17.05.07 – By John Martinez, BoxingRealm.com: Moments ago, I caught up with the two division former super bantamweight champion Israel “ Magnifico” Vazquez. He was gracious enough to take time out from his gym work to talk about the upcoming rematch for the WBC super bantamweight title with current king, Rafael Marquez. Even though it’s early in the year, many people feel their first battle has been the fight of the year so far. Vazquez says that the rematch won’t disappoint. In fact, he pledges it will be better the second time around.
JM: Thank you for taking the time to talk with me Israel. How are you feeling mentally and physically since we last saw you wage war with Rafael Marquez?
VAZQUEZ: Mentally and physically I am 100 percent. I can’t wait to get back in the ring and fight again.
JM: I am wondering if you have studied the first fight yet, and if so, did you notice anything that you feel you will need to improve in order to be victorious on August 4?
VAZQUEZ: Well I think I could have done better with my defense. I did notice that. The real problem that I had was with my nose, but now that that’s been taken care of, I’m ready to go and can hardly wait to get in there and fight with Marquez again. We’re working on some things to correct and I can tell you that this next fight will be better than the first one.
JM: Going into the first fight, there seemed to be somewhat of a distraction regarding your trainer, Freddie Roach. What is the status as far as who is or will be training you for this upcoming bout?
FRANK ESPINOZA (VAZQUEZ’S MGR.): Well I don’t think we’re gonna have Freddie at all to be honest with you. I think that’s part of what happened in the destruction in camp. When Freddie took off for the important last two weeks of camp, I think that lead to the destruction in his camp. We can’t rely on Freddie and Freddie’s got to do what he’s got to do. Right now he’s training other fighters and I think he’s gonna train Bernard Hopkins now.
JM: Who do you have in mind to replace Freddie?
FRANK: Well right now he’s been conditioning with Justin Fortune. He’s always gotten along real well with Justin. We’re looking at bringing someone else in to help out and all of us work as a team since this is very important you know? I just can’t take the chance that Freddie’s going to step again you know? This is a very important fight and I can’t have any distractions for Israel. But we have to do something soon because we’re getting close and to the point we’re we’ll begin sparring, so I’m thinking by next week. We have to sit down and talk about it.
JM: Israel, what do you think this type of fight says to the boxing community when you have two warriors willing to step into the ring against one another, not once but twice without concern about having a loss on their record? It seems that too often, the public is fed fighters that won’t risk their record in order to take on the toughest challenges out there. What do you say to this?
VAZQUEZ: Well for me, it’s a personal thing. I want to make history by fighting the best and giving the fans what they want. I want to take the toughest challenges out there and I think there needs to be more great fights like this with two great competitors facing each other.
On Saturday August 4, WBC super bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez will defend his title in a rematch against former champion, Israel Vazquez live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING beginning at 9 PM ET/PT.
john@boxingrealm.com