by James Slater – A few months back the very idea of Ireland’s Bernard Dunne fighting, much less defeating, the great Israel Vazquez would have been shot down with scorn, but not any longer. As fight fans know, the Dubliner shocked the odds and defending WBA super-bantamweight champion Ricardo Cordoba this past Saturday night, stopping the Panamanian in the 11th round of a truly great fight. Now, according to a news feature that has appeared in The Irish Examiner, Dunne and his team are looking to really cement the 29-year-old’s claims to being the best 122-pounder in the world with his first few defences..
Brian Peters, Dunne’s promoter, told the publication the man he wants most for his fighter next is none other than the superb Israel Vazquez – the man who gave us three incredible battles against fellow Mexican sensation Rafael Marquez. This is the fight Team-Dunne want next, but there are two problems that must first be overcome. Number-one, Dunne has a mandatory contender in the form of Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym of Thailand he must accommodate, and number-two, Vazquez has been out of the ring since winning the deciding fight in the trilogy with Marquez, in a fight that took place last March, with Vazquez later needing eye surgery.
But Peters is hoping these two factors can be dealt with, and that Vazquez, who used to spar with Dunne back when he worked at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym in L.A, will want to make his comeback fight one against the new WBA champ.
Peters spoke about his big hopes for the future.
“It’s early days obviously, and it looks like Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym could be our mandatory challenger. So I might have to fly over to Venezuela to meet with the WBA to see exactly what the situation is with that because my preference would be Vazquez,” Peters said. “We’ll have to see whether we can get in a voluntary and then give him [Kratingdaenggym] the mandatory shot.
“The other possibility is that we go straight for a unification bout with IBF champion Celestino Cabellero or WBO champ Juan Manuel Lopez. The WBC’s line at the moment is that Toshiaka Nishioka (of Japan) is the current titleholder but that when Vazquez comes back from injury he’ll be the champion. If Vazquez were the WBC champion today he would definitely be my first choice.”
So, there is some way to go yet before Dunne and Vazquez get it on; but the new champion must be applauded for even wanting to take fights such as one with Vazquez and the others Peters mentioned. Also, it has yet to be seen how much both eye surgery and the brutal wars he had with Marquez have affected Vazquez. However, if he’s still pretty much the same force he was before his layoff, the Mexican warrior figures to give Dunne one hell of a fight.
“There’s no doubt he’s [Vazquez] a fantastic fighter and the marquee name in this division,” Peters said. “But Bernard’s very familiar with him from his Freddie Roach days. He sparred with Vazquez and Manny Pacquiao at The Wild Card Gym.
“And why not stage it [Dunne Vs. Vazquez] in Las Vegas? I’ve no doubt we could take over The MGM Grand for a night!”
The already ultra-exciting super-bantamweight division just got even more exciting, and for that we must thank new WBA ruler Bernard Dunne.