Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux: Fight prediction, preview odds, line, tale of the tape, pick
Saturday’s junior lightweight title bout between Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux is indeed historically unique since the first professional boxing match to feature fighters that have each won several Olympic gold medals, which putting it into proper context has never been simple.
In many ways, it’s a Super Bowl of the lower weight classes, including a rising star in Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs), who captured world titles in two weight divisions in only his seventh pro fight, along with the eldest Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs), among the greatest defensive geniuses in history.
You may just as easily call it a showdown for present pound-for-pound supremacy. Heck, Roy Jones Jr. went as far as saying it’s the best battle on newspaper that expert boxing has ever seen. However, for all its ravenous allure to hardcore fans within the very niche world of the sport science, it was difficult to imagine it would ever connect to a larger audience beyond that.
Though Lomachenko is getting near, neither fighter talks English full-time in interviews and both have styles which are heavier on technical wizardry (Rigondeaux has been regularly deemed dull ) compared to bone-crushing knockouts. But something happened along the way.
First, mythical promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank announced a Student agreement with ESPN earlier this year, which included Lomachenko’s August success over Miguel Marriaga, also secured prime property to the fight (9 p.m. ET) immediately after the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Second, the fight sold from the 5,500-seat Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York two weeks ahead of time. The end result was a continuous stream of crossover buzz to get a fight matching a fighter (Ukraine’s Lomachenko) who might already be the best in the game after only 10 expert spells against maybe the only person equipped to disarm him (Cuba’s Rigondeaux).
The occasionally gruff Arum, who turns 86 on Friday and enters the 30th event he has promoted at“The World’s Most Famous Arena“ during 50-plus years in boxing, had to admit he was pleasantly surprised by how the fight was received.
„I was gratified by the interest and the way this has caught on, but know that I’m involved with boxing, I love boxing, and that I felt constantly that this struggle is worthy of the attention that it, in fact, has obtained,“ Arum told CBS Sports with this week’s“In This Corner“ podcast. „Was I assured of that coming ? No. It’s something which is well merited. It is not a fluke that it is getting the attention that it’s getting due to those participants involved.
„It is historic. These are two of the greatest amateur fighters in boxing history and the fact they are going at each other is something really fantastic. I’m honored to market this fight.“
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