Earlier this month I caught up with trainer Ronnie Shields to get his take on his talented stable of fighters. Shields works with the likes of former champion Kermit Cintron, junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara, and undefeated super middleweight prospect Edwin Rodriguez, but it may be Guillermo Rigondeaux who stands alone as his most talented pupil.
A two-time Gold Medalist for Cuba and the current interim WBA junior featherweight champion of the world, Rigondeaux is eyeing a December 31st clash against the WBA?s full champion, Rico Ramos, a bout that looks to be headed to Anaheim, California. Rigondeaux defected from Cuba in early 2009 and has since compiled a 8-0 record with 6 knockouts but at 31 years of age he has little time to waste in his career.
Rigondeaux will be eyeing all the big names near his weight class next year and with bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire likely to be moving up in weight in his next bout, it?s only natural for the dangerous southpaw to size up the Fil-Am star as a possible adversary. Donaire is coming off of a disappointing unanimous decision over Argentina?s Omar Narvaez on October 22nd, a fight that came after ten months of inactivity.
