By Ian S Palmer
Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba returns to the ring when he meets fellow former world champion Liborio Solis of Venezuela in Allentown, Pennsylvania this Saturday, Feb. 8th. The 12-round bout for the vacant WBA Bantamweight Title will be broadcast in America on Showtime and on TSN 2 in Canada. Fans in the UK and Ireland can see it on BoxNation. Rigondeaux last fought in June when he stopped Julio Ceja in the eighth round. Solis’ last outing was a first round stoppage of Karluis Diaz in July. This bout was originally scheduled for last December 21st, but was postponed as Solis had visa problems.
Rigondeaux’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist who is now at the advanced age of 39 with a record of 19-1 with 13 Kos. He moved up a couple of weight classes to challenge Vasyl Lomachenko for the WBO Super Featherweight Title in December, 2017 but it was too much for him to handle and was stopped after six rounds for his lone career loss as a pro. The southpaw is a former world champion and still considered to be an elite boxer with good power.
It may seem his pro career has been wasted with just 20 contests but many opponents ducked him over the years and he’s also had promotional problems. He’s possesses excellent defensive skills which means he’s not the most exciting boxer around and he’ll be dropping down to the 118 lb bantamweight division for the first time in his pro career. He stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a reach of 68 inches and has fought 122 rounds since turning pro in 2009 .
Rigondeaux was a longtime Super Bantamweight Champion who’s biggest pro wins have been over Nonito Donaire, Hishashi Amagasa, Joseph Agbeko, Rico Ramos and Sod Kokietgym. He has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 62 per cent but isn’t considered to be a KO artist. Rigondeaux controls the ring in excellent fashion and is quite hard to hit but fans aren’t usually too thrilled to watch him fight since he’s often been accused of being over cautious.
Still, he’s managed to stop 13 of his 20 opponents and seven of the last 13. Rigondeaux was an excellent amateur who won Olympic gold in 2000 and 2004 as well as seven Cuban titles and a pair of amateur world championships. He’s in the twilight of his career now and this could be his last title shot before hanging up the gloves. It also looks like he’s definitely not going back up to 130 lbs as it seems to be out of his depth and may decide to fight anywhere from 118 to 126 lbs from now on.
Solis may be best known to most fans for his two fights with Jamie McDonnell for McDonnell’s WBA Bantamweight Crown. He lost the first by controversial unanimous decision in 2016 and the WBA then ordered the two to fight again. The rematch was called a non decision after three rounds when McDonnell suffered a bad cut from an accidental head cut and the bout was stopped. Solis is no spring chicken either as he’s 37 years old and owns a record of 30-5-1 with 14 Kos.
He’s not a power puncher either and possesses a knockout ratio of just 37.8 per cent. He turned pro back in 2000 and has boxed 231 rounds since. He’s listed as 5-feet-4-inches tall with a wingspan of 69.5 inches so he’s an inch shorter than Rigondeaux but has a 1.5-inch edge in reach. Solis has a solid chin as he’s never been stopped, but has dropped decisions to McDonnell, Shinsuke Yamanaka, Ricardo Nunez, Henry Maldonado and Yenifel Vicente with his draw being a four-round technical affair with Jose Sanchez in 2002.
Solis won the interim WBA Super Flyweight Title over Jose Salgado in 2011 and added the full belt in 2015 by beating Kohei Kono. He then took the IBF Title with a win over Daiki Kameda. Solis also has plenty of big-fight experience and has showed he can definitely be quite a handful due to his fine boxing skills, speed and ring generalship. Like Rigondeaux, he’s in the twilight of his career now though and this could possibly be his last shot at a world title.
Prediction…
Solis has proven to be a tough nut to crack, but Rigondeaux possesses some slick boxing skills with more power and a solid chin. This should be a pretty close contest but Rigondeaux should be able to pull out another win.
