Former lightweight and super lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez is at a crucial and paradoxical place in his career, right now. On the one hand, the 29 year-old has lost two out of his last three contests.
On the other, he's still a respected big name, and he gets to headline Saturday's FS1 and FOX Deportes card. Flipping that coin, so to speak, once more however, and it is worth noting that Vazquez is having to fight a short-notice replacement who happens to be a bit bigger than him, Saturday.
"Titere" isn't letting any of those more challenging aspects of his current situation faze him, however. Speaking to FOXSports, he said of fighting new opponent Erick Bone, "You know, it doesn't really bother me much."
"I was already training with righties and lefties, so it didn't make much of a difference."
Vazquez takes his confidence from his preparation under coach Javier Capetillo Sr. They are ready for a fighter with a different stance than their original opponent, and they're ready to deal with a bigger rival.
Bone is a bonafide welterweight but Capetillo Sr. told us that that Vazquez won't have a problem with that, either. "He's already fought bigger guys before, like [Saul] 'Canelo' [Alvarez]. We're not worried about size," he explained.
"Miguel is ready to move up in weight. 135lbs was beginning to be hard to make."
If Vazquez has outgrown lightweight and super lightweight divisions, he'll still need to shake the losing feeling out of his head after dropping decisions in two out of his last three.
Fortunately, that is something he's always been able to do. Throughout his long career, Vazquez has always been able to bounce back from any loss, to get a win.
Once again, he credits a focus on preparation. "I just try to focus on working harder, doing things better," he continued.
"There's always something you can do better, so if I adjust my training in ways I need to, I know I can improve."
Vazquez may believe he deserved to beat Mickey Bey back in 2014, when the judges gave it to Bey by split-decision, but he still considers himself a work in progress whose greatest glories are ahead of him. Assuming things go well for him against Bone on Saturday, Vazquez says he'd like to fight Adrien Broner, and win a title at 140 pounds.
Team Vazquez has long believed that they were entitled a rematch against Bey. Ahead of this next fight, the coach once more insists that they've been made big promises by their promoter, and hopes that, this time, things work out.
"We were promised that if he wins this one, he'll get a title-shot," he said.
"So, we'll see if that's true."
