JAZZA DICKENS seems about the only man Guillermo Rigondeaux likes. Speaking ahead of taking on the Liverpudlian in England on March 12, the brilliant Cuban condemned HBO, Carl Frampton, Scott Quigg and more. Rigondeaux’s rage is understandable. While both unbeaten and regarded as the best in the division, he’s had to endure the indignity of the WBO stripping him of their super-bantamweight crown and the WBA relegating him to champion in recess. He’s coming to the Echo Arena in Liverpool to prove a point.
“It’s the best thing for me. It’s the fight my promoter got for me. If the kid has the guts to step into the ring, I respect him for doing so. And the winner of Frampton-Quigg is what I’m looking forward to. I know there are great fans in the UK,” Rigondeaux said. “I’m a warrior. I’ll fight anywhere, I’ll go to his backyard if he wants to fight.
“I’m going over there to win. I’m going to win this fight and then I’m going to beat both of them, Frampton and Quigg, I want to make a point that I’m here waiting for them. They know where to find me.”
Rigondeaux has been criticised for an unaggressive approach to the sport. He is an expert counter-puncher and remains utterly uncompromising in his approach. “If I do what people want, I would lose. I win and I win convincingly and it doesn’t affect my style. I’m going to do my thing and I do it convincingly,” the defiant Cuban declared. “I’m going to do what I’ve always done, throw more punches, be more accurate and I’m going to do what I do usually. Win convincingly.
“The fans speak well about me. The only people that don’t speak very well sometimes, that I’m not exciting, was HBO.”
He insists, “I have no regrets. It is what it is. It’s out of my hands – negotiations and the way the boxing business works. But I’m here, I’m ready to fight and ready to move on. I don’t dwell on the past. I’m looking forward and I’m ready to move forward.
“I plan on winning and for every 122lbs out there in the world that has the guts to step into the ring, I’m going to beat them all.”
