Rigondeaux Was In Talks With WBSS

On Wednesday, the World Boxing Super Series announced one of the three divisions for their second season of tournaments.

The bantamweight division will be comprised of names such as Zolani Tete, Ryan Burnett, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Naoya Inoue, who will be in the series if he defeats Jamie McDonnell.

One fighter who was considered and nearly signed was former super bantamweight champion, Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Rigondeaux’s last time inside the ring was when he jumped up eight pounds in a stoppage loss to Vasyl Lomachenko.

With the move up, the World Boxing Association stripped him of his world title at super bantamweight.

According to a report from George Ebro, Rigondeaux was approached about being in the tournament, but was made aware that it would not be healthy for the Cuban fighter to cut from 122 pounds to 118.

“The people of the Super Series were in love with the possibility of counting on Rigondeaux,” said a source to Ebro. “It was the name they mentioned the most. I think it would have been a tremendous opportunity for him to win money and go back to being the world champion.”

“Nobody better understands his body than he does and his decision is respected. If he says he can not take off those pounds, then he can not, period. But an opportunity of this magnitude will rarely come around again. He will continue fighting, but against whom and winning what. Those are the questions that matter.”

Original Story: Boxing Scene