For boxing purists, it is the standout matchup of the year; the icing on the metaphorical cake which has been a splendid year for the sport in 2017. On December the 9th at the mecca of boxing at Madison Square Garden, two masters of their craft will collide when the first bell rings.
The undefeated super bantamweight kingpin Rigondeaux (17-0) will meet the 2-weight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1) in what promises to be a mouth-watering encounter between two of the most decorated amateur fighters who have ever lived. Both combatants have won two Olympic gold medals apiece and were thoroughly schooled during the formation of their careers which saw Lomachenko amass a record of 396-1 while Rigondeaux garnered a record of 463-12.
Lomachenko recently caught up with Boxing Ukraine, and shared his thoughts on the upcoming matchup and let us see what his mindset and tactics will be on fight night. “I will try to win colorfully and brightly. I will be boxing my own style.” Lomachenko stressed he will look to dictate the tempo and not let Rigondeaux who has been widely recognised as a defensive specialist, fight the fight on his terms. “I will be trying and working hard to simply squash him!”
Lomachenko did, however, voice concerns over his belief that he will not be paid his just dues if he does earn the victory on December 9th. “[Rigondeaux] is shorter and smaller than I am. No matter how I will lead this fight, I will not win anything in the eyes of the critics. In the eyes of the haters after the fight they will say, ‘Well, who cares if he won [he’s bigger]’. It has become increasingly common in the recent past for losses to be merely dismissed when a fighter has stepped up to fight somebody naturally bigger which was the case in recent matchups such as Kell Brook vs Gennady Golovkin and Amir Khan vs Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, to name a few.
The Ukrainian also briefly touched on his aspirations for his career and what he is intending to achieve before he hangs up his gloves: “[To get to number one] the fights I need to have are with Mikey Garcia, Jorge Linares and probably Miguel Berchelt,” he added. Lomachenko views his current main target as solidifying his position atop of the pack as the standout fighter in world boxing.