Boxingtalk caught up with respected manager Frank Espinoza to get his thoughts on the recently inked bout between his charge Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez. Vazquez, the reigning WBC and Ring Magazine super bantamweight champion, and former IBF bantamweight titlist Marquez are slated to square off  March 3rd at

a site to be determined. Read on to hear Frank’s fight prediction, the latest news on Martin Castillo, and some fast facts on junior bantamweight prospect Manuel Roman.

FE: These are two gladiators, two Mexican warriors. The bantamweight champion and number one super bantamweight facing each other. I see a lot of sparks. This fight is not

gonna go twelve rounds. I believe Vasquez is very motivated. He’s fighting at his weight division, I feel he’ll still be the stronger guy at the end of the day. I think Vazquez wins by

knockout.

FE: No. It was a tough fight with Jhonny Gonzalez, but it was a matter of time when he started to slow down Jhonny and get into range. When he got into range, that’s when Vazquez’s experience and power came in.

Back to back? No, I don’t believe so because Vazquez has had plenty of time to rest since September 16th. I feel he’s rested; he’s ready to go again.

FE: It ranks right on the top. Israel’s always had a great heart, never backed down from nobody. These are the kind of fights he wants. He wants to be recognized one day as the people’s champion.

FE: Martin Castillo? His fight in Japan, they were even at the end of the tenth round (Note: Nashiro stopped Castillo on cuts at 1:02 of the 10th round to win the WBA title). He was coming on strong. He had received a cut over his eye and carried on for five or six rounds. It started getting worse in the tenth round. He was coming on; the other guy was slowing down. He would have won that fight.

Like I’ve said before, both of his losses have been because of cuts. In October, we did the surgery on him. They shaved the bone on both eyes. They took a lot of scar tissue out. The doctor said he can go back to moving around in the gym in January. February, we can start sparring, and April he can take his first fight. He had to lay off six months after surgery.

We look for bigger and better things for him, we want to get him a fight in April. After April, we want to start looking towards fighting (Jorge) Arce.

FE: No, we’re looking to bigger and better fights. We want to fight here in the United States where he gets more notoriety. We want to fight on HBO, bigger and better names. A lot of people haven’t seen Martin. He needs to get a fan base. He’s a great fighter, great technician. This is the place he needs to fight and be televised. Where people get to see him more (and) he’ll be more popular.

FE: He’s the super flyweight. He had 162 amateur fights, he only lost six. He turned nineteen in January. He’s tall for his weight division; he’s got long arms, a beautiful style. I see good things for Manny Roman. Very dedicated in the gym, a good work ethic. I see good things down the line. We’re going to bring him along slow and I see him being a future world champion.

FE: I’d just like to thank the fans for the support. I’d like to thank Boxingtalk for taking time out and interviewing me and for giving us the publicity.  Keep an eye out for our fighters. We’re thankful for everything.