Guillermo Rigondeaux height - How tall is Guillermo Rigondeaux?

Rigondeaux's next bout was scheduled to take place as a co-feature to the rematch between Tony Harrison and Jermell Charlo on 23 June 2019 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada. Rigondeaux's opponent was confirmed to be former WBC interim champion Julio Ceja (32-3, 28 KOs), with the fight being a WBC eliminator. The PBC card would air live on Fox and Fox Deportes.

As stated by the WBA, in the January 2018 rankings, Rigondeaux was removed as their 'Super' champion.

Rigondeaux returned to training on 25 July 2018. On 2 August, Rigondeaux and Roc Nation Sports came to a mutual agreement to terminate their contract. With a year left on the contract, Dino Duva told ESPN, "We weren't able to come up with anything significant for him, and he's in the later part of his career, so if he's a free agent, maybe he can go make a fight for himself. We're OK with that and we wish him the best." Roc Nation promoted Rigondeaux in four bouts.

On 20 November 2018, it was reported that Rigondeaux started training with Veteran trainer Ronnie Shields. Shields, a well known trainer who also trained Cuban boxer Erislandy Lara at the time, welcomed Rigondeaux to his training base in Houston, Texas.

After signing with powerful advisor Al Haymon, now fighting under the Premier Boxing Champions banner, it was announced on 29 November, Rigondeaux would make his ring return on either 22 December 2018 or 13 January 2019. It was reported that he would return to super bantamweight, but could see a move up to featherweight. Rigondeaux's co-manager Alex Bornote later confirmed he would fight on a date in January 2019.

The WBA ordered another purse bid to take place on 3 April 2017, at the Panama City headquarters, again with a minimum bid of $150,000. A deal was reached within a week on 31 March between both parties. The date being discussed was 17 June 2017, meaning it would be an undercard fight for Ward-Kovalev II on HBO PPV. Flores' promoter Tom Brown confirmed the terms were being agreed. It was reported that Rigondeaux would earn a purse of $120,000 whilst Flores would earn $25,000.

On 6 July 2017, the WBA ordered an immediate rematch to take place between Rigondeaux and Flores, within 150 days of the first fight, meaning it would likely take place around November 2017. Flores was given a 60-day medical suspension from the Nevada commission. The two sides had until 17 August or it would go to purse bids.

On 6 August, Arum stated that Vasyl Lomachenko would fight for a third time in 2017, likely on 9 or 23 December. When asked who the potential options where, Arum stated, ''Well, there's a few guys. (Guillermo) Rigondeaux if he answers Dino (Duva's) call. There's (Orlando) Salido, who's sniffing around and the third is (Miguel) Berchelt." Arum also mentioned lightweight contender Ray Beltrán, but said he would like to capture a world title at lightweight before a potential fight with Lomachenko. On 14 August, Arum spoke to LA Times and confirmed either Rigondeaux or Salido would be Lomachenko's next opponent. He stated if the bout with Rigondeaux was made, it would likely take place at the Madison Square Garden Theatre and a potential rematch with Salido would take place in Los Angeles. On 21 August, Arum stated both camps were closing in on finalising a deal for 9 December. On 15 September, the bout between Lomachenko and Rigondeaux was confirmed. The fight was confirmed to take place at 130 pounds. On 18 November, Carl Moretti of Top Rank revealed a re-hydration clause on the contract. Both fighters agreed to weigh in at 09:00 on the morning of the fight, where they would not be able to exceed 138 pounds. Any fighter over the limit would face a penalty of more than $10,000. On 28 November, the WBA announced that Rigondeaux would lose his title at super bantamweight if he lost to Lomachenko. WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. went on to say if Rigondeaux defeats Lomachenko, he would have five days to decide whether he is to return to the division or stay at super featherweight. He stated that special permission was granted because the bout was 'an important fight for boxing'. Upon receiving the news, Rigondeaux took to Twitter and stated he was disappointed. On fight night, Lomachenko weighed 137.4 pounds and Rigondeaux weighed 130 pounds.

Rigondeaux was scheduled to fight Liverpool's James 'Jazza' Dickens (22-1, 7 KOs) on 12 March 2016, at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, England, on the under-card of Terry Flanagan vs. Derry Matthews. This would be the UK debut for Rigondeaux, who was training in Russia. It was announced on the fight night that the fight was off and Rigondeaux had returned to the United States due to failing to obtain a UK visa. Dickens still fought on the undercard defeating Reynaldo Cajina.

On 14 May 2016, Rigondeaux was re-instated as the WBA (Super) super bantamweight champion due to Carl Frampton being stripped of the belt for failing to negotiate his first defence. Rigondeaux would most likely defend the title against Jazza Dickens or WBA bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell. WBA ordered Rigondeaux to face interim titleholder Moises Flores (24-0, 17 KOs) by 1 August, in a mandatory defence.

On 20 July 2016, in their continued desire to reduce the number of champions, the WBA ordered Rigondeaux to make a mandatory defence of his title against their interim titleholder, 29-year-old Mexican boxer Moises Flores (25-0, 17 KO). On 7 December, the WBA announced a purse bid would be held on 19 December at the WBA headquarters in Panama City, with a minimum bid of $150,000 with Rigondeaux receiving the bigger split of 75% and 25% going to Flores. A deal was reached before the scheduled purse bids. Flores said he would be dedicating this fight to Alejandro Gonzalez, a boxer who was killed in Mexico in December. The fight would likely take place on the Roc Nation Sports card on 25 February 2017, live on HBO ppv, a co-feature to light-middleweight fight Cotto-Kirkland. Flores' IBO world title would also be at stake. The fight was officially announced on 25 January 2017. On 2 February, Kirkland picked up a nose injury which initially called off his ppv fight with Cotto. Later that day, it was announced that the whole card had been cancelled. A new date of March or April was then discussed for the Rigondeaux vs. Flores fight.

On 31 December 2014, Rigondeaux retained his titles against Japan's Hisashi Amagasa at the Bodymaker Colosseum, Osaka, Japan. Rigondeaux was down twice in the seventh round but stated one of them was a slip/push. Amagasa was down in the ninth. Referee Mike Ortega stopped the bout after Amagasa failed to get up off his stool after round 11, suffering swelling around his right eye and facial disfigurement from what appeared to be a broken left jaw or cheek.

A documentary on Rigondeaux, Split Decision, has been in the works by filmmaker Brin-Jonathan Butler. Butler also published a biography of Rigondeaux in 2014, entitled A Cuban Boxer's Journey: From Castro's Traitor to American Champion, published by Picador USA.

On 13 April 2013, Rigondeaux fought in a unification bout against WBO and The Ring champion Nonito Donaire at Radio City Music Hall, New York. Rigondeaux left his trainer Jorge Rubio in order to start training with his former amateur trainer Pedro Diaz for this fight. Donaire came into the fight as the No. 5 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

In front of a sellout crowd of 6,145, Rigondeaux defeated Donaire by unanimous (114–113, 115–112, and 116–111), though the fight was considered much wider than the scorecards indicated, becoming the unified WBA (Super), WBO, The Ring and lineal super bantamweight champion. Rigondeaux frustrated Donaire early and often with his quick lead right hook, and left hand. Rigondeaux would continue to land the cleaner punches and dip out of range from Donaire for the first nine rounds of the fight. In the tenth-round, while Rigondeaux attempted to clinch with Donaire, he was pushed off and caught with a left hook from Donaire, sending him to the canvas. Rigondeaux appeared to hurt Donaire with a straight left early in the twelfth-round, when Donaire covered up a severely swollen right eye and began bleeding from his mouth. Rigondeaux ended the round and fight targeting Donaire with his left hand, backing Donaire up. Rigondeaux landed 129 of 396 punches thrown (33%) and Donaire landed 82 of his 352 thrown (23%). Donaire was outlanded in 11 rounds.

RingTV.com scored it 117–110 in favor of Rigondeaux, and HBO's Harold Lederman had it 118–109 for him. Donaire's purse was $1.32 million and Rigondeaux earned a career-high $750,000 purse. The fight averaged 1.1 million viewers on HBO.

Rigondeaux was next scheduled to fight former bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko on 7 December 2013, at the Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Rigondeaux retained his WBA (Super), WBO, The Ring and lineal super bantamweight titles via unanimous decision, winning every round on all three judges scorecards (120-108). The fight was criticized for its lack of action. The fight averaged 550,000 viewers on HBO. Prior to the fight, there were rumours that a rematch could surface between Rigondeaux and Donaire. Rigondeaux was open to the idea but stated if the fight was to take place again, Donaire would need to accept the fight at 123 pounds and weigh no more than 133 the next day.

On 20 January 2012, Rigondeaux won the full WBA super bantamweight title by knocking out champion and The Ring magazine's No. 2 ranked super bantamweight, Rico Ramos (20-0, 11 KOs), in the sixth round. Rigondeaux controlled the opening round against a tentative Ramos. He quickly moved into range and fired the left hand both to the body and upstairs. A straight left hand caught Ramos against the ropes and sent him down at 2 minutes and 24 seconds of the opening round. He was up quickly and received a mandatory eight-count. Rigondeaux attacked but Ramos gathered himself and finished the round. Output waned in the second and third rounds with both fighters looking for counter-punch opportunities, neither seeming overly willing to open up. An accidental clash of heads opened a small cut on the outside of Ramos' left eyebrow near the end of round 4. Rigondeaux was warned in round 6 for pulling down the back of Ramos' head. Immediately after the warning, Rigondeaux came forward with a barrage and landed a clean left hand to the body that sent Ramos to the canvas grimacing in pain. He remained down on his back as the referee reached the count of ten.

Despite Rigondeaux and his camp's efforts to make a fight with any of the other 122 pound champions, fights with champions such as Nonito Donaire, Toshiaki Nishioka, Jeffrey Mathebula and Abner Mares failed to materialise. Rigondeaux said, "They are cowards". On 9 June 2012, Rigondeaux made the first defence of his WBA super bantamweight title against Teon Kennedy on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley WBO welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. Rigondeaux knew the split decision victory against Ricardo Cordoba did not please the HBO people, and learned from it the importance of aggressiveness. From the standpoint of promotion, the second appearance on HBO was crucial to him. He did not want to make the same mistake as he did two years ago. Rigondeaux impressively stopped Kennedy in the fifth round after knocking him down five times, all with his left cross, leading Kennedy to say "He just hits you with punches that you can't see". He has differentiated from the Cordoba fight. Now that he realized that he needed to not only win a fight but also entertain, his promoter Bob Arum stated that Rigondeaux could one day face Nonito Donaire, Jorge Arce, or Wilfredo Vázquez, Jr.

On 15 September 2012, Rigondeaux fought Roberto Marroquin on the undercard of the Sergio Martínez vs. Julio César Chávez, Jr. fight at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a relatively easy night for Rigondeaux, who outworked and outlanded Marroquin and seemed to just cruise through the fight. Rigondeaux gave his young opponent the first knockdown of his career in the fifth-round and scored another knockdown in the twelfth. The judges scored the bout 118-108, 118-108 and 118-109, all three in favour of Rigondeaux who retained his WBA title by unanimous decision.

On 19 March 2011, Rigondeaux fought Willie Casey at the City West Convention Centre, Dublin, Ireland. This was Rigondeaux's first defense of his interim WBA title. A sweeping left uppercut in the opening round caught Casey flush and sent him back on his rear causing his glove to touch the mat at 1 minute and 45 seconds. He was up immediately and received a mandatory eight-count. A combination ending with a left hook sent Casey falling across the ring and down at 2 minutes and 19 seconds. He was able to make it to his feet but was visibly wobbled. A follow-up barrage sent Casey stumbling forward, prompting the referee to step in and call an end to the bout.

On 5 February 2010, Rigondeaux scored a first-round knockout against Adolfo Landeros, dropping Landeros with a hard left uppercut to the body.

Rigondeaux then signed a three-year contract with Bob Arum's Top Rank in July 2010. He is also co-promoted by Boris Arencibia's Caribe Promotions.

On 13 November 2010, Rigondeaux fought Ricardo Cordoba on the undercard of the WBC super welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito at the Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, in front of 41,734 people. This was the biggest fight in Rigondeaux's career to date. Rigondeaux knocked Cordoba down in the fourth round with a body shot, but was judged to be knocked down himself in the sixth, in what appeared to be a slip. Despite appearing to win clearly, the fight was judged a split decision, with Rigondeaux the victor and becoming a world champion in his seventh bout, winning the interim WBA super bantamweight title.

On 23 February 2009, Rigondeaux was announced to have defected along with 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist Yudel Johnson, Yordanis Despaigne and Yuniel Dorticos. He would train in the same gym as Yuriorkis Gamboa, Erislandy Lara and Odlanier Solis and would continue his career as a professional once he completed all the residency requirements. He left behind his wife Farah Colina, a 7-year-old son and a 17-year-old stepson in Cuba. He was also reportedly staying in the home of countryman and featherweight contender Yuriorkis Gamboa.

On 16 December 2009, Rigondeaux won a unanimous decision over Lante Addy in 8 rounds, dropping Addy once in round one.

On 22 July 2007, Rigondeaux and teammate Erislandy Lara failed to appear for their scheduled bouts at the Pan American Games in Brazil. It was initially announced that Rigondeaux was to turn professional, joining fellow 2004 Cuban Olympians Odlanier Solis, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Yan Barthelemy, who defected earlier in 2007. As with the other Cuban defectors, Rigondeaux signed a promotional deal with Ahmet Oener and ARENA Box-Promotion. However, on 2 August, Rigondeaux and Lara were taken into police custody in Brazil, stating that they wanted to return home to Cuba. However, Cuban leader Fidel Castro then stated that Rigondeaux and Lara could not box again for the Cuban team. In February 2009, Rigondeaux defected again via Mexico City to Miami, and signed with Arena Box-Promotion.

In front of a sell out crowd of 5,102 at the Theater, Lomachenko retained his WBO title using a combination of size, speed and angles, eventually forcing Rigondeaux to quit. Rigondeaux never landed more than three punches per round. He said he could not continue because he broke his hand during the fight; it was later revealed that it was bruised, not broken. Rigondeaux became Lomachenko's fourth consecutive opponent to retire on his stool. The loss also marked the first time Rigondeaux had lost since 2003, when he was still an amateur. At the time of stoppage, Lomachenko was ahead on all three judges' scorecards, 60-53, 59-54 and 59-54.

Possessing one of the greatest amateur records of all time, Rigondeaux won consecutive gold medals in the bantamweight division at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. He is also a seven-time Cuban national champion at bantamweight (2000–2006), finishing his amateur career with a record of nearly 475 fights with 12 losses; the last of these losses occurring in 2003. After Rigondeaux's defection in 2009, he turned professional and remained undefeated for almost nine years.

Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡiˈʎeɾmo riɣonˈdo oɾˈtiθ] ; born 30 September 1980) is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBA (Regular) bantamweight title since February 2020 and previously, the unified WBA (Super), WBO, and Ring magazine super-bantamweight titles between 2013 and 2017. He also challenged once for the WBO super-featherweight title in 2017. As of February 2020, he is ranked as the world's best active super-bantamweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and fifth by The Ring, as well as the sixth best active bantamweight by BoxRec.

Top Rank announced the next defense would be against veteran Sod Kokietgym (63-2-1, 28 KOs) on 19 July 2014, at the Cotai Arena, Macao, China. Rigondeaux won the bout, after the fight was stopped halfway through the first round. Kokietgym hit the canvas due to a hard, accidental clash of heads, he was given time to recover, however when he got up, the two touched gloves as respect before Rigondeaux threw an ungentlemanly 'sucker punch' right hook to end the fight while they touched gloves with the other glove. This resembled the ending of the welterweight world title bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas. This was the first professional fight for Rigondeaux outside of the United States and Kokietgym entered the fight having not lost in over eight years. It was the last time Rigondeaux fought under the Top Rank banner. After the fight, Rigondeaux stated that he wanted to unify the division, proposing fights to fellow division titleholders Leo Santa Cruz and Kiko Martinez.

On 13 November 2015 it was announced that Rigondeaux would return to the United States after 23 months, and his first fight in 11 months on the Cotto-Canelo PPV undercard on 21 November 2015, at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas against 33 year old Filipino boxer Drian Fancisco (28-3-1, 22 KOs). Rigondeaux won the fight via unanimous decision (97-93, 100-90 twice) in a very one-sided fight to claim the vacant WBC International Silver super bantamweight title.

In December 2018, it was announced that Rigondeaux would fight featherweight journeyman Giovanni Delgado (16-8, 9 KOs) on 13 January 2019, at the Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California. It was initially reported that Rigondeaux would fight Daniel Rosas (21-4-1, 13 KOs), before RingTV announced the change. Delgado was originally scheduled to fight on the same card against Fernando Garcia. Rigondeaux stopped Delgado via first-round knockout. Delgado made it to the end of the first round when he was dropped hard by an overhand left to the head. Although the round had ended, referee Jack Reiss decided to stop it anyway at the count of nine. The official time of the stoppage was at 3 minutes of round 1. After the fight, Rigondeaux said, "I came prepared and I am ready to face people that are undefeated. Whoever has a belt, I am taking it. You can expect me back in less than two months." Rigondeaux's purse for the fight was $25,000 compared to $14,500 for Delgado.