Rigondeaux on facing Donaire, Inoue: Let’s see if they want to fight me

Guillermo Rigondeaux celebrates after defeating Julio Ceja in a super bantamweight fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 23, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Steve Marcus/Getty Images/AFP

MANILA, Philippines — Not only is Guillermo Rigondeaux raring to get back in the ring, he’s also itching for a fight against the big names in the bantamweight division.

The 118-pound class is home to the likes of five-division world champion Nonito Donaire Jr. and current WBA (Super) and IBF champion Naoya Inoue—both of whom are considered to be among Rigondeaux’s potential opponents in the future.

“Let’s see if they want to fight me. In the end it’s all about that… it’s not what I want, it’s if they want to fight me. I don’t know why it’s so complicated to do the fights that everyone wants to see sometimes,” Rigondeaux said in a story on boxingscene.com.

The 39-year-old Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs) had already beaten Donaire back in 2013 by unanimous decision in the super bantamweight division.

Inoue also won over Donaire by unanimous decision last November.

Boxing has just resumed last week after being shut down for the past several months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But despite the situation, Rigondeaux said he remains “a hundred percent ready for whatever comes.”

“You can see it now. Look at these [younger] guys, the day I don’t come [to train], they miss me. I’m the one who pushes them. I always train to support myself, because this is a very hard sport. So I go to the extreme in my workouts,” Cuba’s two-time Olympic gold medalist said.

“I’ve already been warned [that I might return by] the end of August, August 8th or 21st. Already Luis De Cubas, my manager, warned me. He asked me if I was ready. I replied that today I’m ready to start fighting in the backyard of the house. That’s how big the urge is to get back in the ring. Luis tells me where to fight and I’m going. I’m a 118-pound champion. Anyone who wants to fight me knows where they can find me. It’s always been that way and that’s never going to change.”