On Friday, June 5th at College Park Center at the University of Texas in Arlington, Texas, and broadcast live on ProBoxTV (7:30 pm EDT/6:30 CST/4:30 pm PST), junior lightweight Edward “Kid” Vazquez (19-3, 6 KOs) of Fort Worth, Texas, will take on Mexico's Daniel “Caballo” Lugo (28-3-1, 19 KOs) in a ten rounder. Presented by Pro Box Promotions and Sampson Boxing, the show's co-feature pits super middleweight knockout specialist Weljon “Triggerman” Mindoro (16-0-1, 16 KOs) from the Philippines, against proven Mexican warrior Elias “Latin Kid” Espadas (23-8-1, 16 KOs) from Merida. And in an eight-round lightweight attraction, Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia (17-1, 12 KOs) will face Bryan Jimenez (18-3, 10 KOs) of Nicaragua. Here is what Vazquez had to say about training camp, Lugo and more:
Q: How is training going?
A: It’s going great. It was almost a 10-week training camp. I took a break after my last fight to enjoy time off to relax. I haven’t done that in a while. I feel like for the past ten years I’ve been hammering. Everyone knows me as the guy who doesn’t slow down. I said ‘you know what I’m going to take a week or two.’ I still ran and ate healthy, but I didn’t do any boxing training or sparring for two weeks. It felt good. It felt like a clean slate when I came back. I was excited to be back.
Q: Did you jump back in the gym immediately after your last fight?
A: No. I have a six-year-old daughter and a wife. I spent time with them to unwind a little bit. Even when I’m not in camp, I’m always hammering, so for me to take some time to be more present and value my family, we all enjoyed that.
Q: Are you still getting better?
A: I’m still doing everything to the best of my ability. I feel like I’m peaking, but more than anything I’m maturing. I’m finding better ways to delegate my time. I’ve always been known to go hard every day. I’m a little smarter, a little methodical and little more tactical now. I'm not a kid anymore.
Q: What do you know about Daniel Lugo?
A: He’s a rugged Mexican fighter. He comes forward and he’s skilled. He has a good right hand and good body shots. He’s coming to fight. With as many rounds as he’s fought and the wars he’s had with Mendez and Lara, I know he’s a game fighter and he’ll bring it, so I’ll be ready for whatever. I hope he’s the best Daniel Lugo there is that night.
Q: Two of your three losses, Raymond Ford and Joe Cordina, were what some would say controversial. How do you keep from developing a chip on your shoulder?
A: It was tough. The first fight with Ford, that was my first loss. It was a little more disappointing than Cordina. Cordina being a world title fight, you would think I’d be more disappointed, but you learn that’s the way the game goes. There’s always some sort of politics involved or whatever you want to call it. At the end of the day, my job is to prepare as best I can. If I do that, the rest is destiny. I only try to control the controllables. That’s how I carry on.
Q: Have you always had such a positive outlook?
A: I think so but it’s also something you develop over the years of being a fighter since I was seven, so a 23-year career. There’s a business side to the sport too, so you learn the way the things go. Even with that said, I love boxing and I love what I do.
Q: You never miss a chance to pump up your hometown of Fort Worth. What makes it so special for you?
A: Fort Worth is everything. Our last world champion was Paulie Ayala in the 90s and he was a great world champion and one of the first guys who inspired me to be a fighter. We keep in touch. I think that after Paulie retired, the whole boxing scene in Fort Worth kind of faded out. It’s my duty to bring it back and keep it alive and try to inspire the younger generation coming up. It means everything to me to go to war and provide exciting fights and show these people we don’t get overlooked in Fort Worth. There are champs from Dallas, but Dallas isn’t Fort Worth. There’s not as much notoriety given to Fort Worth fighters. I’m a guy that can get some eyes on the guys here. It’s my duty to go to war and perform well and show them they can do it.
Q: What’s your goal for this year? Are you hoping to land a title shot?
A: As long as I keep winning, I’m hoping to land a shot soon. I’m hoping to capitalize on all the exposure I’m getting from ProBoxTV. I think they have one more show in Arlington scheduled this year. I’m not overlooking Daniel Lugo, but if all goes well, we will look forward to fighting in the fall and if I keep piling up these wins in spectacular fashion, hopefully it will lead to something bigger. ProBoxTV handles Angelo Leo. Although I’ve been 130 lbs the past couple fights, 126 lbs is still reachable for me. First though, I got to get through these guys.
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Also scheduled for that night:
In an eight-round welterweight bout, Guillermo Keb (14-0, 6 KOs) of Hunucma, Yucatán, Mexico, will face James Bernadin (13-4-1, 6 KOs) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania via Haiti;
Emilio Garcia (4-0, 4 KOs) of Laredo, Texas, will face Steven Thomas (4-1, 2 KOs) of South Carolina in a six-round welterweight battle.
In a six-round junior middleweight matchup, Malachi Ross (4-0, 3 KOs) of Grandview, Missouri, will look to stay unbeaten against Derrick Whitley (9-6-2) of Springfield, Massachusetts.
In the night’s televised opener, Carlos Martinez (6-0, 4 KOs) of Monclova, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico, will take on also undefeated Jesus De La Toba (5-0, 5 KOs) of Mulege, Baja California Sur, Mexico, in a four-round junior lightweight battle.
