Comments Thread For: Photos: Rigondeaux is Honored Before 10,000 in Florida

[kozone]

The myth that Miami is weak market for boxing will soon get exposed.

Not so long ago, a pretty popular fighter once hosted an event down here. PACKED HOUSE.

While not a Cuban, was/is a slick young fighter

@ Miccosukee Indian Gaming.... Miami:

Also don't forget ******** is pretty big in Miami too!!
And with nice beaches and beautiful women miami should be the next hot bed for boxing in the east coast

[CubanGuyNYC]

I grew up in hialeah and I can honestly say that Cubans do know who Rigo is! Cubans follow Olympic sports and Rigo winning two gold medals has made him an icon!! The guy has been considered the best in Cuba for quite some time now not to mention the local news in Miami talks about him especially when he defeated Donaire....so yea a lot of people do know who he is down here

One thing i can say about Miami is, that they (media) promote their stars. Rigo is known in Miami. Has a following by not only Cuban fans of boxing but by Boxing fans in Miami. Miami sticks together. They rep their city well.
I dont agree that Bob TopRank should promote a fight here in Miami right now. I think Rigo needs to fight more fights be tested more and show more. If he continues to dominate well he surely sell out any arena in Miami. Despite his AM career he still has only limited fights at professional. This concert was just that...a concert. It was not for Rigo. Just a perfect place to surprise Rigo in front of a crowd. He will fight in Miami again. And hopefully he will have won many more fights against big name fighters and Miami will get to rep another great Professional prize fight.

All very interesting insight. So it begs the question: why don't the promoters want to stage a card with Rigo and a few other Cubans in Miami? It just doesn't make sense to me.

[New England]

As a personal friend of casamayor I can say he had some pretty important wars and made some pretty good pay days but he was not the best Cuba had to offer he just was fortunate enough to defect!! Rigo on the other hand is probably the best thing the island has currently produced...
Now to your remark Arum never fully exploited Floyd either and they say Floyd is boring but boxing is in the eye of the beholder...what some see as boring others see as beautiful!!!
It's up to the promoter and the network to fully push a fighter into stardom while its simply the boxers job to box

if you're a friend of casamayor you know that he was never a draw in miami, and why promotors are cautious about promoting cuban fighters in miami.


i'd love for rigondeaux to become a star in miami to the point where it earned him some fights. so far, no good. he's only getting older, and the biggest win he could ahve possibly gotten did next to nothing for his career outside of hardcore boxing fans.


this dude just beat nonito donaire. if that doesn't put him over the edge, what does? don't expect a promotor to throw a ton of money into turning this guy into a star if there's virtually no chance to get his money back.

[New England]

All very interesting insight. So it begs the question: why don't the promoters want to stage a card with Rigo and a few other Cubans in Miami? It just doesn't make sense to me.

why don't they?

they're in it to make money, and they're f#cking amazing at it.

it's because cuban boxers do not draw flies.

[BendOver]

Public relations coup.

Willy Chirino is Cuban and a fan of the sport, he knows what is going on with GR, I had say it before and will repeat it now, if you bring Rigondeaux, Lara, Gamboa or any other Cuban to Miami the place will be packed, de Cubas did it with Casamayor back in 2004 and it was an event, the problem with the Cubans is not the followers it is however the promotion or the lack of it...

[kozone]

All very interesting insight. So it begs the question: why don't the promoters want to stage a card with Rigo and a few other Cubans in Miami? It just doesn't make sense to me.

We had fights with Cubans for instance I saw Rigo in the fountainbleau, Rances Batherlemy and yunier dortico in magic city casino, Luis Ortiz in the youth fair grounds and many other fights

[CubanGuyNYC]

Hialeah Park is indeed the spot to market Rigo in South Fla., at least a great starting point while it's still being intensely advertised down here, highway billboards etc.
Hansel y Raul another salsa group also packed the place the night before and those two have been 'apagao' for a minute. I didn't attend but had a few buddies and my mom-in-law calling me all excited cause they saw El Chacal. No doubt Rigo would do well.

Man, I would love to have been there to see Willie perform. The commercial they broadcast for the re-opening of the casino was hot, very Vegas-like. From the looks of it, the local people are amped for some local excitement.

Agreed. Casita was sort of holding down the fort on his own in Miami along with Diosbelis Hurtado. Casa made a good choice by fighting out of the west coast while with Goosen producing some of his bigger fights/paydays.

With Rigo it's a different ballgame. He has other promising Cuban talent to back him on under-cards and arguably a more gifted fighter than Casa. Caribe should take a risk and independently attempt to put together a massive card in Miami/Hialeah, even if Rigo can't get a solid opponent.

I remember when Casamayor defected. He was practically a lone warrior, giving some idea what Cuban boxers were capable of. I was proud of him. Joel was damn good, not quite as good as Rigo, but definitely a solid champion.

Caribe obviously cares about Guille's promotion. They're out there trying to drum up interest. I'm happy with their efforts. I don't know what the legal implications are, but you're right, Arencibia ought to take further initiative and line up a card in the Miami area with Rigo as the headliner.

[BendOver]

why don't they?

they're in it to make money, and they're f#cking amazing at it.

it's because cuban boxers do not draw flies.

You are wrong, every card with a Cuban fighter that I had been, full, we don't go to Vegas to watc the fights but you can be sure if you bring it here we will go, I used to live in NY and every week I'll go to the MSG to watch fights, Verderosa, Vilela, my good friend Medal, they all fought there and Cubans support them back in the 70-80's...

[CubanGuyNYC]

...this dude just beat nonito donaire. if that doesn't put him over the edge, what does?...

It's a difficult question to answer. The only suggestion I can offer is that Rigo must fight often and win several fights in exciting fashion. But, given his style and track record, that's not likely to happen.

We had fights with Cubans for instance I saw Rigo in the fountainbleau, Rances Batherlemy and yunier dortico in magic city casino, Luis Ortiz in the youth fair grounds and many other fights

Those were small events. I'm talking about bigger shows, the kind that are televised and draw several thousand at the gate.

[-PBP-]

I went to the Friday Night Fights event with Usmanee vs. Barthelemy at Magic City Casino. They had an 800 seat capacity and it filled up with mostly same day sales. That's with no promotion, no big name fighters, no major promoter or anything. Guys like Mickey Ward, Glen Johnson, Richard Hall, Gamboa and others were in the crowd. The crowd went crazy when Gamboa walked to his seat ringside.

Top Rank did Bradley/Provodnikov which only did 2,200 in an empty arena. They haven't released the gate figures for Geale/Barker but from what I've read and heard the arena was empty. Devon Alexander used to draw in St. Louis but can't draw flies anywhere else. Chad Dawson can't draw in the United States and has been forced to travel into other people's backyards over the past few years.

Point is, Rigondeaux isn't the only one with this problem. There are several fighters who can't draw **** and have still been given opportunity after opportunity despite failing on the big stage over and over again. And on top of that, boxing isn't selling in the U.S. PERIOD outside of New York and LA, with the occasional Vegas and Texas megafights.

If they can find room for Dawson, Alexander, Bradley, etc.; they can make an effort and take risks with Rigondeaux.