WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, aka El Chacal, successfully defended his titles by shutting out Joseph Agbeko?
Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall?s Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Atlantic City, New Jersey, WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (13-0, 8 KOs), aka El Chacal (The Jackal), successfully defended his titles by shutting out Joseph Agbeko (29-5, 22 KOs) over 12 one-sided rounds by identical scores of 120-108.
Fighting out of the red corner in purple trunks with gold trim, Rigondeaux is the embodiment of boxing skill and savvy. His 300-plus amateur fights enabled him to learn every trick in the book. But among all those tricks, there?s not a dirty trick among them. El Chacal doesn?t need to stoop to conquer. He can conquer while standing tall.
Agbeko, fighting out of the blue corner in Ghanaian green, gold and red, was past his prime coming into this fight. But even in his prime, it?s hard to imagine King Kong would have been fast enough or clever enough to lay a paw, let alone a gloved fist, on the incredible Rigondeaux.
There?s no point in recounting the round by round action. It would be repetitive. But the rounds weren?t repetitive because of Rigondeaux. He increased his offensive output in this fight, perhaps in reply to his critics, and landed stinging punches from a southpaw stance all through the night. It was Agbeko who failed to make a fight of it. He tried initially, but then he gave up. He was, quite simply, in over his head.
Not everyone is thrilled by Rigondeaux?s jab, jab, jab, straight left, jab, jab, jab, throw a combination style. It?s methodical. It?s also the essence of control. He has mastered every punch known to man and can put them to good use, subtly shifting direction and velocity to befuddle opponents, as his schooling of Agbeko, like his schooling of Donaire, indicated. If he lacks a killer instinct, and I?m not sure that?s the case, it?s because he?d rather not get hit if he can avoid it.
That may be anathema to some, but it?s the Balm of Gilead to others.
His fighting is so contained, his expression so deadpan, that it?s hard to get a read on Rigondeaux. Is he a lion? Is he a pussycat? It?s impossible to know. No doubt Agbeko, if asked, would say The Jackal is a lion. And who knows what Nonito Donaire might say? But when Rigo speaks, in Spanish, as he did in the post-fight interview, the real Rigondeaux appeared and to no small effect.
?I come to do what I need to do,? he said, ?every time I try to improve, I throw more punches. But Agbeko was a tough rival, so it wasn?t as easy as expected. I?m improving every day and I?m showing it every fight. That?s what we?re doing.?
Rigondeaux?s defensiveness came as a surprise. But more surprises were to come when he was asked about Donaire.
?Nonito, poor man, he?s traumatized after the beating I gave him. If he wants another beating, tell him to come get it. I?ll give him another one.?
Neither fan-friendly nor telegenic, Rigondeaux, however gifted, may never be embraced by the establishment. He?s too outspoken. He?s too iconoclastic. He?s too much his own man.
It sounds like Rigo may be a lion after all.
