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Boxing fans needs to stop mythologizing their favorite boxers. Floyd does not walk around at 145, and Rigo does not walk around at 126, or "122" as many often state. He was asked how much he walks around at on twitter just a day ago, and he said "I used to walk around at 128." In other words, he's been planning a move up to 126 for awhile (saw him say so in an interview 7 or 8 months ago), and doesn't want to reveal his current weight, but he weighed 128 when he fought at 122, and now that he's been bulking up for 7 or 8 months, he probably walks around in the mid 130s now.
Which is great news. The biggest downside to this fight was going to be the size difference, but it sounds like the size difference won't be nearly as big as I feared. I predict Loma will weigh 141 in the ring, and Rigondeaux will weigh 135. A 6 pound difference is nowhere near the 15 pound difference I had worried about when people kept saying Rigo walks around at 122 and is really a 118 pounder (LOL). Thankfully Rigo was honest enough to clear that up. He definitely looks like he's 118 pounds, frame wise, but we have to remember muscle weighs more than fat, and Rigo is made almost purely of high-density, thin, high twitch muscle fiber, similar to Terence Crawford whose torso looks like a lightweight but he actually weighs 160 pounds in the ring.
Can't wait for this fight, especially after learning that. The size difference will not but a huge factor in this fight. It will be a factor, but it's not going to be the "he's three weight classes bigger!" factor that some predicted. The weight difference could be as low as 4 pounds, or as high as 10, I think that's the range, but 10 is obviously the high range. It will probably be around 6 pounds, and if Loma is the great white hype people say, then 6 pounds shouldn't be a problem for Rigo to overcome.
Can't wait! I'm a big fan of both. I wish Rigo had gotten a fair shake at 122, but everyone besides Loma ducked him, and Bob and HBO screwed him for some reason. No, not because he's black. They both love black boxers, just see how Ward is constantly gifted commentary jobs by both HBO and now Bob Arum with ESPN. But maybe because he's Cuban? I'd say it's because he comes from a communist country, but the elite in America seem to love communism too, so it's confusing. At least, they love cultural marxism. Maybe that's an important distinction though. I don't know. It's confusing. They definitely seem to screw over boxers from former Soviet nations, like Russia and Cuba, though, so maybe that's it. Of course Ukraine is also a former Soviet nation... then again, they completely screwed over Lomachenko in only his 2nd pro fight, so maybe that was part of the plan too. Maybe the plan is to handicap the record or progress of every former Soviet nation boxer in order to let the Western boxers always have an advantage in the rankings over them. Kovalev was screwed over to make room for Ward, Crawford, and (for now) GGG and Loma to pass him. Loma was screwed over in his 2nd pro fight which is the biggest reason, along with the Kovalev-Ward robberies/screwjobs, that have allowed Ward to be ranked above him now as well on ESPN and Ring.
GGG hasn't been screwed over yet but maybe that's on deck for next month?Comment
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If your standard for "good" opponent is a P4P elite opponent, then that's true, but it also means neither Mikey Garcia, nor Terence Crawford, have faced a single "legitimate good opponent" either, by your standards. Hell even GGG hasn't faced someone as good as Rigo, although Danny Jacobs is miles ahead of Adrien Broner, Victor Postol, Indongo, etc, and David Lemieux is also better than that level of guy.
It's sad that boxing is such a broken sport, NONE of these top guys have A+ level opponents besides Lomachenko (IF) this happens. GGG has some A, A-, or B+ guys, Jacobs, Lemieux, and Canelo coming up, Loma has some of those as well (Russell, Walters), and Mikey and Terence both have some B+ or B level opponents (Postol, Felix Diaz, Broner), but NONE have ever fought, or are scheduled to fight, an A+ level opponent besides Lomachenko if he fights Rigo, and maybe GGG if you rate Canelo that highly.
Considering all these guys are either close to 30 years old, or past 30 years old, it says a lot about the state of boxing that NONE of them have even fought one truly elite opponent. It is PRECISELY what is ruining the sport.Comment
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Like Ward lost to Kovalev? He's a damn good fighter and recognised as somewhere in just about everybodies top 10 p4p. Sure you might not think that he's worthy of the hype he gets in some quarters, but if you don't recognise he's a quality fighter then frankly I think you're a dumbass, though of course you're entitled to an opinion.Comment
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Steve Kim is somewhere fuming if this fight happensComment
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