Guillermo Rigondeaux lost a split decision to John Riel Casimero tonight in California, and the fight — and particularly Rigondeaux’s performance — is already taking a ton of criticism, which is kind of fair since it literally broke a CompuBox record for least punches landed over 12 rounds.
Rigondeaux landed 44, Casimero 47, and Casimero got the nod to retain the WBO bantamweight title.
But the 40-year-old Rigondeaux (20-2, 13 KO) wants you and Casimero and Sean Gibbons and everyone else to know something about your criticism of his approach: He doesn’t care, and he doesn’t think John Riel Casimero compares very well to Manny Pacquiao.
“I am not going to make excuses for anything. I was expecting a guy ready to blow my chin away and send me to retirement. But I am not a picture on a bag. I can actually box. I learned before becoming a champ back in Cuba,” Rigondeaux wrote on Twitter.
“No one has to make me a champion or give me anything. You can point fingers at my style all you want but everything I got I fought for it. Nothing was given. ‘He won’ according to the judges, that is fine by me. Boxing has never been fair to me at the professional level. But (Casimero) is no Pacquiao and my chin is still on my head.”
Rigondeaux ended it with one more shot comparing Casimero to Manny: “Congratulations to the Filipino fans. You have a great champion, his name is Pacquiao.”
Classic Rigo.
He also said in his post-fight comments released by Showtime that he does plan to fight on at 40.
“Nobody wants to fight with me because I frustrate them in the ring. I landed the punches that I needed to in order to win the fight tonight. This is how I win. I have these God-given skills and this is the way I display them. I’m a unique fighter. It’s my style and it’s the only one I know.
“You can see I’m still better than anyone else in the light weight classes and I’m going to keep fighting.”
Credit: Badlefthook.com
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