CONFIRMED by Dan Rafael: Rigondeaux splits with Freddie Roach.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5066208 By Dan Rafael Junior featherweight Guillermo Rigondeaux, a two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist who defected last year and is one of boxing's top prospects, injured his back and withdrew Wednesday from his fight on Saturday night. Rigondeaux (5-0, 4 KOs) was scheduled to face experienced Reynaldo Lopez (30-7-3, 21 KOs) of Colombia at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., on the undercard of the Andre Berto-Carlos Quintana welterweight title bout. HBO, which is televising, was slated to air highlights of Rigondeaux's bout, which is unusual for a fighter with so little pro experience. However, Rigondeaux, citing a sore back after some rough sparring with a welterweight, pulled out, show promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. "He said he hurt his back. What can I tell you? He pulled out," DiBella said. However, Rigondeaux (5-0, 4 KOs) is also changing trainers, which may be part of the reason for his withdrawal, although his promoter, Luis DeCubas, said the injury was legitimate. There was a lot of hype surrounding Rigondeaux's pairing with trainer Freddie Roach last summer. After working out with Rigondeaux for the first time, Roach compared the feeling he got working with him to the way he felt when he first worked out with Manny Pacquiao, who went on to become the pound-for-pound king. But now Rigondeaux and Roach have split, DeCubas told ESPN.com. "His feeling is he's a two-time gold medal winner and he went all the way out there and felt there were too many fighters in the gym," DeCubas said of Roach's Wild Card gym in Hollywood, Calif. "Nobody was picking him up in the morning to run and he felt he should have been sparring with lighter guys, not 150-pounders. He wasn't getting enough attention from Freddie. He's very disappointed." Roach, however, was unhappy with Rigondeaux's conditioning and didn't want him to fight Saturday, according to a source close to the trainer. DeCubas said Rigondeaux is back in Miami, where he is based, looking for a trainer. Dan Rafael is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

Comments (20)

Any idiot can clearly see that Roach is too busy. Every video we see of Wild Card has it packed to the rafters. Rigondeaux is being moved fast and Cuban boxers are notorious for becoming lazy when they are outside of Cuba. He is better suited for someone that will pay him as much attention as he wants/needs. Someone needs to pay some attention to Eddie Mustafa Muhammad as a trainer. He's done a geat job with Dawson and other fighters. thats another great name. forgot about him. +1

16y ago

MI_Truth_

From what I read it seemed Rigondeaux wasn't happy he wasn't getting full attention from Roach. It seemed as though he came in with a little bit of a prima donna attitude, saying he was a gold medalist and such. Roach has a ton of prospects in that gym and sometimes you need to wait your turn, I guess Rigondeaux didn't want to wait. Roach also said he came in out of shape, so for me that says more about the fighter than the trainer. At this point dude can't wait

16y ago

Spit_Dialect

16y ago

Smart decision IMO. I think Roger Mayweather and the contacts that come with him will do Rigondeaux a world of good as they're more suited towards his particular style of fighting. Plus Roger will be able to dedicate more time and attention to him than Roach would. He may sound a little diva-ish but I think it's fair enough for a boxer who's considered to be one of the best amateurs ever and potentially only has 3 or 4 years to cash in on the pro's. I can see why he'd be a bit impatient.

16y ago

fireman_ek50

i think it's the right choise for him, Roger Mayweather is one of the best trainers out there. it might work for him there...but when rigondeaux and roach started the pads, it was flowing right away... u look at rigo and roger working the pads, and you could tell off the bat, they dont have chemistry... i know they prob just met and just started working the pads, but when the trainer wants you to keep your right foot out (from southpaw stance), and rigondeaux keeps putting it on the inside - because of his great counter punching abilities - that aint a good start lol... but they did just start out, and only time will tell if rigo and roger will start clicking

16y ago

fireman_ek50

This kid is a veteran, hes been around for ages. He isnt your typical 5-0 fighter, this kid is for real. hes had 400 amateur fights and TWO Olympics GOLD medals, not one. Hes 29, he needs and obviously wants attention. now with roger mayweather he can have that. I wouldnt be surprised if him and floyd are best buds after a while. Boxing is one langauge *actually, 475 amatuer fights - undefeated....most decorated amatuer ever *two olympic gold medals...(proven gold champs - ray leonard, oscar de la hoya, pernell whitaker, lennox lewis, wlad klitschko, alex povetkin, andre ward, joe frazier, george foreman, and of course cassius clay - muhammad ali all have 1 gold medal) Rigondeaux has got 2 lol Shit, every trainer in the business wanted to work with this man....he'll find somebody good...even though he won't need it for the early part of his career, thats just my opinion lol

16y ago

1Assassin

why are all these morons critisizing rigondeaux like he did something wrong? he says he doesnt get enough time with freddy and u say hes being a diva? the man is just trying to get work in, same thing goes for there being alot of ppl in the gym, its not about being a diva or making demands, anyone should leave a gym if he feels it is too crowded and he doesnt get enough attention. its not being a diva its just making sure u get what u need, hes a young pro thats the time when u need the most attention not when u are established. a young pro needs attention to get accustomed to the pro ranks, and considering his accomplishments as an amateur theres no reason he cant find a world class trainer thats willing to provide it. if freddy doesnt have the time he did the right thing leaving, same thing goes for there ebing lots of ppl in the gym.

16y ago

KnockOutPuncher

16y ago

joe_strong

Never implied that. It would have been preferable to say that Roach don't have time with him. That would been more acceptable as is than saying "No one pick him up to run". What is next in his demands? He is an experienced fighter and a very good one. I'm on the bandwagon. But I felt it is too early for him to be making demands. To me, that means a certain lack of motivation, one that might end his prime more quickly. I agree with you on it's too early to make demands...how come no one thinks roach may have been training him hard? Maybe he's slacking like solis or jorge Gonzalez...roach was unhappy with his conditioning...cubans do get lazy! Solis,Gonzalez,juan carlos gomez all have a history of slacking...khan & pacman don't slack off in training & I'm sure they can run on their own.

16y ago

JOMS

lol at the spy thing, but maybe its in reverse, the mayweathers are buying some intel.....he he

16y ago

dvb

i did think the spy thing,i dunno tbh. freddie has prob gotten too popular and cant be superhuman in training soo many people at the same time. maybe sounds like he didnt like being worked as hard as roach was workin him,and him being outa shape too,maybe hele not be pushed to work so hard under roger,but has more focus on him individually trained.

16y ago

BritishBoxing92

good luck then rigondeaux with the rest of your career then..

16y ago

Cubanborn87

First he betray his country then he do same thing with Freddie Roach. his country betrayed him

16y ago

JOMS

with those explanation, I could see that moving with roger is a good move for him...

16y ago

tesla_power

so a gold medal aint worth shit??? Never implied that. It would have been preferable to say that Roach don't have time with him. That would been more acceptable as is than saying "No one pick him up to run". What is next in his demands? He is an experienced fighter and a very good one. I'm on the bandwagon. But I felt it is too early for him to be making demands. To me, that means a certain lack of motivation, one that might end his prime more quickly.

16y ago

Frank_Martin

He is not your typical young prospect. He is actually old for a prospect and he needs attention cause he is running out of time.

16y ago

lee_majors

Rigondeaux defected from Cuba, got caught in Brazil, extradited back to Cuba and was told he wasn't going to fight ever again by the Cuban government. Escaped again, and made his way to the U.S. to pursue a professional boxing career. This man is supposedly 29yrs old according to documentation/his word, which in reality means that he could be a 30-something yr old man who has one shot at providing for his family in a country that is completely foreign to him. Sh-it is real. Rigondeaux doesn't have to time to play around with someone who doesn't view him as a top priority. With Roger Mayweather, he is placed within an environment where he'd potentially be able to learn from 3 to 4 different sources, all of which have just as much knowledge of boxing as does Roach. He'd be surrounded by counterpunchers and would be able to receive more individualized attention then he would at the wild card gym. This was a smart decision. It's not like he's going to have to 40/50 fight career, he'll have to get his title shot within the next yr so time is of the essence.

16y ago

SpecialOne

16y ago

GoogleMe

It's worth alot more then you think. I don't think the pro's is that much of a differnce, in the early fights. Of course when you go past 6 rounds, it starts to count. 2 gold medals, 400+ fights, he's an experienced guy, he needs all the attention he can get. I'd have loved for him to turn pro, around the age of 25, instead of 28. It seems a little too late to accomplish all he could. The fighters who turn pro too early, is in for a rough time. Plus if they turned pro later, we'd stop seeing 18230182903 crap fights before they actually got to the top and fight titles. Remember most good active amateurs have around and over 15 fights a year.

16y ago

GoogleMe

so a gold medal aint worth shit??? It's worth alot more then you think. I don't think the pro's is that much of a differnce, in the early fights. Of course when you go past 6 rounds, it starts to count. 2 gold medals, 400+ fights, he's an experienced guy, he needs all the attention he can get. I'd have loved for him to turn pro, around the age of 25, instead of 28. It seems a little too late to accomplish all he could. The fighters who turn pro too early, is in for a rough time.

16y ago