In one of this weekend's "over looked" world title fights Costa Rican Bryan Vasquez (31-1, 17) looks to reclaim the WBA "interim" Super Featherweight title that he held until losing to WBA "regular" champion Takashi Uchiyama.
Whilst on paper the idea of a fighter wanting an interim title might sound odd, Vasquez actually made for a decent interim champion. If of course we view interim championship status as a sign that a tighter is a solid contender.
Vasquez will be fighting the little known Nicaraguan Rene Gonzalez (31-5-1-1, 23), a man who boasts several notable losses but little in terms of noteworthy victories. In fact in his only notable bouts Vasquez has been beaten by Urbano Antillon, Humberto Mauro Gutierrez, Dante Jordan and Daniel Estrada. Effectively pushing him to the very extreme fringes of "title contender".
Vasquez, despite losing to Uchiyama, impressed me when he faced by far the best Super Featherweight on the planet. Uchiyama is a scary guy in the ring, defensively sound with dynamite in both hands. Vasquez however wasn't intimidated and went after him using his speed and skill, before finally being undone by Uchiyama's power.
It's fair to say that on the back of his showing with the Japanese fighter, Vasquez probably deserves a top 20 ranking at absolute worst. In fact his key limitation is the fact he's not a puncher. He's fast, smooth, has lovely combinations, good foot work but can't keep a phenom like Uchiyama away with his light shots.
Against Gonzalez however Vasquezs's combinations and movement may serve him well as he fires out an eye catching flurry and gets away whilst the crowd roar him on.
Although Gonzalez's record looks like he has a decent punch on him with 23 stoppages from 31 wins one needs to delve a bit deeper. Of those stoppages 10 came in his first 10 bouts whilst only 3 have come in his last 10. Basically his power hasn't carried up as he's faced tougher opponents. He of course still carries some sting on his punches but it'd not as concussive as one may think.
What's perhaps more telling about Gonzalez is the fact he's tough. In his 38 fight career he has been stopped just the once, an 11th round retirement to the dangerous Daniel Estrada back in 2011. He has however been down several times, notably being dropped 3 times by Israel Hector Enrique Perez in his second most recent contest at 130lbs.
It's harder to find footage of Gonzalez than it is of Vasquez though what footage I did find didn't make him look that great. In fact he looked quite slow and not that tight skills wise. There is a decent fighter there, but decent is about the nicest I can be.
I'll admit it, I like Vasquez and may be biased here, though I'd be shocked if the Costa Rican doesn't take a clear decision against Gonzalez who will give his all but not have enough to catch up with one of the sports many hidden fighters.
Prediction-Vasquez UD12
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