Roach on Lomachenko-Rigondeaux: ‘There’s no quit in real fighters’
Freddie Roach gives his take on Guillermo Rigondeaux calling it quits after six rounds.
In this video interview captured by our friends at Fight Hub TV, trainer Freddie Roach is asked about his thoughts on how the Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux fight played out, and Rigondeaux refusing to come out for the seventh round.
Roach on Miguel Cotto finishing his fight with a torn biceps while Rigodeaux called it quits because of a bruised hand:
“I was a little disappointed because I did train [Rigondeaux] for a little while and he’s a friend of mine. He promised me he would win that fight by knockout but he was just in over his head a little bit. He’s just too small, and maybe a little bit too old, and I think it might be over. I think his career might be to an end...”
On Rigondeaux getting a lot of backlash after all the trash he talked:
“I’m sure [he is]...He was in there with a very talented guy, though. I mean [Lomachenko] is talented, great hand speed, good foot speed — he’s gonna be tough to beat for anyone out there and I look forward to seeing him fight again. I think I’m a fan again.”
On if he had any experience fighting with a broken hand and how hard it is to do so:
“It is bad. I’ve torn my ligaments and tendon and broke the capsule in my right hand in the second round of a fight, and I won a 10-round decision. Fighting like that was really, really difficult but I had to use it because the guy kept coming at me and I couldn’t just fight one-handed. I had to use both hands and every time I hit that person it hurt me more than it hurt him I think, but I was a young guy coming up at the time and the winner was getting a world title fight so I did everything I could to win that fight.
“I mean I used it over and over again, probably made it worse than it was but that’s the life of a fighter, in my mind. But there’s no quit in real fighters. That’s why I say boxing is a little better than UFC and so forth because they’re allowed to quit, and we’re not. And if we do quit once we’ll never be on TV again. I mean [Rigondeaux’s] fights are a little bit boring to begin with, and then with him quitting...I think it might be over, yes.”