On 13th Novemeber 2010 Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux 6-0(5) takes what is unarguably the biggest step up of his fledgling professional career so far when he meets Panamanian Ricardo Cordoba 37-2-2(23) on the undercard of Pacquiao vs Magarito at Cowboys Stadium, Texas. The bout is to be contested for the Interim WBA Super Bantamweight crown which is made even more impressive considering this is only Rigondeaux’s seventh professional contest.
Rigondeaux turned professional late at the age of twenty-nine after a glittering amateur career, where he compiled a record rumoured to be around 400-12. His amateur career was topped by winning gold at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic games.
As a professional, Rigondeaux has been fast tracked, taking on a higher class of opponent than a normal prospect would be expected to face. However, nobody he has faced so far has been anywhere near the class of Cordoba.
Cordoba has challenged for world titles at bantam and super bantamweight and has previously held the Interim WBA Super Bantamweight title. Both of Cordoba’s defeats came against highly rated opposition in Poonsawat Krattindaengym and Bernard Dunne,
alongside two draws with Volodymyr Sydorenko in Germany.
Going in against such an experienced operater such as Cordoba, Rigondeaux will have to rely on all that his amateur days have shown him to help cover the gulf in experience between the 2 fighters. Guillermo can take solace in the fact that Cordoba has been beaten by boxers who cannot claim to have the same skill set and talent as himself.
I can see the fight starting cautiously with neither fighter wanting to give anything away to the other with Rigondeaux becoming the aggressor from round 4 onwards. Rigondeaux should then have the skills to break Cordoba down and stop him somewhere around the 9th.
