Vasyl Lomachenko Scores Career-Defining Win Over Guillermo Rigondeaux After Rigondeaux Forfeits
Vasyl Lomachenko has solidified his case as not just the best closer in boxing, but the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world today.
In one of the most highly-anticipated boxing fights of the year, Lomachenko dominated Guillermo Rigondeaux, forcing the Cuban star to no longer fight after the sixth round of their ESPN headliner.
Lomachenko, who retained his WBO super featherweight title, has now forced four of his opponents to retire during a fight (Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and now Rigondeaux). With that in mind, the champion had an idea for a new nickname.
“Maybe I change my second name to NoMasChenko,” Lomachenko said in the post-fight interview.
Rigondeaux said he allegedly hurt his hand during the fight, but gave credit to Lomachenko. Rigondeaux, who is the WBA super bantamweight champion, said he will come back and return to fight.
“I lost, I lost but it was because of my hand. He is a very technical fighter. He’s normal though but he’s very quick and very technical and very explosive. It wasn’t about the weight. It was just the injury. I do give Lomachenko credit though, he’s an excellent boxer,” Rigondeaux said.
Below is the ending of the fight taken from Fightful’s live coverage of the fight:
Round 6: Lomachenko keeps throwing jabs until the two men clinch and Lomachenko shoves Rigondeaux out of the clinch. Lomachenko keeps landing the quick jab and is now starting to beat down Rigondeaux. Rigondeaux throws a flurry of punches out of frustration. Rigondeaux gets a point deducted after he kept holding Lomachenko’s right arm. The fight is now turning into a street fight with both men trying to take the action up close being extremely aggressive.
Fightful scored round 6 for Lomachenko 10-8
In between rounds, Rigondeaux indicates that his left hand is hurt and will no longer fight. Lomachenko retains the title.
Official result: Vasyl Lomachenko defeated Guillermo Rigondeaux via TKO, round 6, 3:00, to retain the WBO World Super Featherweight title
The champion’s speed was not only an effective offensive weapon, but a major factor as to why Rigondeaux never got into rhythm at any point in the fight. According to CompuBox, Rigondeaux landed no more than three punches in any round of the fight, connecting on less than 10 percent of his total punches.
Lomachenko now picks up his 10th pro career win, picking up notable wins against Walters, Roman Martinez and Gary Russell Jr. Lomachenko has now made his fourth successful defense, the most out of all the world champions in the division.
