Guillermo Rigondeaux knocking sparring partners out cold!

Ramon Garbey, the decorated Cuban amateur who defected to the U.S. to fight professionally, is 38 and barely hanging on in boxing after a disappointing career. He knows now that it didn’t have to be that way. Garbey admitted to manager Luis De Cubas that he made a mistake by remaining in the Cuban community of Miami, where distractions can destroy a career. He regrets not following the lead of Joel Casamayor, who made his way west and ultimately became the most-accomplished Cuban fighter since Jose Napoles. Guillermo Rigondeaux was at the same crossroads recently –- loaded with talent, newly arrived from Cuba and seeking direction. De Cubas, well aware of the past, pointed westward. The left-handed junior featherweight with a gaudy amateur record and rare skills moved a few months ago to Los Angeles to work under Freddie Roach, one of top trainers in the world. Life isn’t a party for him, even in Hollywood, but that’s the way it should be. “It boils down to getting an opportunity for me to come here and train under Freddie Roach,” Rigondeaux said through an interpreter moments after a workout at Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club, where he’s preparing to face Brazilian veteran Giovanni Andrade on Sept. 18 in Miami. “Of course, everyone wants to stay in Miami because it’s like Cuba. I have to make sacrifices, though, and this is one of them. “With Freddie, I’m sure I’m going to be a world champion.” Rigondeaux is considered one of the best amateur fighters ever. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (2000 and 2004) and won many other prestigious titles. However, after a failed bid to defect in 2007, he was removed from the Cuban boxing program. Two years later, he successfully left the Communist nation and his family to pursue fame and fortune. He lives in a small apartment across the parking lot of Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club, maybe 50 meters from where he trains six days a week. He shares the place with a friend from Miami but essentially knows no one else. Rigondeaux said he goes out once in a while. For example, acquaintances he’s made in the gym have shown him around L.A. However, he insists that’s the exception. His life, he said, is “100 percent boxing.” “That’s part of the sacrifice,” he said. “I do my work at the gym, I go home and get rest. And then I do it again. I’m only focused on becoming a world champion. Of course, I miss things; I miss my family. This is what I have to do.” Rigondeaux (2-0) and Roach have clicked, according to both. And why not? The fighter is with the hottest trainer around and the trainer had a polished amateur –- with a reported amateur record of 463-12 –- fall into his lap. Wild Card is typically bustling, as it was Friday. However, many eyes were glued to Rigondeaux during sparring. He wastes little energy, moving his upper body side to side ever so slightly as he measures his opponent. And then, BAM! He unleashes a hard combination too quick to avoid. Moments later, he landed a six-punch combination you would’ve missed if you blinked, causing onlookers to gasp. He’s a trainer’s dream. “That guy is so f------ quick,” Roach said. “He’s like a James Toney who doesn’t talk. He measures you. You can see him setting things up, measuring distance. Then, whenever he wants to open up, he unloads. And in the gym, I figured out, he fights at about 40 percent. Still, nobody can touch him. “And when someone feels his power, they won’t come forward anymore. He doesn’t want to hurt anybody but he knocked one kid out last week. He hit him on the (head-gear) bar, right on the bar and everything. And he knocked him out cold. That was a straight left. “I asked him which hand he knocks most people out with. He said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’” Rigondeaux, 28, is so experienced that Roach said he learns things from the fighter, including things he believes he can employ when he works with fellow southpaw Manny Pacquiao for his fight against Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14. When Rigondeaux was told what Roach said, he smiled broadly, revealing bright gold teeth. And then he insisted it isn’t true. “The student doesn’t learn from the master,” he said, then started laughing. “We work together. He teaches me how to throw combinations like they do on the professional level. It’s not like the amateurs; it’s different. I’m learning a lot from him.” Clearly, the marriage has worked out well so far. Rigondeaux destroyed two young opponents meant to get his feet wet in the pros, stopping them in one and three rounds in scheduled four-round bouts. Against Andrade (69-11, 49 KOs), he’s jumping up to 10 rounds. Assuming he gets past the Brazilian, who is only 4-11 outside his country, he would like to move immediately into a title shot if it’s possible. At his age –- and with his ability –- neither De Cubas nor Roach feel there’s any reason to wait. Roach believes he can compete with anyone in or near his weight class right now. “I’d put him in with Rafael Marquez or Israel Vazquez,” Roach said. “He would beat them both today. He’s just a very good, very intelligent fighter. He had 475 amateur fights; that’s where it comes from.” Rigondeaux is eager to show the world he can do as a professional what he did as an amateur, particularly after he lost two years of boxing after his failed defection. He also knows that Cubans who came before him had similar goals but, falling victim to the lifestyle of Miami and life in a new country, they fell short. So here he is, in California, working with one of the best trainers in the world and focusing solely on his mission. He is extremely confident as he moves forward. “A lot of people were given the opportunity,” he said, “they just didn’t rise to the occasion. I don’t pay attention to what everyone else does. I’m going to do whatever I can to become a world champion. And, with the opportunity to work with Freddie, I’m sure it’s going to happen.” Really good article, i hope hes as good as they make him out to be :notworthy