The Executive Committee of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) has made a decision many consider controversial and hasty: to strip Guillermo Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KO) of his super-bantamweight belt.<\/p>\n
WBO executives explained that the decision was made over the Santiago de Cuba boxer\u2019s long periods of inactivity. Rigondeaux, who won the belt in 2013 after defeating Nonito Donaira of the Philippines, has only stepped onto the ring three times to defend the title. The last of his bouts, boxing authorities stress, was more than nine months ago (on December 31).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won\u2019t announce when he\u2019ll hold another match. We don\u2019t know what the reasons are. There are 15 ranked fighters waiting for the opportunity. We can\u2019t deprive them of that just to protect Rigondeaux,\u201d said Francisco Valcarel, one of the executives who voted against the Cuban boxer.<\/p>\n
There is truth to this. The two-time Olympic medalist and his agency, Caribe Promotions, received a warning from the WBO Championship Committee several weeks ago, a warning that was very much like an ultimatum. In response, the work team of the undefeated Caribbean boxer explained that the reason was that none of the first choices, nor any of the leading boxers in other organizations, wanted to fight him. They argued that the WBO never offered to help in this regard or make the bout obligatory, a mechanism that is sometimes used to resolve such problems.<\/p>\n
According to ESPN columnist and editor Damian Lorenzo Delgado, the \u201cWBO didn\u2019t act with transparency. It\u2019s true Rigo has only fought three times in 31 months, but the WBO knows he is willing to fight anyone willing to challenge him. It\u2019s public knowledge that all boxers avoid him and the organization could have ordered a mandatory fight to deal with the problem. Other interests came into play there. The worst part of this story is that his future is looking bleaker and bleaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
The expert told OnCuba<\/strong> that \u201cthe longer he relies on his promoters, the less progress he\u2019s going to make. Caribe doesn\u2019t pack the punch needed for a champion of Rigondeaux\u2019s stature. Let\u2019s hope he\u2019ll be able to free himself from these fetters and approach people like Al Haymon, advisor to Eirslandy Lara, the Cuban boxer who\u2019s gotten the best fights.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the many obstacles the Cuban boxer has run into trying to find contenders, Rigondeaux has another h\u00e1ndicap to overcome: a bad relationship with his manager, Gary Hyde, a man capable of turning his back and abandoning one of the most talented boxers today, a predator and, to top things off, the number five in the best pound-for-pound on the planet (according to Ring Magazine, considered the boxing bible).<\/p>\n Many are the people currently responsible for this situation. Rigondeaux\u2019s representatives are exploring their options and plan on presenting the WBO with a suit. All the while, WBO authorities are analyzing their options in terms of contenders for the championship. Mexican Cesar Juarez, the current interim champion, and the Asian Nonito Donaire, are preparing for a possible match, whose winner will become the new 122-pound king.<\/p>\n The WBA has made no statements in this connection and continues to regard the Cuban as the champ in the category. Rigondeaux, \u201cEl Chacal\u201d<\/em>, was hard-hit by this blow to his career. Aware of this, he told journalist Jorge Ebro: \u201cIf it was hard finding contenders when I had the belt, it\u2019s going to be much worse now.\u201d This couldn\u2019t be truer. Difficult times are surely ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Executive Committee of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) has made a decision many consider controversial and hasty: to strip Guillermo Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KO) of his super-bantamweight belt. WBO executives explained that the decision was made over the Santiago de Cuba boxer\u2019s long periods of inactivity. Rigondeaux, who won the belt in 2013 after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3126,"featured_media":57510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13927],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[33771,8443],"class_list":["post-57509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boxing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n