It's not often that a fight ends with scores of 120-107 (twice) and 119-108 and less than 2 years later we get a rematch, unfortunately that's exactly what we're getting this weekend when IBF Lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (33-3, 13) defends his title against Ammeth Diaz (32-11-0-1, 23) for the second time.
It was back in January 2012 that the men first met with Vazquez dominating every single round of the fight as he recorded the third defense of his title and scored a rare knockdown of his own in the process. It was, in all honesty, a bout that never required a rematch, it was so one-sided that even talking about a rematch seemed a bit pointless. In the world of boxing however we do get some pointless match ups.
Before everyone jumps on to Vazquez's case over the bout, this is sadly a mandatory defense for the Mexican champion. Unfortunately Diaz "earned" this fight thanks to a victory over Britain's Martin Gethin, I'm not sure how Gethin v Diaz could ever have been a final eliminator, especially considering that Diaz's loss to Vazquez was just two fights earlier, but the boxing world is a mysterious one at the best of times.
Due to the total white wash of their first bout it's hard to see anything but the same again here. Vazquez may not be a pound-for-pound top fighter but he is someone who is truly frustrating to fight. He has a style that can only be described as a nightmare and whilst he's not exciting he is one of the premier proponents of the "hit and don't get hit" mentality that has helped Floyd Mayweather Jr stay at the top of the sport.
When you put Vazquez in the ring with someone who loads up and looks for big shots he honestly makes them look foolish. He lands his jab, moves and the lands another jab all whilst an opponent is trying to set themselves. The Vazquez style of hit and move disturbs fighters rhythms and when he fights some one like Diaz there is only one out come, barring a freak 1-punch KO.
Put Diaz in with someone like Raymundo Beltran and you get a fun to watch fire fight. Put him in with a technically skilled boxer like Vazquez and you end up with a masterclass.
Prediction-Vazquez UD12 (Very clear)
Showing posts with label Miguel Vazquez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miguel Vazquez. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Miguel Vazquez v Mercito Gesta
Mexican Miguel Vazquez (32-3, 13) was less than impressive when he defended his IBF Lightweight title last time out against Marvin Quintero though he will hope to be more impressive this weekend as he faces the unbeaten Mercito Gesta (26-0-1, 14).
At his best Vazquez is a pure boxer with great movement, an excellent jab and a wonderful control of distance as he counters and moves his opponent with ease. At his worst, as we saw against Quintero, he can be a runner who can be forced to move more than box. Though whether he's at his best or worst, Vazquez is a tough man who his hard to hurt, very difficult to drop and very, very slippery to tag cleanly.
For all his trickery and slipperiness Vazquez' also has his negatives, notably his lack of power which has seen him stopping less than 40% of his fights early. He's sharp with his shots though they are rarely thrown with his weight behind them and as a result they lack the concussive force needed to put fighters off coming forward at him.
Vazquez is unbeaten in over 4 years (since suffering a second defeat to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who also beat him on Vazquez's debut) and has improved over that time. Not only has he become a world champion but he's also defeated numerous known fighters such as Breidis Prescott, Ji-Hoon Kim, Leonardo Zappavigna and Ameth Diaz often by frustrating them with his movement and jab. It's fair to say however that if you can take his wheels away, either with body shots or a good ability to cut the ring down, Vazquez could be made to look ordinary.
Whilst Vazquez is well known thanks to his top tier wins and even his loss, Gesta is better known for the fact that there is a lot of hype surrounding him especially from the Filipino fans who feel he could be the next Manny Pacquiao. Sadly however from what I've seen of Gesta he looks awfully ordinary with little to really make him stand out.
Whilst Gesta is unbeaten in 27 fights his best wins are over very limited opponents who have been there to make him look good as opposed to testing his skills. This has made it hard to actually know just how good he really is, though he did his job well last time out as he stopped Ty Barnett in 9 rounds with solid, hurtful shots.
Although Gesta is young and hungry I just can't see him getting to Vazquez who, for me, is a level or two better than Gesta and is much, much more proven. Gesta will put up a tireless effort, though will be clearly out boxed by a very intelligent Mexican fighter who doesn't try to do what other Mexicans do.
Prediction-Vazquez UD
At his best Vazquez is a pure boxer with great movement, an excellent jab and a wonderful control of distance as he counters and moves his opponent with ease. At his worst, as we saw against Quintero, he can be a runner who can be forced to move more than box. Though whether he's at his best or worst, Vazquez is a tough man who his hard to hurt, very difficult to drop and very, very slippery to tag cleanly.
For all his trickery and slipperiness Vazquez' also has his negatives, notably his lack of power which has seen him stopping less than 40% of his fights early. He's sharp with his shots though they are rarely thrown with his weight behind them and as a result they lack the concussive force needed to put fighters off coming forward at him.
Vazquez is unbeaten in over 4 years (since suffering a second defeat to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who also beat him on Vazquez's debut) and has improved over that time. Not only has he become a world champion but he's also defeated numerous known fighters such as Breidis Prescott, Ji-Hoon Kim, Leonardo Zappavigna and Ameth Diaz often by frustrating them with his movement and jab. It's fair to say however that if you can take his wheels away, either with body shots or a good ability to cut the ring down, Vazquez could be made to look ordinary.
Whilst Vazquez is well known thanks to his top tier wins and even his loss, Gesta is better known for the fact that there is a lot of hype surrounding him especially from the Filipino fans who feel he could be the next Manny Pacquiao. Sadly however from what I've seen of Gesta he looks awfully ordinary with little to really make him stand out.
Whilst Gesta is unbeaten in 27 fights his best wins are over very limited opponents who have been there to make him look good as opposed to testing his skills. This has made it hard to actually know just how good he really is, though he did his job well last time out as he stopped Ty Barnett in 9 rounds with solid, hurtful shots.
Although Gesta is young and hungry I just can't see him getting to Vazquez who, for me, is a level or two better than Gesta and is much, much more proven. Gesta will put up a tireless effort, though will be clearly out boxed by a very intelligent Mexican fighter who doesn't try to do what other Mexicans do.
Prediction-Vazquez UD
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Miguel Vazquez v Marvin Quintero
Despite it's historical place in boxing as one of "the original 8" divisions the Lightweight division has somewhat lost it's flair and star power in recent years with the move north of top fighters like Juan Manuel Marquez. Despite this however the division is actually packed with genuine world class talent such as current IBF champion Miguel Vazquez (31-3, 13) who defends his title this weekend against mandatory challenger Marvin Quintero (25-3, 21).
Whilst he may not being a big name in the sport, Vazquez (also known as "Titere" of "Puppet") is one of the sports truly over-looked fighters who lives by the old adage of "hit and don't get hit", which stands out even more when you realise that he's an out and out Mexican.
The 25 year old Vazquez debuted as just a teenager way back in 2006, losing his debut fight to current WBC Light Middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez via a close split decision. Vazquez built well after his debut loss and ran up 18 successive wins to move to 18-1 (9) before running in to current WBO Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, who scored a clear victory over Vazquez in a bout for the WBC Youth Light Welterweight world title.
After losing to Bradley, Vazquez won his following 3 bouts, claiming the lightly regarded WBC FECARBOX Light Welterweight title in the process before losing in a rematch to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez over 10 rounds. Since then however Vazquez has dropped down to Lightweight and really began to make a name for himself with 10 straight wins, including a decision win over the then unbeaten Breidis Prescott.
Alongside the win over Prescott, Vazquez has also gone on to claim the IBF Lightweight title (defeating exciting South Korean Ji-Hoon Kim to claim the title) and defend it 3 times with victories over Ricardo Dominguez, Leonardo Zappavigna and Ammeth Diaz.
In terms of his style Vazquez is very slippery. He can either fight at range disrupting his opponents with his long, accurate jab or he can stand in the pocket, moving and countering at will, with either body movement or foot movement. He hasn't any real power but he is alarmingly accurate and really frustrating for opponents. It also helps Vazquez that, at 5'10" he is tall and long allowing him to dictate the pace of the action with his natural advantages as well as his skills.
With Vazquez seen as the talented pure boxer, it may be fair to say that Quintero is much more of a banger, and his record reflects that with 21 stoppage wins from his 25 victories and an over-all KO rate of 75%. Despite this however his competition has been rather limited with just a solitary stand out victory standing beside his 3 losses.
Quintero debuted back in 2004 as a 17 year old and after winning his first 4 bouts he suffered his first loss, an opening round stoppage to the debuting Balam Castellanos (who would win just 1 of his next 5 bouts). Despite this set back Quintero rebuilt his career running off 12 straight victories (9 by T/KO) to move to 15-1 (11). Despite his growing record his most notable victory up to that point was an 8 round decision over the limited Wes Ferguson.
Just as it seemed that Quintero was about to get his career on track he would suffer his second career loss as Tyrone Harris stopped him in round 8 on a ShowBox Broadcast. Despite his reputation as a big puncher Quintero was unable to intimidate Harris who repeatedly landed solid, hurtful blows on Quintero before forcing the stoppage. Overall it was an embarrassing performance by Quintero and sadly for the challenger the most obvious sign that Vazquez will beat him with his jab and movement, two things Harris used wonderfully.
After his second loss Quintero once again started to rebuild, this time scoring 4 wins before stepping up a level and being stopped by Daniel Attah (who incidentally went on to fight, and lose to, Vazquez himself) in 2 rounds. Once again this was a case of stepping up to fringe level and losing, badly, for Quintero who seemingly found his own level.
Thankfully for Quintero he is now on a 5 fight winning streak, including a solid victory last time out against the highly ranked Filipino Al Sabaupan in what is easily the stand out victory on Quintero's record. Sadly his lack of quality wins doesn't fill me with much expectation going into this bout.
From what footage I've seen Quintero is limited, wild and whilst he certainly has power he doesn't seem to have the ability to land it against someone like Vazquez who will play the role of matador to the bull like Quintero. If Quintero can land a bomb we might see Vazquez troubled, but the champion has faced bigger punchers and made the look like amateurs at times (including Ji-Hoon Kim and Breidis Prescott).
As a big fan of Vazquez I'd like to see him make a statement here, and whilst he should win with relative ease I'd like to see him hunt a stoppage if he hurts Quintero rather than just putting on a masterclass. For Quintero to win he will need to show a lot more than he's ever shown so far.
Prediction-Vazquez by Unanimous Decision
Whilst he may not being a big name in the sport, Vazquez (also known as "Titere" of "Puppet") is one of the sports truly over-looked fighters who lives by the old adage of "hit and don't get hit", which stands out even more when you realise that he's an out and out Mexican.
The 25 year old Vazquez debuted as just a teenager way back in 2006, losing his debut fight to current WBC Light Middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez via a close split decision. Vazquez built well after his debut loss and ran up 18 successive wins to move to 18-1 (9) before running in to current WBO Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, who scored a clear victory over Vazquez in a bout for the WBC Youth Light Welterweight world title.
After losing to Bradley, Vazquez won his following 3 bouts, claiming the lightly regarded WBC FECARBOX Light Welterweight title in the process before losing in a rematch to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez over 10 rounds. Since then however Vazquez has dropped down to Lightweight and really began to make a name for himself with 10 straight wins, including a decision win over the then unbeaten Breidis Prescott.
Alongside the win over Prescott, Vazquez has also gone on to claim the IBF Lightweight title (defeating exciting South Korean Ji-Hoon Kim to claim the title) and defend it 3 times with victories over Ricardo Dominguez, Leonardo Zappavigna and Ammeth Diaz.
In terms of his style Vazquez is very slippery. He can either fight at range disrupting his opponents with his long, accurate jab or he can stand in the pocket, moving and countering at will, with either body movement or foot movement. He hasn't any real power but he is alarmingly accurate and really frustrating for opponents. It also helps Vazquez that, at 5'10" he is tall and long allowing him to dictate the pace of the action with his natural advantages as well as his skills.
With Vazquez seen as the talented pure boxer, it may be fair to say that Quintero is much more of a banger, and his record reflects that with 21 stoppage wins from his 25 victories and an over-all KO rate of 75%. Despite this however his competition has been rather limited with just a solitary stand out victory standing beside his 3 losses.
Quintero debuted back in 2004 as a 17 year old and after winning his first 4 bouts he suffered his first loss, an opening round stoppage to the debuting Balam Castellanos (who would win just 1 of his next 5 bouts). Despite this set back Quintero rebuilt his career running off 12 straight victories (9 by T/KO) to move to 15-1 (11). Despite his growing record his most notable victory up to that point was an 8 round decision over the limited Wes Ferguson.
Just as it seemed that Quintero was about to get his career on track he would suffer his second career loss as Tyrone Harris stopped him in round 8 on a ShowBox Broadcast. Despite his reputation as a big puncher Quintero was unable to intimidate Harris who repeatedly landed solid, hurtful blows on Quintero before forcing the stoppage. Overall it was an embarrassing performance by Quintero and sadly for the challenger the most obvious sign that Vazquez will beat him with his jab and movement, two things Harris used wonderfully.
After his second loss Quintero once again started to rebuild, this time scoring 4 wins before stepping up a level and being stopped by Daniel Attah (who incidentally went on to fight, and lose to, Vazquez himself) in 2 rounds. Once again this was a case of stepping up to fringe level and losing, badly, for Quintero who seemingly found his own level.
Thankfully for Quintero he is now on a 5 fight winning streak, including a solid victory last time out against the highly ranked Filipino Al Sabaupan in what is easily the stand out victory on Quintero's record. Sadly his lack of quality wins doesn't fill me with much expectation going into this bout.
From what footage I've seen Quintero is limited, wild and whilst he certainly has power he doesn't seem to have the ability to land it against someone like Vazquez who will play the role of matador to the bull like Quintero. If Quintero can land a bomb we might see Vazquez troubled, but the champion has faced bigger punchers and made the look like amateurs at times (including Ji-Hoon Kim and Breidis Prescott).
As a big fan of Vazquez I'd like to see him make a statement here, and whilst he should win with relative ease I'd like to see him hunt a stoppage if he hurts Quintero rather than just putting on a masterclass. For Quintero to win he will need to show a lot more than he's ever shown so far.
Prediction-Vazquez by Unanimous Decision
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