As good as gold
Olympic medalists battle for belt in historic bout
THE matchup between Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux Saturday night at the Garden Theater is such a hot ticket, it sold out soon after it was announced on social media.
No press tour or elaborate marketing campaign was needed. Word of mouth was good enough. It’s the first time two two-time Olympic gold medal winners will face each other in a professional fight. That and their reputations were good enough.
Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) will be defending his WBO junior lightweight championship against Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs), who captured world titles at super bantamweight. Both are southpaws. Lomachenko is 29, while Rigondeaux is 37. The bout will be televised on ESPN.
Also on the card, Newark native and former Olympian Shakur Stevenson (3-0, one KO) takes on Oscar Mendoza (4-2, two KOs), Irish Olympian Michael Conlan (4-0, 4 KOs) faces Luis Fernando Molina (73-1, 2 KOs) and Chris Diaz meets (21-0, 13 KOs) Bryant Cruz (18-2, 9 KOs) for the NABO Junior Lightweight belt.
Top Rank Boxing promoter Bob Arum has taken to calling Lomachenko the best boxer he has seen since Muhammad Ali.
“I can’t wait to see a historic fight that has never happened before with each corner having two gold medals,” Arum said. “This is an historic battle and it’s going to be one of many historic battles for Vasyl Lomachenko.”
Rigondeaux, a native of Cuba, is moving up two weight classes to face Lomachenko at 130 pounds. It’s a bold move against the talented Ukrainian.
“I went up to 130 because it was the only way I could get this fight made,” Rigondeaux said. “I would rather it have been at a lower weight, but I want to show the world that I can do it by moving up two weight classes. It’s going to be a great fight for the fans and it’s going to be a great historical fight that fans will forever look back on.”
Rigondeaux doesn’t feel he’s at a disadvantage moving up in weight.
“I feel stronger than ever,” he said. “Moving up has had no negative effect whatsoever on my speed and power.”
He will need both to handle Lomachenko, an artist in the ring who has become more impressive with each outing. He has scored six straight knockouts and forced his past three opponents to virtually quit in the ring.
“He’s a great boxer and he has a lot of qualities and he is also an Olympic champion multiple times so he’s got a lot of talent,” Rigondeaux said.
It’s a matchup of clashing styles. Rigondeaux will look to win on points, moving in and out, clutching when he needs to, and hoping to frustrate his opponent. Lomachenko is a technical wizard, using foot movement, angles and his fast fists to overwhelm his opponents.
“I’m going to walk through him like a tank and knock him out,” Lo- machenko said. “I am not promising to knock him out, but I am promising to squash him.”
Meanwhile, HBO is offering a triple-header of 130-pound fighters from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Orlando Salido (44-13-4, 31 KOs) of Mexico takes on fellow Mexican Miguel Roman (57-12, 44 KOs). Tevin Farmer (25-4-1, 5 KOs) of Philadelphia faces Kenichi Ogawa (22-1, 17 KOs) of Tokyo and Francisco Vargas (23-1-2, 17 KOs) of Mexico battles Stephen Smith (25-3, 15 KOs) of Liverpool, England. Salido and Vargas fought last summer to a majority draw that was voted the Fight of the Year, and could be headed toward a rematch.
“The winner here is going to be the public,” Salido said of his fight with Roman. “It’s going to be a battle. We come to fight on the inside and Orlando Salido will be the winner.”