Casey: He is world class

WITH a dazzling array of powerful punches delivered with pinpoint accuracy it took Guillermo Rigondeaux less than three minutes to end Willie “Big Bang” Casey’s world title hopes before a frenzied following at the Citywest Convention Centre on Saturday night.

No one was surprised by outcome — the multi-talented Cuban climbed into the ring for his first defence of the interim WBA super bantamweight belt as the overwhelming favourite.

What was shocking was the clinical execution which stunned not only the teak tough Limerick southpaw but the thousands of fans who followed him to the capital.

Rigondeaux’s trademark left hook to the body left Casey reeling on the ropes and gasping for air less than a minute into the fight. The Limerick southpaw did well to recover and when his knees buckled from a perfectly placed left hook to the chin he stood up defiantly to take the count on his feet. But the end was in sight.

Two lefts to the head and veteran South African referee, Stanley Christodoulou acted swiftly to stop the contest after just two minutes and 38 seconds.

“I got caught with the body shot first,” Casey recalled. “It took me a minute to recover. I did not think I was going to recover but I did. Then, just as I recovered, I got caught with a hook over the top. It’s unfortunate but these things happen.”

He admitted to underestimating the punching power of the Cuban who was a double Olympic and world champion during his amateur days.

“The body shot — your whole body just tenses up and you can’t breathe,” he said. “I’ve seen people get dropped with those shots and go down and not get back up.

I went on the back foot and I tried to take a breather. I got back on the bike again and he caught me with a couple of hooks and it went from there. This guy has everything. He is a world class operator.

“He’s strong — I did not realise how strong he was when I got in there. He caught me with a couple and I realised it then.

“He wasn’t going on the back foot. He was letting me know he was standing there with me. He came from all directions with his shots. He was one of the best ever amateurs and he brought all that skill into the ring.”

Casey, however, promised a swift return to action reflecting on how Bernard Dunne came back to win the world title after a first round knock-out against Kiko Martinez.

“We’ll have to see where we go from here,” he said. “Was this (fight) too soon for me? I don’t think so.

“I trained very hard for this fight. I spent the last 10 weeks killing myself to be prepared for this fight.

“If another big fight like this came around next week I’d jump on the bike again and I’d take it without even hesitating. I know it was a bad loss but I am happy in the knowledge that I’ll still get to go home and be with my wife and kids and spend some time with them.

“I go into every fight confident. I was 100% positive I was going to win that fight and nothing was going to stop me. The real test is to see where I go from here, when I get back into the ring. I’m not afraid of being beaten. This happens and you just have to get on with it. It’s not the end of me.”

Ronnie Shields, Rigondeaux’s trainer, said Casey’s home town support was never going to affect the outcome.

“Anytime you come to somebody else’s country and you have the skills that Rigondeaux has, you have to use it right away — take the crowd out of the fight right away,” he said.

“You have all seen Willie Casey fight. He is a confident and when he started backing up you knew it was over. Rigondeaux is a puncher and a boxer, he can do both. A lot of guys are going to have to contend with that soon. They are going to be ducking him. Nobody is going to beat this guy.

“He wants to clean out 122 (lbs), clean out 126 , clean out 130 and then he is going to retire. He has the ability, the skill. Casey is a good fighter, he’s not the best fighter in the world, but he’s a good fighter. He destroyed him.”