Guillermo Rigondeaux

Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz (born 30 September 1980) is a Cuban professional boxer.

Possessing one of the greatest amateur records of all time, Rigondeaux won consecutive gold medals in the bantamweight division at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics.

He is also a seven-time Cuban national champion at bantamweight (2000–2006), finishing his amateur career with a record of nearly 475 fights with 12 losses; the last of these losses occurring in 2003.

2000

2004

Rigondeaux finished his amateur career having 386 fights under his belt, with a record of 374 wins, 12 losses.

It was initially announced that Rigondeaux was to turn professional, joining fellow 2004 Cuban Olympians Odlanier Solis, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Yan Bartelemí, who defected earlier in 2007.

As with the other Cuban defectors, Rigondeaux signed a promotional deal with Ahmet Oener and ARENA Box-Promotion.

However, on 2 August, Rigondeaux and Lara were taken into police custody in Brazil, stating that they wanted to return home to Cuba.

However, Cuban leader Fidel Castro then stated that Rigondeaux and Lara could not box again for the Cuban team.

On 22 July 2007, Rigondeaux and teammate Erislandy Lara failed to appear for their scheduled bouts at the Pan American Games in Brazil.

After Rigondeaux's defection in 2009, he turned professional and remained undefeated for almost nine years.

Rigondeaux has been lauded by boxing trainer Freddie Roach as being "probably the greatest talent I've ever seen."

He is known for his exceptionally fast hand speed, punching power, counterpunching abilities, athleticism, reflexes, footwork and defensive elusiveness.

In February 2009, Rigondeaux defected again via Mexico City to Miami, and signed with Arena Box-Promotion.

On 23 February 2009, Rigondeaux was announced to have defected along with 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist Yudel Johnson, Yordanis Despaigne and Yuniel Dorticos.

He would train in the same gym as Yuriorkis Gamboa, Erislandy Lara and Odlanier Solis and would continue his career as a professional once he completed all the residency requirements.

He left behind his wife Farah Colina, a 7-year-old son and a 17-year-old stepson in Cuba.

He was also reportedly staying in the home of countryman and featherweight contender Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Rigondeaux won his professional debut on 22 May with a third-round technical knockout (TKO) over Juan Noriega in Miami.

Although he did not maintain a busy punch volume, Rigondeaux still landed hard shots.

Noriega barely countered Rigondeaux's punches and the referee found the opportunity to stop the fight after Rigondeaux connected with a solid right to the head.

On 17 July, he won his second pro fight against Robert Guillen by first round knockout.

Rigondeaux was not active but he hit Guillen with a great hard counterpunch to the body which left him rolling on the canvas in pain.

On 18 September, Rigondeaux beat Giovanni Andrade by third-round TKO to win the NABA super bantamweight title, dropping Andrade once in each of rounds two and three.

On 16 December 2009, Rigondeaux won a unanimous decision over Lante Addy in 8 rounds, dropping Addy once in round one.

On 5 February 2010, Rigondeaux scored a first-round knockout against Adolfo Landeros, dropping Landeros with a hard left uppercut to the body.

Rigondeaux then signed a three-year contract with Bob Arum's Top Rank in July 2010.

He is also co-promoted by Boris Arencibia's Caribe Promotions.

On 13 November 2010, Rigondeaux fought Ricardo Cordoba on the undercard of the WBC super welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito at the Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, in front of 41,734 people.

This was the biggest fight in Rigondeaux's career to date.

Rigondeaux knocked Cordoba down in the fourth round with a body shot, but was judged to be knocked down himself in the sixth, in what appeared to be a slip.

Despite appearing to win clearly, the fight was judged a split decision, with Rigondeaux the victor and becoming a world champion in his seventh bout, winning the interim WBA super bantamweight title.

On 19 March 2011, Rigondeaux fought Willie Casey at the City West Convention Centre, Dublin, Ireland.

This was Rigondeaux's first defense of his interim WBA title.

A sweeping left uppercut in the opening round caught Casey flush and sent him back on his rear causing his glove to touch the mat at 1 minute and 45 seconds.

He was up immediately and received a mandatory eight-count.

A combination ending with a left hook sent Casey falling across the ring and down at 2 minutes and 19 seconds.

He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the unified WBA (Super), WBO and Ring magazine super bantamweight titles between 2013 and 2017, and the WBA (Regular) bantamweight title from 2020 to 2021.

He has also challenged once for the WBO junior lightweight title in 2017.