WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 KO’s) will have his next fight televised on HBO on either December 7th or December14th, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Rigondeaux recently beat Nonito Donaire by a 12 round unanimous decision, but instead of HBO choosing to televise Rigondeaux’s fights, they chose to televise the lower of the fight Donaire.
It didn’t make any sense, because it’s the opposite of what you would think should happen when two fighters battle it out. Bob Arum of Top Rank had said “Every time I mention him [Rigondeaux], they [HBO executives] throw up.”
It’s good that the HBO executives were able to make the wise decision to allow Rigondeaux to fight on the network, as it would have strange for Donaire’s fights to be televised on HBO but not Rigondeaux’s.
Donaire is fighting on HBO on November 9th against Vic Darchinyan in a fight that will be taking place at featherweight. Rigondeaux was open to giving Donaire a rematch, but Donaire and Top Rank didn’t opt to face him again.
It’s quite understandable that Donaire chose not to fight Rigondeaux again, because it was such a dominating performance by the Cuban last April that there’s little chance that Donaire would ever beat Rigondeaux. A rematch would likely be even worse for Donaire.
As for who Rigondeaux will be fighting, it’s not going to Chris Avalos, says Rafael. Arum told ESPN “He will definitely be fighting on HBO in December. We’re working on a good fight [for Rigondeux].’
One would hope that Rigondeaux won’t be facing a past his best fighter like Donaire is. Rigondeaux deserves to be fighting someone in their prime right, and he doesn’t need an easy mark for a confidence booster. Hopefully, Top Rank doesn’t trot out Roberto Marroquin again for Rigondeaux because that was another less than impressive opponent that Rigondeaux was fed last year.
Rigondeaux’s likely opponent will be from one of these names: Victor Terrazas, Johnathan Romero, Jeffrey Mathebula, Jesse Magdaleno, Fernando Montiel, Christian Mijares, Hugo Cazares, Nehomar Cermeno, Hozumi Hasegawa or Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. If it’s not one of those guys, then it’s going to be a soft touch.