Hamburg, July 26th, 2007 - All speculations come to an end: Two-times Olympic champion Guillermo Rigondeaux and world amateur welterweight champion Erislandy Lara who had left their national team during the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro signed 5-year-contracts with Hamburg based arena Box-Promotion.
arena-CEO Ahmet Öner proudly stated that “the most talented boxers in the world fight for arena. Our stable looks into a golden future.”
Record-breaking Rigondeaux won 243 of his 247 amateur fights including titles at the Olympic Games 2000 and 2004 as well as World Championships 2001 and 2005. Like his fellow countrymen Odlanier Solis who had already signed with arena early this year, the 26-year old Cuban has been “hunted” by international promoters for years. Öner: “Rigondeaux is an exceptional talent. I am sure that nobody in the world can beat him..”
Reigning world amateur welterweight champion Lara is only 24 years of age and will probably compete in the middleweight division. Öner: “As all of our Cuban boxers he is a jewel who will be the man to beat in his weight class.”
Within the next four weeks Öner’s new stars are expected to arrive in Germany. Öner: “I can’t reveal where they are right now for understandable reasons but I am already looking forward to the day when they finally arrive in Hamburg. Of course, we will present them to the public as soon as they get here.”
photos: J.A. Treptow: Pictures of Guillermo Rigondeaux at Halle Chemie-Pokal 2005
Article posted on 26.07.2007
Hamburg, July 26th, 2007 - All speculations come to an end: Two-times Olympic champion Guillermo Rigondeaux and world amateur welterweight champion Erislandy Lara who had left their national team during the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro signed 5-year-contracts with Hamburg based arena Box-Promotion. 
