Dahil nainsulto sa malakas na boo ng mga boxing fanatic sa las Vegas, Nevada sa walang kuwentang panalo sa puntos kamakalawa kay Filipino Drian Francisco, nangako si dating WBA at WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux na magiging agresibo sa kanyang susunod na laban.
Napanatili ni Rigondeaux ang perpektong rekord na 16 panalo, 10 sa pamamagitan ng knockouts, sa 10-round unanimous decision laban kay Francisco sa undercard ng Canolo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto bout pero kinantiyawan siya ng boxing fans sa pagiging clone ni dating pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., dahil iniwasan lamang niya ang malalakas na suntok ng Pinoy boxer at hindi nakipagpukpukan.
“I feel terrific after the fight,” sabi ni Rigondeaux sa BoxingScene.com. “He threw heavy but his style has nothing on mine. My style outmatched his. It’s been 11 months since I’ve been in the ring and I definitely felt some cobwebs but I’d like to see some other fighters be out 11 months and come back with a win.”
Nangako siyang babaguhin ang kanyang nakaaantok na estilo para mapalakas ang kanyang pay-per-view attraction.
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“I definitely wanted to give the fans a better fight so I need to get back in to the gym, get more active to give a better performance,” diin ng Cuban na dalawang beses naging gold medalist sa Olympics. “I promise that with the tools I have now after signing with Roc Nation that next time I’ll be explosive. Thank you to my team for helping me get this win.”
Galit naman si Francisco sa paglalarawan kay Rigondeaux bilang “runner” o takbuhing boksingero.”Rigondeaux is not a fighter, he is a runner,” ani Francisco. “He is afraid of getting hurt and doesn’t want to fight. I felt pressured into being the aggressor during this fight because he wasn’t fighting, he was running away. He is not a power puncher and won by points. I trained really hard for this fight and I feel like it was a waste of time because I didn’t encounter a fighter tonight.”
Natalo si Francisco sa mga iskor na 100-90, 100-90 at 97-97 at bumagsak ang kanyang kartada sa 28-4-1, win-loss-draw na may 22 panalo sa kanockout pero inaasahang magbabalik siya sa WBA rankings sa pagiging agresibo sa ring.
(Gilbert Espeña)
