Fan-favourite former super-bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux is yet to walk away from the world of boxing and returned to action last night. Despite being 44-years-old, the slick Cuban technician scored an impressive first-round knockout.
A two-time Olympic and world champion, Rigondeaux turned professional back in 2009 and did so with a heap of expectation on his shoulders, expected to emulate his success as an amateur in the professional scene.
In just his ninth professional bout, ‘El Chacal’ claimed the WBA super-bantamweight title with a knockout win against Rico Ramos and would defend that title on two occasions before jumping into a unification clash with legendary Filipino Nonito Donaire.
In a career-best display, Rigondeaux became the unified WBA, WBO & The Ring champion with a unanimous-decision victory in New York and five further wins would follow for ‘Rigo’ until he jumped up in weight.
Rigondeaux moved up two weight divisions to take on pound-for-pound number one Vasyl Lomachenko in 2017 for the WBO super-featherweight title but found himself outclassed for the first time in his career and was halted in six rounds as he suffered a first career defeat.
Since then, he has dropped down three weight-classes to try his hand in the bantamweight division but fell short in a title challenge against John Riel Casimero and then lost a unanimous-decision to Vincent Astrolabio.
However, last year Rigondeaux bounced back with consecutive wins as a super-bantamweight before a 17-month spell of inactivity ensued.
Last night, the 122lb veteran returned to action and faced Dannis Aguero Arias (20-2), who was a late notice replacement of Ionut Baluta, and it took just one-round for Rigondeaux to dismantle the Dominican.
The 44-year-old former world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (23-3) ?? makes a successful comeback with a first-round KO over Dannis Aguero Arias (20-3) ?? and is the new WBC International Super Bantamweight titleholder in Miami, Florida ??. pic.twitter.com/hiCllpIOu8
— Permante (@PermantexG) November 13, 2024
That victory saw Rigondeaux claim the WBC international super-bantamweight title and he is likely to return to into the top 15 rankings as a result.
The ageing Santiago de Cuba phenomenon also laid down the gauntlet to pound-for-pound number one and current undisputed super-bantamweight champion, Naoya Inoue, in an ambitious call-out during his post-fight interview, as Inoue searches for an well-known opponent ahead of his return to fighting in the United States.
Boxing Social is now on WhatsApp! Join our channel by clicking here and getting all the latest boxing news direct to your phone.
