the veteran cuban boxer Guillermo Rigondeaux will return to the ring on February 24, 2023, during an evening of Warrior Boxing to be held at the Hialeah Park and Casino, Miami, according to specialized media reports.
The 42-year-old fighter will thus break a long period of inactivity that began in February of this year, after give way to Filipino Vincent Astrolabio in a fight based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to a note From the newspaper The New Herald in his web page.
Guillermo Rigondeaux will return to the ring on February 24 on a billboard of @WarriorsBoxProm of @RigoElChacal305 do your job next opportunity might be low @premierboxing in the 118lb. #CubanBoxing pic.twitter.com/b9KbrJCcHz
– BoxeoCubano (@boxeocubanocom) December 7, 2022
The boxer from Santiago returned to the gyms in April, after recovering from injuries caused by a domestic accident, when a pressure cooker exploded near his face and was able to compromise the vision of one of his eyes.
Although the name of the rival that Rigondeaux will face on his return to the ring has not been revealed, it was learned that the lawsuit is part of a billboard that “will feature several of the best prospects in Antillean boxing and should serve as a starting point for the next boxing season in the Capital of the Sun,” according to the Florida outlet.
The Cuban fixer, an exponent of a peculiar technique, based fundamentally on dodges and counterattacks, signed one of the most impressive records in amateur boxing, conceding only 12 defeats in 457 bouts.
In addition, he won two consecutive Olympic titles (Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004) in the bantamweight division, and was crowned seven times in a row (2000-2006) as the Island’s national champion, from the same category.
In the middle of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, he starred in a controversial attempt to abandon the Cuban delegation, for which he was sanctioned. Two years later he left Cuba to settle in the United States with the aim of continuing his professional career.
In his new stage, Rigondeaux was world champion in two categories and held the unified WBA, WBO and magazine super bantamweight titles. ring between 2013 and 2017, as well as the WBA (regular) bantamweight title from 2020 to 2021, the outlet specifies.
His career is going through an unhappy phase, because before the defeat against Astrolabio in Dubai he was defeated in a split vote by John Riel Casimero, also a Filipino, during a 12-round bout held in August 2021 in the city of Carson, USA.
Now the Cuban would be trying to return to the box for victories at 118 pounds, but most specialists agree that he has few options to return to starring in a division where younger boxers with proven talent currently reign.
