Miguel Vazquez successfully defends title in New York, is Mercito Gesta next in line?
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 28 Oct 2012
New York, NY - IBF lightweight champion, Miguel Vazquez 32-3 (13 KO) successfully defended his 135 pound strap against a tough challenger in Marvin Quintero 25-4 (21 KO).
The 25 year old Vazquez eked out a closely contested 12 round Split Decision victory against Quintero at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York. Two judges at ringside have it on his favor with scores of 116-112 and 118-110 while a third judge gave Quintero the fight with a tally of 115-113.
Vazquez out-punched and out-landed the shorter Quintero who is the IBF's number one challenger to his belt. Vazquez landed 189 punches compared to 159 by Quintero in the opener of HBO's installment of it's Boxing After Dark (BAD) show.
The champion used good ring mobility and excellent jabbing in keeping his foe at bay. He would sneak in his right hand after his jabs which would score for him.
But Quintero was game and tough. He closed the distance between him and Vazquez in the end of the 2nd and 5th round. He was able to land meaningful punches on the champion. Quintero went hard to Vazquez's body and that opened up opportunities for him upstairs. He out-landed Vazquez because of that in the 7th and kept the bout close.
Vazquez used his uppercuts when Quintero closed the distance between them. A left straight scored for him in the 10th and he squeezed in a stinging uppercut that caught his opponent. He dominated the succeeding round as his combos and uppercuts worked for him. The champion finished the 12th round strongly in order to get the nod from two of the judges at ringside.
Miguel Vazquez has been mentioned prominently by the camp of undefeated Filipino lightweight contender, Mercito Gesta.
Gesta's camp has informed this Philboxing.com writer that talks of him fighting Vazquez has been brought to them by their promoter, Top Rank.
If Vazquez were to win tonight and without suffering any cuts or injury, Top Rank has told Team Gesta that they will try to make that fight happen.
The bout is being planned for the undercard of Gesta's fellow Filipino fighter, Manny Pacquiao who squares off with rival, Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico on December 8th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Vazquez versus Gesta championship match will complement the theme of that huge boxing event that night, which is looking to be a Philippine versus Mexico extravaganza. Three other Filipino fighters are reported to be included in that card and will most likely face Mexican opponents that night.
Gesta watched the fight in television intently in San Diego where he is based and spoke to Philboxing.com after the bout.
"It looks like it is hard to fight this guy," was Gesta's assessment of Vazquez.
"It looks like he does not know how to box but he looks like a had fighter to fight," he added.
Gesta hopes that the fight between him and Vazquez can push through and that papers will be signed between the two camps to make the fight official.
"He has no cuts and he's not beat up. I think yeah. I think that fight might go through," an optimistic Gesta uttered.
"We will just be waiting for the papers to be signed and everything so everything will be sealed," Gesta said.
That fight will be up to Miguel Vazquez and his camp who has been a success in his reign as a lightweight champ so far.
You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .
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