By Rick Reeno

According to multiple sources who were involved in the negotiations, WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8KOs) approved all of the opponents that were presented by Top Rank. In an earlier article, the management of Filipino contender Drian Francisco (23-1-1, 18KOs) were claiming that Rigondeaux turned them down in favor of Thailand's rugged former beltholder Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym (48-2, 33KOs). However, that is not the case.

BoxingScene.com was informed that Poonsawat was always the frontrunner and the preferred opponent by HBO. At no time was Francisco approved by HBO, and none of the involved parties expected the network to approve him.

Rigondeaux-Poonsawat will take place on December 15th as part of an HBO televised doubleheader from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The main event will feature another super bantamweight title fight, with Nonito Donaire defending his WBC Diamond/WBO titles against Mexican star Jorge Arce.