By Elisinio Castillo
WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux has returned fire, responding to a series of statements that were recently made by his current manager Gary Hyde. Rigondeaux was not the only party to respond, as his co-promoter, Caribe Promotions, also had something to say in response to Hyde's statements.
A few days ago, Rigondeaux (15-0, 10KO) made it known that his contract with Hyde was set expire in September and he also rejected Hyde's plan to have the Cuban boxer travel over to the UK to publicly challenge Scott Quigg. The Olympic two-time gold medal winner is looking forward to what he believes to be a new dawn in his career, but is not revealing any information regarding what changes are going to take place.
Hyde responded after reading his statements with a very long outline of their relationship from start to finish.
"Rigondeaux has turned down the offer to travel to the UK to call out Scott Quigg and Carl Frampton. He believes they should go to him because he is the number one guy at 122. This could be possible if he had a promoter who could pay the kind of money that Quigg and Frampton command," Hyde wrote.
"I signed Rigo in March 2007 for five years. After Rigo won the WBA interim title by beating Ricardo Córdoba, his promoter Top Rank and HBO told me they never wanted to see Rigo again. I brought him to Dublin Ireland to make his first defense against Willie Casey."
"The WBA regular champion was Akifumi Shimoda and he was scheduled to fight Rico Ramos. I stopped this fight because Rigo was Shimoda's mandatory as he was interim champion. The WBA instructed Shimoda to deal with Rigo's manager if they wanted the Shimoda-Ramos fight to happen. They gave Rigo $20,000 to step aside and we agreed on condition the we would fight the winner. Ramos won and Rigo KO'd Ramos to become WBA world champion. Rigo was all if a sudden more appealing to HBO and Top Rank. He defended against Teon Kennedy, dropping Kennedy 5 times."
"Some people from Miami who are renowned for stealing fighters then ripping them off claimed they were Rigo's team and they got Rigo to sign a three fight deal with a leading promoter. Rigo would have received a total of $450,000 for the three fights and the contract was for 18 months. The promoter could extend for a further 18 months if he wished with no bonus being paid to Rigo. These people gave Rigo $100,000 advance, telling him it was a signing bonus."
"I went to court in Miami and secured an injunction stopping this fight. Rigo asked me to allow him to fight Marroquin and I said I would if he sent me the contract which he signed for these Miami people. He did and I was disgusted when I realized how these people were exploiting Rigo. I got the promoter to terminate this contract then I negotiated a new contract with Top Rank which guaranteed him a minimum of $1.8 million for three fights in 18 months with no extension. Rigo fought Marroquin and the new contract kicked in."
"The first fight of the new contact was supposed to be in December 2012 but the opponent failed his medical and could not fight. Rigo was then scheduled to fight Donaire on April 13th 2013. Rigo received $750,000 and Caribe received 20% on top. Rigo then fought the second fight of the Top Rank contract against Joseph Agbeko and received $525,000 with Caribe receiving 20% on top. Rigo fought the 3rd fight of the contract against Kokietchem in Macao and received $525,000 with Caribe being paid 20% on top. The total paid to Rigo for the three fights was $1,800,000. Caribe received 20% on top."
"In July 2014, I negotiated a promotional deal for Rigo with Roc Nation where Rigo would earn $1.8 million in 12 months. Rigo refused to sign this deal. After a very frustrating impasse I wrote to Rigo and pointed out the provision in our contract which allows automatic extension of our contract if Rigo refuses to cooperate with his manager and refuses to sign contracts. Caribe were the main reason Rigo did not sign the Roc Nation contract and Roc Nation withdrew their offer stating they could not deal with Caribe's demands."
"In September 2014 I offered Rigo a fight in Japan and he said NO. However in November 2014 Rigo accepted the same fight in Japan when Caribe offered it to him. To me it doesn't matter who offers the fights or promotional deal once we fight."
"Rigo is being poached by a major promoter/agent/manager in the U.S. since January of 2013. This entity offered to buy me out in November of 2014. I declined the offer. Now Rigo thinks he can sit out the time remaining on my contract and go with this entity."
"It's is a great honor for me to manage who I believe is the best fighter in the world. Rigo is unified champion but this did not happen by fluke. It is plain to see that I have been instrumental in getting Top Rank and HBO interested in Rigo after the Cordoba fight. I also prevented him from being ripped off by these Miami people who signed him to the atrocious contract and secured $1,800,000 for the same three fights with no extensions. I secured a lucrative deal with Roc Nation which he refused to sign. I secured the Japan fight which he refused to sign."
"Allowing for time added on to the contract for refusing to cooperate with his manager, our contract is extended until at least January 30th, 2016 but if Rigo attempts to sit out the remaining time then the contract will be extended."
Rigondeaux has responded to the comments, claiming that several of the points provided by Hyde were inaccurate.
"I have always fully cooperated with Gary Hyde in boxing-related matters and will continue to do so until our management contract expires in September 2015. I have never said otherwise. I am very disappointed that Mr. Hyde, who is supposed to be representing my best interests, has chosen to publicly criticize me in the media through lies and false statements," said Rigondeaux in a statement to BoxingScene.com.
"These latest statements have made my desire to end my managerial relationship with Mr. Hyde even stronger. Although we have had a managerial relationship on paper, in reality Mr. Hyde has never really been my true manager. Most of my opponents are offered and selected by my promoters."
"Mr. Hyde has never played a role in any of my training, has never assisted or played any role in my pre-fight training camps, has never been involved in selection of my technical team members, never obtained sponsors for me or provided me with any career advice. Mr. Hyde lives in Ireland and I live in Florida. I only see him one or twice a year during my fights when he shows up to pick up his check and get a photo opportunity. I then have no contact with him until my next fight."
"If Mr. Hyde wishes to take me to court so be it. Unfortunately it will cost me time and a great deal of money. I just want to fight and am willing to take on any challenger ready to face me. But rather than help me find suitable opponents Mr. Hyde is wasting time publicly attacking me."
Promoter Boris Arencibia of Caribe Promotions, who works with Rigondeaux, said his company also has something to say on the matter.
"Caribe Promotions is troubled by the recent comments made by Gary Hyde towards his fighter. To the extent Mr. Hyde’s comments involved Caribe those comments are inaccurate and misrepresent the facts and history of events. The fact is that many other promotional companies and fighters’ representatives have refused to do business with Rigo because of his association with Gary Hyde. This includes representatives of some of the fighters who pose the most lucrative bout opportunities for Rigo."
"We do not know all of the reasons for this but can only guess that stunts like Mr. Hyde’s recent Facebook comments are one of the reasons why. It has been clear that while Mr. Hyde is involved those fight opportunities will never materialize for Rigo. Even so, Caribe continues to work hard to secure the best fight opportunities for Rigo and hopes that the fighter and his manager can find a way to continue to work productively until the end of their business relationship."
