Former unified junior featherweight world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux’s first fight in more than a year will come against journeyman Giovanni Delgado on Jan.13, Premier Boxing Champions announced on Wednesday.
Rigondeaux will face Delgado in a 10-round junior featherweight bout on the undercard of super middleweight world titlist Jose Uzcategui’s mandatory defense against Caleb Plant at the Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles (Fox Sports 1, 6:30 p.m. ET).
The fight will be Rigondeaux’s first since signing with adviser and Premier Boxing Champions boss Al Haymon, and his first since he moved up two weight classes to challenge then-junior lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko on Dec. 9, 2017 on a high-profile Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card in New York.
It was the first-ever fight between two-time Olympic gold medalists, but Rigondeaux (17-1, 11 KOs), 38, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, Florida, was dominated before he quit on his stool after the sixth round, claiming he had a hand injury.
On paper, Delgado (16-8, 9 KOs), 27, of Mexico, appears to have no legitimate chance to win. He has lost four fights in a row and six of his last seven bouts, including three in a row by knockout, and will be facing a fighter many have rated among the best pound-for-pound in the sport in recent years.
In other bouts announced for the card on Wednesday, 2016 Mexican Olympian Lindolfo Delgado (7-0, 7 KOs), 24, will participate in a six-round junior welterweight bout against an opponent to be determined; Egypt-born, Miami, Florida-based Ahmed Elbiali (17-1, 14 KOs), 28, will face long-faded former super middleweight contender Allan Green (33-5, 22 KOs), 39, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in an eight- or 10-round light heavyweight fight; and Kevin Watts (12-3, 5 KOs), 26, of Los Angeles, will square off with Ryan “Cowboy”‘ Karl (15-2, 9 KOs), 26, of Houston, in an eight-round rematch of Watts’ fifth-round knockout victory on April 28.