde Promotions and Dolphil
Promotions. Nowhere 2 Hyde Promotions is owned and operated by Gary Hyde,
who has managed Rigondeaux since he defected from Cuba in 2007.
‘Rigo’
entered the ring to roar of 4,200 fans loudly booing him, but the talented
foreigner calmly pranced around the ring during the pre-fight announcements,
and boldly made the executioner sign to the angry, partisan crowd.
At the sounding of the first bell, Casey headed straight at “Rigo,”
expecting him to retreat, but Guillermo took a half-step back and countered
with a furious combination. Casey instantly felt his opponent’s amazing
power and less than one minute later the rugged Irishman was stopped in his
tracks by Rigondeaux’ signature punch -- left cross to the liver.
The
writing was on the wall as Casey started running scared, attempting to
survive the onslaught. ‘Rigo’ is known as a great finisher and he went right
after his soon-to-be eighth pro victim, catching Casey with a perfectly
delivered uppercut that dropped Casey for the first time in his pro career.
The extremely confident ‘Rigo’ strolled over to the neutral corner with one
arm raised, signaling his impending victory. Casey rose and ran for cover
with ‘Rigo’ closing in to finish the show.
Rigondeaux’ all-out attack, particularly a devastating combination, sent
Willie flying across the ring, and down again. This time a dazed Casey rose
on very unsteady legs and as the action was about to resume, veteran referee
Stanley Christodoulou warned Willie that he would stop the fight if Casey
was floored again. “Rigo” immediately jumped all over an overwhelmed and
outclassed Casey, who stumbled forward and was going down but was saved
further embarrassment by the referee officially who halted the action at
2:38 of the opening round. ‘Rigo” had successfully silenced the crowd with
assassin-like results in his first Interim WBA title defense.
Much had
been written about both fighters leading up to the March 19th
showdown regarding their respective records professional and amateur, home
countries, families and much more. What hadn’t been reported written about
them, though, was the Cuban boxer’s many links to Ireland, as well as his
humanitarian nature. Hyde, who hails from Cork, had been instrumental in
bringing a number of Cuban fighters to Ireland, including Rigondeaux, to
start their professional boxing careers.
“Rigondeaux defending his world title in Ireland was like a dream come true
for me,” Hyde explained. “I managed Rigondeaux since 2007, when in Cuba he
signed a managerial contract with me, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the
great Cuban fighter managed to defect from Cuba to the United States in
order to begin his professional career.”
In
January of 2010, while preparing for his fifth pro fight versus Adolfo
Landeros, a devastating earthquake hit the Island of Haiti. ‘Rigo’ told Hyde
he wanted to donate the purse for that fight to Haitian relief efforts. Hyde
contacted Dr. Mick Molloy, a medical officer with the Boxing Union of
Ireland, who was at that time working in Boston at the Division of Disaster
Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, which is associated with
the Harvard Medical School network.
Dr.
Molloy engaged in a number of trips to Haiti as a member of the disaster
medical team from the International Centre for Disaster Resilience (ICDR),
operated by prominent members of the Disaster Medicine section at Harvard
Medical School, Dr Greg Ciottone and Dr Robert Macy.
Dr. Molloy spent more than a year in Boston specializing in disaster
Medicine and returned to Ireland to finish his training in emergency
medicine at Beaumont Hospital.
The
first time Dr. Molloy and ‘Rigo’ actually met, however, was during the
Rigondeaux-Casey fight week in Dublin and Dr. Molloy thanked him profusely
for his donation to the Boston Children’s Foundation (BCF) and International
Centre for Disaster Resilience (ICDR), which funded a six-member team for
its initial mission to Haiti in January of 2010.
In
addition to being a 2-time Olympic gold medalist, the 29-year-old Rigondeaux
also was a 7-time Cuban national champion who captured a pair of World
Championship titles, including his 2001triumph in Belfast, during an
incredible 243-4 amateur career.
“Rigo”
made his pro debut May 22, 2009, capturing the NABA super bantamweight title
in his third fight as a pro, and last November in only his seventh fight he
won a unanimous 12-round decision against Ricardo Cordoba (37-2-2) to become
the WBA Interim 122-pound division champion.
The
multi-talented southpaw, now fighting out of Miami, has been trained by
Ronnie Shields for his past three fights. Rigondeaux is The Ring’s #
6 rated super bantamweight.
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