By Michael Collins: IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (33-3, 13 KO’s) will be taking a long trip from his home country of Mexico to fight WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) on March 16th at the Wembley Arena in London, England.
For boxing fans that have seen the 25-year-old Vazquez fight in the past they’ll notice that he’s a tall 5’10” defensive expert that is great at making his opponents miss and paying them back with nice shots. Vazquez isn’t a big puncher but he punch hard enough to give Burns a red face in this fight.
This fight has the makings of a controversial decision. I think Vazquez is going to make Burns look bad for 12 rounds, avoiding most of his shots while hitting him from every angle like he does his other opponents but then end up losing the fight anyway. I just don’t know whether Vazquez will be given the decision. The fight is taking place in the UK, and Burns is the home fighter. Vazquez might have to really do something special to make sure he doesn’t end up on the losing end of the stick. I’ve seen more than a few fights where guys have gone and ended up losing a fight they should have won. Will this be Vazquez’s fate? I have a strong feeling it will.
Vazquez has looked really great lately, beating Mercito Gesto, Marvin Quintero, Daniel Attah, and Ammeth Diaz. His style of fighting is very hard to beat especially if his opponent is someone that comes forward trying to slug the way that Burns typically does.
Burns can’t win this fight by staying on the outside and jabbing because Vazquez will out-land him by a large margin, and it’ll put the judges in the position whether they should reward Burns for his occasional jabs or the guy that’s landing all the punches in Vazquez. If Burns tries to wrestle and hold all night, Vazquez won’t let him because he’ll keep moving to avoid Burns’ wrestling/clinching. And of course if Burns tries to slug it out, Vazquez won’t be there for him because he’ll constantly move and tag Burns with shots.
I honestly don’t see how Burns can win this fight without controversy other than knocking Vazquez out, and that’s going to be pretty much impossible. Given that this fight is possibly a prelude to a big unification bout between Burns and WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner, it could look really bad if Burns is given a controversial decision. I really hope the judges see the fight correctly and score the way it’s transpiring in the ring because a controversial decision won’t be good for anyone.