Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux recovered from two knockdowns in the seventh round to come out ahead and knock out Japanese Hisashi Amagasa in the eleventh round of a fight in Osaka, Japan, in which he defended the WBO and WBA super bantamweight titles.
Guillermo Rigondeaux had difficulties at the beginning to adjust to the greater size and reach of Hisashi Amagasa, a boxer more used to fighting at 126 pounds, however, with his good boxing he was taking control of the fight based on accurate blows and his usual good defending.
For the fifth round, Rigondeaux had Amagasa measured and connected him with a good combination that made the Japanese bend his legs, although the Cuban could not finish. In the sixth, Amagasa’s right eye was already beginning to show the marks of punishment, but in the seventh the fight took an unexpected turn.
After a combination of Rigondeaux, Amagasa managed to get a right hook that grabbed the champion off the foot and made him visit the canvas. Amagasa celebrated and was filled with courage, he launched himself on the Cuban and again sent him to the canvas with what seemed more like a push than a blow, but Rigondeaux again received the protection account.
The two falls changed the fight plan of Rigondeaux, who left his style of hitting and moving around the ring, to stand to exchange blows and take the pressure of the fight. Amagasa did not shy away from the proposal, and from that moment on, the fray grew excited.
Rigondeaux showed that in the head-to-head arena he also has great quality. He constantly got into the opponent’s guard overcoming the difference in size and began to do serious damage to the Japanese.
In the tenth Amagasa went to the canvas after receiving a left hook, but continued to fight. On the eleventh, Amagasa’s face was full of bruises. The right eye was cut and red all around and the left cheekbone looked like a huge ball sticking out of the face. After the bell the corner of the Japanese decided not to go out to fight the last round, to leave the victory and the titles in the hands of Guillermo Rigondeaux.
After the fight Rigondeaux again asked for a fight against Leo Santa Cruz.