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By Thomas Gerbasi - You could call them boxing’s odd couple. 23 year old Notre Dame grad Mike Lee and 30 year old Guillermo Rigondeaux, a defector from Cuba whose nearly 400 amateur fights have earned him a PhD in the School of Hard Knocks. But when the language is boxing, the two have no differences anymore. They’re brothers in the same fraternity, trying to discover and / or hone the secrets that will lead them to world championships.
Not surprisingly, it’s been Rigondeaux, already the interim WBA super bantamweight champion, helping to mentor the 4-0 Lee, a former Chicago Golden Gloves champion who returns to the ring in an ESPN-televised bout against Gilbert Gastelum on May 6th in Las Vegas.
“I spend a lot of time training with Guillermo, and I was actually in Ireland with them for a couple weeks training (before Rigondeaux’s one round stoppage of Willie Casey in March). He would always pull me to the side, and he’d have a translator with him, and we’ve gotten close. He’d watch me spar and watch me work out and he’d always teach me something new. And it’s cool because a guy like that has a wealth of knowledge and he would teach me new things that I would try out in the gym. Some would work for me and some wouldn’t, but I’m learning every single day, so I think a year or two years down the road, it’s gonna be really interesting to see where I’m at and how far I’ve developed.”
Trained by the world-renowned Ronnie Shields (who also mans Rigondeaux’s corner), Lee has been getting a crash course in the fight game in the Houston gym he now calls home. The enhanced level of media attention afforded Lee since he decided to leave his finance degree behind to pursue a boxing career is still there, but when the gym doors close, it’s time to work, and that’s something Lee has always been willing to do. [Click Here To Read More]
Not surprisingly, it’s been Rigondeaux, already the interim WBA super bantamweight champion, helping to mentor the 4-0 Lee, a former Chicago Golden Gloves champion who returns to the ring in an ESPN-televised bout against Gilbert Gastelum on May 6th in Las Vegas.
“I spend a lot of time training with Guillermo, and I was actually in Ireland with them for a couple weeks training (before Rigondeaux’s one round stoppage of Willie Casey in March). He would always pull me to the side, and he’d have a translator with him, and we’ve gotten close. He’d watch me spar and watch me work out and he’d always teach me something new. And it’s cool because a guy like that has a wealth of knowledge and he would teach me new things that I would try out in the gym. Some would work for me and some wouldn’t, but I’m learning every single day, so I think a year or two years down the road, it’s gonna be really interesting to see where I’m at and how far I’ve developed.”
Trained by the world-renowned Ronnie Shields (who also mans Rigondeaux’s corner), Lee has been getting a crash course in the fight game in the Houston gym he now calls home. The enhanced level of media attention afforded Lee since he decided to leave his finance degree behind to pursue a boxing career is still there, but when the gym doors close, it’s time to work, and that’s something Lee has always been willing to do. [Click Here To Read More]