Vazquez gets some much deserved rest
One can forgive Israel Vazquez for his current break from the ring. Three successive exciting and brutal title fights against Rafael Marquez within a 12-month period have earned Vazquez a well-deserved rest.
Five months after winning the rubber match against Marquez, the Mexico native continues to receive plaudits from fight fans. The third Vazquez-Marquez match arguably stands with the Antonio Margarito- Miguel Cotto bout two weeks ago as finalists for Fight of the Year.
''People recognize me more than before,'' Vazquez said in Spanish. ``I feel great because I know I gave all I could in the ring against an opponent who is no slouch. Rafael is a tough fighter for whom I have great admiration.''
Despite his sabbatical, Vazquez, 30, remains involved with boxing. He is currently in Miami, working as an boxing analyst during the Summer Olympics with Rene Giraldo from the Telemundo network's local studios.
''This is a good opportunity to prepare for my future,'' Vazquez said. ``I want to retire when I am 32 or 33.
``I never had the chance to box in the Olympics and this allows me to be part, in an indirect way, of a very important event. Hopefully, the viewers will enjoy my observations.''
Fight fans certainly enjoyed his trilogy with Marquez.
Marquez won the first bout and the World Boxing Council super-bantamweight title in March 2007 when he broke Vazquez's nose early in the fight. Vazquez developed breathing problems and could not continue fighting in the seventh round.
Vazquez won the rematch five months later with a sixth-round technical knockout.
In the third match, on March 1, Vazquez (43-4, 31 KOs) retained the title despite suffering a fourth-round knockdown. Moreover, the knockdown energized Vazquez, who eventually floored Marquez in the final round to win a narrow split decision.
''We had known each other very well by the third fight,'' Vazquez said of his compatriot. ``After I got knocked down, I knew I had to give it all my best.''
Vazquez said he quickly recovered from the cuts and bruises he sustained in the fight.
''I spent many hours in the bathtub, taking warm baths,'' Vazquez said. ``Thankfully, my cuts were small and superficial and I managed to recover in three or four days.''
Although his fight calendar is open, Vazquez plans a return to the gym next month. And when he resumes his career, Vazquez won't rule out a fourth fight against Marquez.
''After the great and close fight we just had, people in Rafael's camp have suggested we fight again,'' Vazquez said. ``I don't rule out the possibility. Rafael is a great champion and deserves an opportunity.''
Article By SANTOS A. PEREZ
sperez@MiamiHerald.com
Vazquez just might be boxing's most admirable fighter
The best part of this job is access. A regular chance to converse with heroes about what makes them different. Or the same. Somewhere in that intersection -- how normal prizefighters consider themselves; how different the rest of us think they are -- is a comment on the human condition.
Making comments, of course, is the job. Except when you are with a prizefighter. Then, listening is much more important because writers who tell fighters things worry about what they're going to say more than they listen to what is said. Just like in life.
But there are those occasions when a writer is justified in saying something to a fighter. That's what this is about.
Early last week I got a press release from Desert Diamond Casino. It gave a general summary of the upcoming week's activities and included an unexpected treat. Israel Vazquez would be in Tucson as part of Golden Boy Promotions' fight week program.
Friday came and so did the drive to Tucson. The Sonora Desert doesn't change much over the 100-mile stretch between Phoenix and Desert Diamond, and there was plenty of time for reflection.
That returned me to a significantly colder place: Home Depot Center in March. Southern California is not the Arctic, but in March it was not warm. After the best fight we might see for 10 years, Vazquez-Marquez III, the media assembled in a conference room beside the tennis stadium -- as much for its warmth as what the participants might say.
Some of us needed a quote for our ringside reports, others material for a column. What we got was Team Marquez storming the room. Gary Shaw's permascowl and Jaime Quintana's ugly petulance. Rafael Marquez's dwindled sportsmanship could be forgiven -- he had taken hundreds of blows, after all. But his promoter and manager were a different story.
That night Israel Vazquez, when he was allowed to speak, set a new standard of decency.
As I drove toward Tucson four months later, I looked forward to measuring Vazquez. I wanted to know if he was as noble, alone, as he looked by contrast in March.
I arrived and took my seat at ringside. From Arizona to California to Nevada to Texas, there's not a better media section than at Desert Diamond. The cast of characters is always the same -- a bunch of young, witty scribes. A few of them had talked to Vazquez at Thursday's weigh-in. I was curious what they thought of him.
"You're going to like him," one volunteered. "Ask him a question, and he talks and talks," another answered.
In the night's co-main event, Jhonny Gonzalez needed less than a round to go through Leivi Brea. Since Gonzalez and Vazquez made the best fight any of us actually saw in 2006, and since Gonzalez has often said he wants a rematch, I shuffled back toward the dressing rooms with Vazquez on my mind.
He was on Gonzalez's mind too.
For the second part of this CBSSports article CLICK HERE
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