The Jackal Si, Ramos No
Rigondeaux knew he had his man hurt and went for the jugular. Ramos retreated to his corner with The Jackal in hot pursuit…
Those Cubans know how to fight. Time and again we’ve seen defectors from Castro’s Cuba make it to these shores and begin making waves. The newest import to add to the most recent list that includes Yuriorkis Gamboa, Erislandy Lara, Odlanier Solis and Alexei Collado is the new WBA junior welterweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, aka El Chacal (The Jackal).
The 31-year old Cuban import, originally from Santiago de Cuba but now living and fighting out of Miami, destroyed previously unbeaten Rico Ramos (20-1, 11 KOs), from Pico Rivera, California, in only his ninth professional fight.
Well schooled, patient, methodical and strong, the southpaw Rigondeaux, now 9-0 with 7 KOs, dropped the 24-year-old former champion with a shot to the top of the head in round one. The stunned and wobbly Ramos beat the count and made it to the end of the round, but finding his corner was almost as difficult as finding an answer for the former two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Rigondeaux walked from his corner at the start of the second looking like he had the fight in the bag. Ramos had managed to get his legs back, but his punch was nowhere to be found,. Rigondeaux was content to pace himself, bide his time, and counter whenever the opportunity arose.
Rounds three, four and five were carbon copies of the second. The gun-shy Ramos was reluctant to mix it up, and the crowd was growing restless, especially after the dynamic first round. But The Jackal knew what he was doing, even if the booing audience did not.
In the sixth round the moment everyone—the boisterous crowd at the Palms Casino Pearl Theatre in Las Vegas, the folks at home watching the fight on Showtime, Rigondeaux, and even Ramos—was waiting for had arrived.
Ramos threw a lazy right and the two fighters clashed heads. A stunned Ramos turned his back to the Cuban, never a smart thing to do, and leaned over the ropes in obvious pain. Referee Joe Cortez gave Ramos a moment to recover, but it would have required several moments that late in the game to make much of a difference.
Rigondeaux knew he had his man hurt and went for the jugular. He landed several hard lefts to the head rocking Ramos, who retreated to his corner with The Jackal in hot pursuit. Rigondeaux scored with a barrage of power punches before landing a picture-perfect left hook to the body that crumpled Ramos to the canvas.
It was academic, but Cortez counted the Californian out at 1:29 of round six.
“Every time I let my hands go, I hurt him,” Rigondeaux said after the bout. “I knew he wasn’t getting up from that shot.
“I wanted to make history. I’m very happy and this is a historic moment. I never thought it would be easy. Everyone at this level is tough.”
But not everyone is as tough as The Jackal.
