Rigondeaux-Dickens Liverpool bout cancelled over visa issues

Guillermo Rigondeaux celebrates after his unanimous decision victory against Drian Francisco during their junior featherweight bout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on November 21, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Isaac Brekken/Getty Images/AFP

Visa issues derailed Guillermo Rigondeaux’s scheduled fight against British pug James Dickens slated this Saturday (Sunday Manila time) in the latter’s home town in Liverpool, England.

In a report on ESPN.com, the former unified junior featherweight world champion and his trainer Pedro Diaz failed to secure an entry visa to the country, which effectively cancelled an anticipated fight.

Rigondeaux and his trainer, Rigondeaux’s promoter Roc Nation Sports explained, were in Grozny, Russia for their training camp and flew twice to the British consulate in Moscow to process those visas but wound up empty-handed on both trips.

The promotion shared that Rigondeaux and Diaz’ first trip was on February 29, when they were made aware that the consulate is already processing their visas. Upon learning that, they went back to Grozny to continue their training.

The second trip was on Sunday, where they were supposed to pick up their visas.

Event promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions (QP) shared that the Cuban’s camp was trying to secure an entry visa because the one night-only event allowed Rigondeaux to fight without a work visa “due to his international sporting status and this being a singular international event.”

Rigondeaux and Diaz stayed for a few hours in Moscow before traveling back to Rigondeaux’s homebase Miami on Tuesday, still for unknown reasons.

Warren shared that QP did all it could to help Team Rigondeaux, and even coordinated with Roc Nation’s Dino Duva just to get the visas approved.

“Accordingly, QP issued the necessary supporting documentation for his application and accordingly, the visa was correctly applied for by Team Rigondeaux,” he said. “We were told that it could take five clear working days for the visa to be issued so Rigondeaux could travel, but the problem was, or so we were told, that due to a public holiday in Russia on Tuesday, the application center would be closed and he may not be able to collect his visa until Wednesday.”

Still, what disappoints and baffles Warren at the same time was the 35-year-old southpaw’s sudden decision to leave for Miami without securing the necessary papers for his upcoming fight.

“We have yet to establish how and why he flew to the USA and further, how he managed to fly anywhere when the normal practice is, when applying for a visa, that you hand your passport in and get it back when the visa is issued,” Warren said.

The promoter continued, “Strangely, Rigondeaux left Moscow at a time when both the (visa) application center and consulate were still closed. He has yet to explain to Roc Nation Sports, who are as much in the dark as QP, as to how and why he has arrived in the USA and why he was in possession of his passport which should, as is standard protocol, have been presented to the visa application center.”

Rigondeaux (16-0, 10 KOs) was slated to fight 24-year-old Dickens (21-1, 6 KOs) in the undercard of the card headlined by the lightweight world title defense of champ Terry Flanagan against fellow Brit Derry Mathews.

“We are all extremely disappointed by the whole situation as Rigondeaux will not appear this Saturday and Dickens will not get the chance, that he has trained so hard for, to fight the world’s best (junior featherweight) in front of his own fans,” said Warren.

Rigondeaux last fought Drian Francisco on November in Las Vegas to win the vacant WBC International super bantamweight title.