Edward Vazquez, in the eyes of promoter Lou DiBella and other boxing insiders, is an undefeated fighter.
Despite a few setbacks, the junior lightweight contender continues to move forward with his career and aims for another meaningful fight in 2025.
Vazquez will face Kenneth Taylor on Wednesday night at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The 10-round bout will precede the main event between IBF world bantamweight titleholder Miyo Yoshida and challenger Shurretta Metcalf.
Both fights will be streamed live on ProBox TV (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).
DiBella is confident that Vazquez will soon get another opportunity to fight a top contender, leading to a world title shot against one of the world title holders. He believes fans know what kind of fighter Vazquez is, despite the outcomes in the only two losses of his career.
“In my mind, Eddie Vazquez should have gotten the nod in the (Joe) Cordina fight and was clearly penalized against Raymond Ford,” DiBella told The Ring on Monday afternoon. “He is a champion waiting for a bigger opportunity. Hopefully another good win will help (make) that.”
Vazquez (16-2, 3 KOs), who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, defeated one-time ranked prospect Daniel Bailey by unanimous decision in his last fight on May 3rd. The victory over Bailey came about six months after Vazquez lost a final majority decision to then-IBF world junior lightweight titleholder Joe Cordina.
In February 2022, Vazquez lost by split decision to Ford, who would go on to win the WBA world featherweight title on March 2 of this year. Most boxing insiders and fans thought Vazquez did enough to earn the win against Ford in the clash between undefeated featherweights.
Since the loss to Ford, the 29-year-old has snapped four straight wins, including two straight split decision victories over Viktor Slavinskyi and Misael Lopez, the latter of which took place on a ShoBox broadcast on February 17 of last year. More than five months later, Vazquez defeated fringe contender Brayan De Gracia by unanimous decision.
Taylor (14-3-2, 6 KOs), who lives in Tyler, Texas, last fought on April 26, losing by majority decision to undefeated junior lightweight prospect Victor Hernandez. The loss to Hernandez snapped a three-game winning streak.
The clash between Vazquez and Taylor, along with the Yoshida-Metcalf fight, will be part of the Broadway Boxing card promoted by Lou DiBella. Portions of the proceeds from the Heroes on the Hudson event will be donated to military charities, including the West Point Society of New York, Merging Vets and Players, and the Headstrong Project.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
