By Miguel Rivera
Former two division world champion and current Golden Boy Promotions executive, Bernard Hopkins, believes size will matter when Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs) challenges WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs).
The contest takes place on December 9th from New York's Madison Square Garden. ESPN will televise the fight.
Rigondeaux, who holds the WBA super bantamweight world title, will move up by eight-pounds and two full weight divisions to challenge Lomachenko for his WBO title at 130-pounds.
The stats of the fight are unheard of, with two boxers who dominated the amateurs and also claimed gold at four Olympic games (two gold medals for each boxer).
Hopkins, who once moved up from 160 to 175 to dominate the competition for several years, believe Rigondeaux is very talented but just too small to defeat another talented fighter, who is just a lot bigger.
"Lomachenko will win and by knockout, in the late rounds," Hopkins told ESPN Deportes.
Former world champion Rosendo Alvarez, who competed in the lower weight divisions, agrees that size will matter - but overall he likes the constant activity of Lomachenko.
"I think it's going to be a very complicated fight, two similar styles, defensive and with good speed, but I'm going with Lomachenko... I think he will come out with better results, because he's more continuous with his attack. Rigondeaux starts off very slow, he doesn't throw a lot of punches, and Lomachenko is not going to give him a chance [to get going],"Alvarez said.
"He will be affected by the weight gain, he will not have the same power, the same punch... similar to what happened with Chocolatito. In that weight division, Rigondeaux will not have the same punch or speed in his legs to be able to escape the attacks of Lomachenko, who is adapted and accustomed to fighting in that weight division."
2023-10-19 22:18:37
