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Guillermo Rigondeaux takes on unbeaten Charlie Clemente-Andino in Miami on Friday

Despite his advanced age Rigondeaux is still a physical specimen who prides himself on his discipline and dedication to training. Photo by Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME
Fighters Network
06
Jun

Guillermo Rigondeaux will face a new opponent for his upcoming bout.

Rigondeaux will now square off against unbeaten Charlie Clemente-Andino Friday night at the Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida. The bantamweight clash between Rigondeaux and Clemente will precede the main event between welterweights Adrien Broner and Bill Hutchinson.

Both 10-round bouts will stream live on Fite TV (6:50 p.m. ET/ 3:50 p.m. PT).

The southpaw Rigondeaux was originally scheduled to face Julian Evaristo Aristule of Argentina, but Aristule had a visa issue that prevented him from the U.S., this according to Boxingscene’s Jake Donovan.



The 42-year-old Rigondeaux (21-3, 14 knockouts) last fought on February 24, winning a one-sided decision over Colombia’s Jesus Martinez. The win over Martinez took place almost a year after Rigondeaux lost a razor-thin unanimous decision to bantamweight contender Vincent Astrolabio. Rigondeaux was knocked down once during the fight, which was the difference in the decision loss and the fight ending up in a unanimous decision draw.

Less than two weeks after the loss to Astrolabio, the southpaw Rigondeaux suffered injuries to his face and eyes in a freak accident after a pressure cooker he was using to cook black beans exploded. Boiling water splashed onto Rigondeaux’s chest, face, and eyes, causing both corneas to be severely burned.

Despite losing over 80 percent of his vision, reportedly where he could only see shadows and sunlight, Rigondeaux slowly regained his vision as corneas can regenerate. In July, Rigondeaux posted a picture of himself on his social media accounts, showing the burns to his face, particularly around both eyes.

Rigondeaux twice won a gold medal for Cuba prior to turning pro in May 2009 and has won world title belts in two different weight classes.

Clemente (12-0, 5 KOs), who resides in Carolina, Puerto Rico, will take a significant step up in opposition. Friday’s clash against Rigondeaux will also mark his first 10-round bout as a pro.

The 35-year-old has not fought in over seven years, a second round knockout win over Christian Lopez. Clemente has mostly fought at 112 pounds, except for his August 2015 win over Elias Polanco de Jesus, which was fought at junior featherweight.

Clemente’s most notable win was over once-beaten Israel Vazquez in February 2015.

Also streaming live on the Don King Productions card, Ahmed Elbiali (22-1, 18 KOs), who is originally from Cairo, Egypt and now resides in Miami, will face Rodolfo Gomez, Jr. (14-6-3, 10 KOs) of Laredo, Texas in a 10-round light heavyweight bout.

 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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