Rigondeaux is on the slide

[dan_cov]

Slowly bit by bit they're tweaking his style to be more ''fan friendly'' I don't buy it he is changing his style as he is getting up there, he had 400+ amateur fights and I feel he is really on the decline.

The more I see him train and fight the more I feel he is declining. He is not the same fighter he was even 12 months back.

He looks a bit flat, he isn't using his legs as much and relying on upper body movement more, his speed is going, he is becoming easier to hit.

It pains me to say it he is my favourite fighter but its so obvious the guys rapidly declining.
You'd think he would have to fall a lot more before anyone has a remote chance of beating him but it can only take the most marginal of slips.

The guy I seen vs Amagasa, Idc about his size, that guy was merely a shell of what he was before.
Where the hell have his feints gone? Where is that footwork? Why is he becoming more and more upright?

He is starting to look more and more like a good yet pretty bog standard Lara.

[-MAKAVELLI-]

not a good scouting report if Loma is indeed his next opponent

[-PBP-]

I agree 100%. I haven't watched the Amagasa fight in months but that wasn't the guy that fought Donaire. Watch his amateur fights and look at the difference in speed, reflexes and the snap on his punches.

I read he smokes and is a drinker too so not taking care of your body will make matters worse. The inactivity can't be helping either.

Dare I say I think Lara has actually looked better lately.

[dan_cov]

not a good scouting report if Loma is indeed his next opponent

I think Loma may well beat him.
His youth, his speed ability to mix his speed up, angles, combination punching and workrate. Its a super tough fight for an ageing Rigo.

If anybody can do it its Lomachenko he has the style and tools.

[IronDanHamza]

I think it's more of a case of Donaire having the absolute perfect style for Rigondeaux and making him look better than he actually is.

Other than that fight Rigondeaux has never really impressed me.

[dan_cov]

I agree 100%. I haven't watched the Amagasa fight in months but that wasn't the guy that fought Donaire. Watch his amateur fights and look at the difference in speed, reflexes and the snap on his punches.

I read he smokes and is a drinker too so not taking care of your body will make matters worse. The inactivity can't be helping either.

Dare I say I think Lara has actually looked better lately.

I thought he looked good outside of getting clipped a few times but upon rewatching he looked the worst I've seen him. I felt he looked a bit flat in one of his more recent padwork videos too.

I definitely agree with all of that. There is a huge difference from the guy who fought Donaire though I always did feel Donaire had a style that would make Rigo look ridiculous. Look at the speed and precision on display against Donaire compared to him fighting Amagasa its glaringly obvious.

It'll still take something truly special to beat him but Lomachenko might just be that. Its making me want to see that fight even more now, I'm so intrigued.

[SalimShady1212]

I disagree, even though he was dropped vs Amagasa (2nd Kd was a push), he got pissed off and proceeded to beat the bit out of Amagasa till the guy had to retire with a broken face. Rigo hits extremely hard and Freddie Roach said he is the only guy he never managed to hit in training. Loma is very skilled but if he beats Rigo, it will be his size and not his skill. Barthelmy in an interview a couple of days ago said Rigo is the best boxer in the world and apparently beats Loma "easy". Not sure about that but I don't feel Rigo's in decline just yet.

[dan_cov]

Freddie Roach said those comments about 5 years back when Rigo was still young and more fresher.
If Loma is too win it will be a combination of skill and size. A lot think Rigo's style is all kinds of wrong for Lomachenko I feel it could well be the opposite especially a Rigo at an advanced age.
If he can't command Lomachenko's respect and control the range and tempo, he losses that fight.

I don't care who you are, how good you are, how much you look after yourself, 400 amateur fights are going to take their tole. He is 35, that is old, very old for a SBW who relies heavily on reflexes.

Its not just Amagasa's size or the knockdowns that bother me, I think Rigo looked quite poor by his standards. He looked a lot slower, his punches didn't seem to have the same snap (could put it somewhat down to Amagasa's size).

I don't like this more flat-footed, static look either.
What happened to all that side-to-side movement? I can not shake that performance or that training video I seen. The video was in prep for that Asian dude he two-pieced, you can't take anything from that fight it was so short.

Even in sparring he is seemingly getting hit more and more;

[-PBP-]

I think it's more of a case of Donaire having the absolute perfect style for Rigondeaux and making him look better than he actually is.

Other than that fight Rigondeaux has never really impressed me.

I agree with the style matchup but Mares, Santa Cruz, Frampton, Quigg, Kiko and everybody else in that division aren't turning down the opportunity to become unifed champ for no reason. They can play the money and boring style card all they want but fact of the matter is they don't feel they can beat him because he's good. Mares took the Moreno fight in a heartbeat who also has a difficult style and isn't a big money fighter.

[dan_cov]

Even in that sparring vid (assuming it is the correct round) he looks a lot sharper and that was only 12 months back & I still don't think he looked overly impressive there.