Beats, Boxing and Mayhem

The weights are in for Saturday night’s Pound 4 Pound showdown between WBO super featherweight titlist Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux. Both fighters were chiseled with the champion coming in at 129 pounds and the challenger at 128.25.

PREDICTION: I’ve gone back and forth on this fight since it was announced. Rigo’s sublime skills make him a hard night for any opponent, not to mention his underrated power and nimble footwork. However, this is the first fight where I feel there is a perfect storm that will lead to his first defeat.

Rigondeaux is 37 years old (allegedly), jumping two weight classes and has fought only three rounds in the last year. I would feel uneasy about those facts if he were fighting a lower Top 10 super featherweight, let alone going after the #1 guy at the weight in Lomachenko. Having fought and broken the will of bigger punchers in Nicholas Walters and Manuel Marriaga, I see Lomachenko being able to handle Rigo’s stinging shots and forcing a higher pace in the later rounds. Because Rigo sometimes squares up out of clinches, there’s an outside chance that Lomachenko could score a flash knockdown ala Donaire and Amagasa.

Expect a good start from Rigondeaux due to his counter punching with Lomachenko’s size and activity being the difference in the second half to earn a close but clear unanimous decision.