Guillermo Rigondeaux

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Guillermo Rigondeaux bigraphy, stories - Boxer

Guillermo Rigondeaux : biography

September 30, 1980 –

Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz ( born September 30, 1980) is a Cuban boxer who won the gold medal at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics in the bantamweight (54 kg) division. He is a seven-time (2000–06) Cuban national champion at bantamweight, and currently claims an amateur record of nearly 475 fights with twelve losses; the last of these losses being to Rencise Perez and Bekzat Sattarkhanov in 1998, Waldemar Font in 1999, and most recently against Aghasi Mammadov in 2003. After Rigondeaux’s defection in 2009 he turned professional, where he remains undefeated and is the current WBA, WBO and The Ring magazine super bantamweight world champion. He is recognized by the as the World Junior Featherweight Champion.

Widely considered to be one of the greatest amateur fighters of all time, Deadspin.com Rigondeaux has been lauded by boxing trainer Freddie Roach as being "Probably the greatest talent I’ve ever seen". A documentary on Rigondeaux is in the works by filmmaker Brin-Jonathan Butler.

Olympic results

2000

  • Defeated Moez Zemzeni (Tunisia) KO 1
  • Defeated Kazumasa Tsujimoto (Japan) RSC 3
  • Defeated Agasi Agaguloglu (Turkey) 14-5
  • Defeated Clarence Vinson (United States) 18-6
  • Defeated Raimkul Malakhbekov (Russia) 18-12

2004

  • Round of 32: Defeated Liu Yuan of China – PTS (21-7)
  • Round of 16: Defeated Mehar Ullah of Pakistan – RSC 3
  • Quarterfinals: Defeated Gennady Kovalev of Russia – PTS (20-5)
  • Semifinals: Defeated Bahodirjon Sooltonov of Uzbekistan – PTS (27-13)
  • Gold Medal Match: Defeated Worapoj Petchkoom of Thailand – PTS (22-13)

Other amateur achievements

  • 2000 Cuban national amateur champion – bantamweight
  • 2001 Cuban national amateur champion – bantamweight
  • 2001 World amateur champion – bantamweight (in Belfast, Northern Ireland)
    • Defeated Kazumasa Tsujimoto (Japan) RSC 2
    • Defeated Reidar Walstad (Norway) RSC 2
    • Defeated Artur Mikaelian (Greece) 24-8
    • Defeated Sergey Danilchenko (Ukraine) 15-6
    • Defeated Aghasi Mammadov (Turkey) 30-24
  • 2002 Cuban national amateur champion – bantamweight
  • 2002 World Cup champion – bantamweight (in Astana, Kazakhstan)
    • Defeated Justin Kane (Australia) RSC 1
    • Defeated Keren Gurgen (Turkey) RSC 1
    • Defeated Chotipat Wongprates (Thailand) 13-2
    • Defeated Toljen Kanatov (Kazkhstan) 7-6
  • 2003 Cuban national amateur champion – bantamweight
  • 2003 competed as a bantamweight at World championships in Bangkok, Thailand. Results were:
    • Defeated Andrzej Liczik (Poland) 15-1
    • Lost to Aghasi Mammadov (Azerbaijan) 13-16
  • 2003 Bantamweight gold medalist at Pan-American games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
    • Defeated Argenis Mendez (Dominican Republic) 17-2
    • Defeated Alexander Espinoza (Venezuela) RSC 2
    • Defeated Andrew Kooner (Canada) 22-2
    • Defeated Abner Mares (Mexico) 17-7
  • 2004 Cuban national amateur champion – bantamweight
  • 2005 Cuban national amateur champion – bantamweight
  • 2005 World amateur champion at bantamweight in competition held in Mianyang, PR China
    • Defeated Vladislav Sokolov (Latvia) RTD 2
    • Defeated Ougonchulun Batkhuu (Mongolia) RSC
    • Defeated Bahodirjon Sooltonov (Uzbekistan) RSC 3
    • Defeated Ali Hallab (France) 37-23
    • Defeated Rustamhodza Rahimov (Germany) 19-9
  • 2005 Bantamweight gold medalist at World Cup in Moscow, Russia.
    • Defeated Worapoj Petchkoom (Thailand) 34-16
    • Defeated Zsolt Bedák (Romania) 28-11
    • Defeated Murat Aiyrmasov (Kazakhstan) 34-7
    • Defeated Maksim Khalikov (Russia) 37-21
  • 2006 Cuban national amateur champion
  • 2006 Bantamweight gold medalist at Central American Games in Cartagena, Colombia
    • Defeated Juan Velasquez (Puerto Rico) 10-1
    • Defeated Jhonatan Romero (Colombia) walk-over
    • Defeated Arturo Santos Reyes (Mexico) 14-3
  • 2006 Bantamweight gold medalist at Nations Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan
    • Defeated Mirzhan Rakhimzhanov (Kazakhstan) 28-10
    • Defeated Rau’shee Warren (United States) 21-17
    • Defeated Elshad Guliyev (Azerbaijan) walk-over
    • Defeated Ali Aliyev (Russia) RSC 3