Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux results: Full analysis, winners and reaction

Vasyl Lomachenko dominated Guillermo Rigondeaux in the main event of an ESPN boxing card on Saturday. Lomachenko, the bigger fighter, bullied a passive Rigondeaux from the second round on. It was a bizarre fight, with the smaller Rigondeaux mostly keeping his head down low, eating shots from higher up.

Lomachenko was often frustrated with Rigondeaux, who grabbed him constantly and who delivered multiple low blows. Rigondeaux had a point taken away in the sixth, but by then, he had already gone several rounds without putting together a single credible combo. Rigondeaux didn’t come out for the seventh round, with his corner claiming he was dealing with a hand injury.

It’s especially odd, as Rigondeaux is one of the most technically gifted boxers in the world. But he looked anything but disciplined on Saturday, offering zero offense and no real defense against Lomachenko, a technical master in his own right.

Saturday’s bout was the first time that a pair of two-time Olympic gold medalists met as professionals in the boxing ring. Rigondeaux won gold for Cuba in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics while Lomachenko won gold for Ukraine at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London games.

In the night’s co-feature, Michael Conlan cruised to his first ever unanimous-decision victory as a professional. He was going up against Luis Fernando Molina, who hadn’t been finished going into Saturday’s card and still hasn’t now that it’s over. Conlan was in control the whole match, easily winning a decision on all the judges’ scorecards.

Conlan, an Irish Olympian and 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist, improved to 5-0 as a professional, capping off an excellent year since turning pro in March.

Christopher Diaz continued his very impressive streak, moving to 22-0 for his career with a dominant performance against Bryant Cruz. They fought second on the televised card, but the 10-round bout only made it to the third, where the referee called it early following the fourth knockdown of the match. Diaz made it through only eating one particularly effective strike, and it was the first one of the match.

On the first fight of the television broadcast, 2016 United States Olympian Shakur Stevenson earned a second-round TKO of Oscar Mendoza. Stevenson dominated the first round with effective combos while absorbing next to no damage.

The stoppage was probably premature by the referee, as Mendoza was in no danger of going down, but he’d offered so little in the way of offense that she saw fit to end the fight, giving Stevenson the second-round victory.

Mikaela Mayer, a 2016 United States Olympian, went pro this year and capped off her first season with her third career win. She bested Nydia Feliciano on the undercard, winning a majority decision. Bryant Jennings was also victorious on the pre-broadcast undercard, beating Don Haynesworth via third-round TKO. A third match between Jose Gonzalez and Adan Gonzalez ended in a majority draw.

Below are the full play-by-play results from the televised card, and below that is a list of results for the full night of fights.

Vasyl Lomachenko def. Guillermo Rigondeaux via TKO in Round 6

Round 1: Lomachenko is starting off very patient, not rushing into something dangerous from Rigondeaux. He paws from the outside, cautiously. Rigondeaux just misses a big straight to the body. Lomachenko keeps pawing the jab out there, trying to test Rigondeaux’s defense. He nearly connects with a short left to the face, but Rigondeaux swims away from it. The round comes to an end with no real shots landed.

Round 2: Both fighters are waving their lead hand quite a bit, moving it back and forth, trying to keep the other guessing. Lomachenko connects with a very short right as Rigondeaux attempts to duck away, but it’s not a heavy blow. They keep tying up, and the referee has to separate them. Right jab from Lomachenko lands, but they are grazing blows. They tied up and Rigondeaux thought they were going to be separated, and Lomachenko lands a big punch to the face. Rigondeaux looks to the referee, wondering why it happened like that, but they continue. Lomachenko’s lead right hand stays out there, touching Rigondeaux’s face, but nothing huge. Rigondeaux has his hand behind Lomachenko’s head, and he tries to uncork a big uppercut. Lomachenko thinks there was a foul, and ends the round with a flicking right hand that lands flush on Rigondeaux’s head.

Round 3: Rigondeaux connects with a right straight early in the round. Rigondeaux ties up, Lomachenko is getting frustrated with the tactic, but he’s also winning (or should be). Lomachenko tries a hard right undercut, and then two more, but Rigondeaux blocks all three. The round comes to an end with little landed from either.

Round 4: It’s hard to imagine Rigondeaux winning this bout at this rate. He’s not landing anything, while Lomachenko is connecting with most of his jabs, even if they are lacking in power. He’s peppering the defensive fighter and not eating any counters. Rigondeaux’s corner tells him he needs to do more. He just misses with a right uppercut. Rigondeaux keeps ducking far, far down and Lomachenko hits him on the top of the head — the referee warns him about that. But Rigondeaux is doing very little in the way of offense. That lead left continues to land for Lomachenko. Right straight from Lomachenko snaps Rigondeaux’s head back late in the round.

Round 5: Almost all of Lomachenko’s shots are coming from above as Rigondeaux is keeping his head low. Rigondeaux connects with a nice right straight, but Lomachenko responds with a short, fast combo to the head. They tie up several times and are separated. Rigondeaux is warned for low blows. Lomachenko is standing tall while swinging low, low shots to the ducking Rigondeaux. It’s kind of bizarre to see. The size difference is definitely a factor here, but Rigondeaux isn’t exactly doing anything to help his own cause.

Round 6: Lomachenko throws and lands a jab well after the bell, but that’s the kind of fight this is, apparently. Rigondeaux connects with a nice shot to the body, and they tie up again. They separate, Lomachenko throws the same right hand six or seven times in a row while Rigondeaux keeps his head ducked, eating the short blows for seemingly no reason. This is kind of bizarre at this point. Does Rigondeaux simply know he has nothing to offer, so he’s just fighting this weird fight? It’s hard to tell. Rigondeaux is docked a point for multiple violations, be it grabbing to low blows. But he hasn’t put together a single combo all fight, so it’s not really a big deal. Lomachenko walks off a couple seconds before the end of the round.

And wow, Rigondeaux is done. He doesn’t want to keep fighting. He calls it quits and Lomachenko is victorious. Wow.

Michael Conlan def. Luis Fernando Molina via unanimous decision

Round 1: Molina takes the center of the ring first, and is bouncing around a lot more. They exchange a pair of one-two shots, all of which are blocked. Conlan lands a stiff left straight, and eats a quick left hook from Molina. Good right to the body from Conlan as Molina wings a big overhand that misses. Molina comes in with a good one-two combo to the body and gets Conlan against the ropes. But Conlan gets out of it, and lands a pair of right hands to the body. An active round for both boxers comes to an end.

Round 2: Conlan has a bit more spring to his step in the second, and he’s coming out a little more aggressively. He keeps the right hand hanging out there, and he peppers Molina with a series of jabs and short shots. He stays out of range of a straight from Molina, and then circles away from a big overhand from him as well. Molina seems content to eat the smaller shots while trying to wade in for a big overhand, but he hasn’t come close to landing it. Nice short right to the temple from Conlan as Molina misses with another wide, wild hook. A much better round for Conlan comes to an end.

Round 3: Nice right hand to the cheek from Conlan as Molina misses with a left hook. Molina wings another wild hook that misses, and they clinch. The referee separates them. Good one-two straight through Molina’s guard from Conlan. Molina is just winging big hooks at this point, and he’s starting to show signs of damage.

Round 4: Conlan keeps well out of range of Molina’s big hooks. He peppers Molina with a pair of right straights to the temple. Conlan is throwing less shots throughout this round, mainly peppering Molina with a right straight. Conlan has never been this deep in a fight since turning pro, but he looks fine. Nothing exciting in this round, just more ring control and solid jabs from Conlan.

Round 5: Nice left straight from Conlan lands right on the jaw. Big right hook to the body from Conlan. Conlan is warned for low blows, as it’s the second of the bout. Conlan staggers Molina with a stiff left uppercut, but he stays on his feet. Another left uppercut from Conlan. A pair of strong lefts to the body from Conlan. The round comes to an end.

Round 6: Conlan keeps his hands down — he knows he’s won this fight. Molina comes forward and lands a nice body shot, but there’s no heat on it anymore. Conlan connects with a big right to the body. Left straight to the face, then another to the body. He’s coasting now, and Molina seems to be, too. Straight left to the chest from Conlan. Huge overhand right from Molina that Conlan dodges. The fight comes to an end.

Christopher Diaz def. Bryant Cruz via TKO in Round 3

Round 1: Cruz throws a big left straight that snaps Diaz’s head back early, but it was more a surprise than a huge shot. Big high-low combo from Diaz, connecting with a hard left to the body and a short right straight. He tees off after eating a big straight from Cruz, another big body blow. Cruz comes in on him, eats a short right, and drops to the mat, giving Diaz a knockdown early. Diaz swarms Cruz when the bout continues, but Cruz recovers. He doesn’t offer much in the way of offense through the remainder of the round, however.

Round 2: Big right hand to the body from Cruz, who is trying to throw more from range in this round. Diaz lands a short left to the top of the head as Cruz steps away, and he nearly falls, but it would have been a trip. He kept his footing though. Until about 20 seconds later, when Diaz landed a brutal left hook that stumbled Cruz, and eventually knocked him down. The match resumes with 30 seconds in the round, and Diaz swarms him. Cruz is down again, and the referee allows it to continue with five seconds to go. The round comes to an end.

Round 3: The third round starts, despite Cruz being largely noncompetitive. They throw from range for a few seconds, but Diaz eventually lands again and Cruz goes down once again. The referee calls it there, giving Diaz a third-round TKO victory.

Shakur Stevensonn def. Oscar Mendoza via TKO in Round 2

Round 1: Stevenson paws the right hand far, far out there and he lands a shot to the side of the head early on. He fires off a straight left hand that catches Mendoza hard on the head, and he also connects with a body shot. Mendoza isn’t offering much in the way of resistance. Powerful one-two hook combo to the body from Stevenson. Mendoza is trying to land the left jab from outside, but so far it hasn’t come close to landing. The round comes to an end with a short combo from Stevenson.

Round 2: Huge combo from Stevenson right out of the gate, landing multiple big shots, the biggest a hard left straight to the face. A short left rocks Mendoza not long after that. More of the same for Stevenson, three- and four-punch combos that are landing hard. Mendoza isn’t in danger of going down just yet, but the referee steps in and stops the action. She’s seen enough, as Mendoza was offering virtually nothing in the way of offense or defense.

Lomachenko vs. Rigondeux results

Vasyl Lomachenko def. Guillermo Rigondeaux via TKO in Round 6
Michael Conlan def. Luis Fernando Molina via unanimous decision
Christopher Diaz def. Bryant Cruz via TKO in Round 3
Shakur Stevenson def. Oscar Mendoza via TKO in Round 2
Mikaela Mayer def. Nydia Feliciano via majority decision
Jose Gonzalez vs. Adan Gonzalez ends in majority draw
Bryant Jennings def. Don Haynesworth via TKO in Round 3