Is Guillermo Rigondeaux OK? Boxer loses 80 percent vision in cooking accident
Cuban boxing star Guillermo Rigondeaux has lost about 80 percent of his vision following an accident involving a pressure cooker. Rigondeaux was cooking black beans in Miami last week when the pressure cooker exploded. Rigondeaux’s manager Alex Boronte said that the boxer's corneas were burned as boiling water landed in his eyes. He has suffered other burns too.
Boronte told ESPN that the process of regenerating the corneas can take up to two weeks. They generally start to regenerate in 48 to 72 hours. The boxing star can see sunlight and shadows. "The next week to 10 days is really going to define his fighting career and his future because that's when the cornea needs to regenerate itself and he can see or not," Boronte said. "But gathering from the last 24 hours, he's doing really good."
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"He was scheduled to fight before the year's over, sometime in August, so the next 72 hours are the most important," the boxing legend's manager said." "He's a little depressed seeing the decline in his ability, but it's mostly psychological. "I asked him, 'Do you feel old?' He says, 'No, it's not like that.' I know he still has some ability because he showed it in the ninth and 10th round [last week after being floored in Round 8]. He wants to fight again, I'm sure. Fight one more time and see where he stands."
Rigondeaux, born on September 30, 1980, is a former world champion in two weight classes. Between 2013 and 2017, he held the unified WBA (Super), WBO and Ring magazine super bantamweight titles. He also held the WBA (Regular) bantamweight title from 2020 to 2021. Back in 2017, he was challenged for the WBO junior lightweight title.
Rigondeaux possesses one of the greatest amateur records of all time. He won consecutive gold medals in the bantamweight division at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics and is also a seven-time Cuban national champion at bantamweight. The boxer completed his amateur career with a record of nearly 475 fights with 12 losses. The last of his losses took place in 2003, and he turned professional after his defection in 2009.
Boxing trainer Freddie Roach has applauded Rigondeaux, saying he was probably the greatest talent I've ever seen." Rigondeaux is reportedly known for his fast hand speed, punching power, counterpunching abilities, athleticism, reflexes, footwork and defensive elusiveness.