Former boxing world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux posted a photo of the horrific burns and facial injuries after a pressure cooker exploded in his face back in March.
Rigondeaux was involved in a domestic accident which left him hospitalised after the incident four months ago, placing his future in the sport in danger. The pressure cooker explosion occurred in the his Miami home.
The Cuban suffered severely burned corneas from boiling water splashing into his eyes in the explosion. He reportedly lost 80 per cent of his vision as a result while his chest was also burned due to the size of the accident.
The 41-year-old has now taken to social media to showcase his injuries, with a graphic photograph highlighting how serious the burns were. His caption read: “Every night when I close my eyes this is what I see. Sometimes it’s hard to forget.”
Rigondeaux surged to fame as an elite amateur by claiming Olympic gold medals in back-to-back Games for Cuba at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. He claimed the WBA super-bantamweight title and outclassed Nonito Donaire in 2013 with a stunning performance.
In December 2017, the Cuban star was forced to jump up two weight classes as he searched for an opponent and suffered the first defeat of his career to Vasyl Lomachenko. He then returned to bantamweight level as he moved down three divisions, where he picked up a pair of wins.
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However, Rigondeaux was beaten by John Riel Casimero as he challenged for a bantamweight world title in August 2021. The disappointing result was followed up by a shock defeat to Vincen Astrolabio in February 2022.
At 41 years of age, it remains to be seen if Rigondeaux can return to title contention at this stage of his career. Following the horrific accident and facial injuries, it remains to be seen whether he will ever return to boxing.
If it brings the curtain down on a legendary career, Rigondeaux will be remembered as one of the greats as he is a former world champion in two weight classes. He held the unified WBA (Super), WBO and Ring magazine super bantamweight titles between 2013 and 2017 as well as the WBA (regular) bantamweight title from 2020 to 2021.
