By Scott Shaffer

Another chapter was written in the proud boxing history of Panama as Roberto Vasquez became the 22nd Panamanian to win a world championship. Vasquez, just 21 years old, won the vacant WBA 108-pound title in his native Panama City by knocking out one of the best fighters in the weight class, Beibis Mendoza, in the tenth round.  The bout, fought at a furious pace, was a mini-version of Evander Holyfield-Dwight Muhammad Qawi I.  The stocky Mendoza played the part of Qawi, coming forward against the taller Vasquez, snapping his head back with pwer shots and winning many of the early rounds.  Vasquez's eye was swollen completely shut by the tenth round when Mendoza, a former world titlist from 2000-2001, began to fade.  Vasquez knocked Mendoza down twice in the tenth, and the second time Mendoza got up just as the referee counted ten.  The arena erupted with the kind of jubilation seldom seen in American boxing venues.  The young Vasquez is now 19-1 and will be promoted from his current #4 position in the Boxingtalk ratings. Mendoza, now 30-4, was rated #3 but wont drop too far off this world-class effort.  Boxingtalk makes this fight an honorable mention among the top fights of 2005, just a notch below Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao and on a par with Katsushige Kawashima-Jose Navarro. source: Telemundo