Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Rafael Marquez to battle for chance at title - ESPN
Vazquez-Marquez bout Aug. 4
Updated: June 14, 2012, 7:19 PM ET
Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. and Rafael Marquez, both former junior featherweight titleholders, are looking for another title shot and will have to go through each other to get it.
Vazquez and Marquez will meet in a scheduled 12-round bout Aug. 4, at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico -- Vazquez's hometown. The winner will be in excellent position to challenge one of the titleholders at 122 pounds.
"It's all set," PR Best Boxing Promotions' Peter Rivera said Thursday. "[They will meet] in another war between Puerto Rico and Mexico. Next week, we will have Marquez in Puerto Rico for a press conference and officially present the fight with the boxers."
Indeed, it is a classic Puerto Rico versus Mexico rivalry fight.
"I think that the winner opens himself up for a significant fight at 122 pounds," said Carl Moretti of Top Rank, which is involved with both fighters.
Moretti said the bout was originally set to take place July 14 on a pay-per-view card Top Rank was planning at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. However, when Juan Manuel Marquez, Rafael's older brother who was supposed to headline the event, decided he was not going to fight on the show, Top Rank called off the card and found a new spot for the Vazquez-Marquez bout.
Vazquez (21-2-1, 18 KOs), 27, lost his 122-pound title in upset fashion to Mexico's Jorge Arce via 12th-round knockout in May 2011 on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley undercard. After winning a comeback fight against a low-level opponent, Vazquez, the son of three-division titleholder Wilfredo Vazquez Sr., dropped a decision to Nonito Donaire in February in a fight for a vacant belt.
Mexico's 37-year-old Marquez (41-7, 37 KOs) was a longtime bantamweight champion before his memorable four-fight series with Israel Vazquez, three fights of which were junior featherweight championship bouts.
Vazquez lost the title in the second fight and was unsuccessful challenging Toshiaki Nishioka for a junior featherweight title in October, losing a unanimous decision. Marquez bounced back for a first-round knockout of former featherweight titleholder Eric Aiken on May 5, setting up the fight with Vazquez.
The fight will be a pay-per-view in Puerto Rico and air on TV Azteca in Mexico. Moretti said an American television deal has not been worked out yet.
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