By Jake Donovan

Guaranteeing victory against a fighter on the level of former lightweight champion is a tall order in and of itself. To promise a fan-friendly fight against him, especially when it requires adapting your own style?

Argenis Mendez is up to the task. 

The former super featherweight champion is ready to reveal a new-and-improved version when he faces Vazquez on October 6 in San Antonio. Their bout serves as the co-main event of Premier Boxing Champions' PBC on Fox: Toe To Toe' series on Fox Sports 1. 

"My team (Garry Jonas and Henry Rivalta of Probox Management) was always trying to convince me to be more aggressive," Mendez (22-3-1, 12KOs) told BoxingScene.com, noting that his past several fights - including a his title-losing effort to Rances Barthelemy last summer - haven't exactly been wall-to-wall entertainment. "I've always been a good puncher, but by focusing on defense I was doing my opponents a favor by not applying more pressure in fights."

Both fights with Barthelemy served as borrowed time for Mendez as a super featherweight. The standout boxer from Dominican Republic wanted to remain at 130 lbs. long enough to win and eventually unify titles. He managed one championship win, a savage knockout of Juan Carlos Salgado in their March '13 rematch to avenge a disputed points loss 18 months prior.

However, the unification bouts never came about, nor did another winning performance. Mendez was held to a debatable draw versus Arash Usmanee in their Aug. '13 ESPN-televised main event, and then fought to a no-contest and points loss to Barthelemy in his lone two performances of 2014.  

A move up in weight resulted in Mendez returning to the win column, knocking out Daniel Evangelista in six rounds this past February. 

"I finally conquered my defense-first mentality," Mendez recognized. "I've been working on this for a year and the results were great in my last fight. My punch outpout doubled. I never knocked anyone down 4 times in a fight! 

"I finally let my hands fly and I was amazed how well it worked for me and in fact I got hit less, I guess it's true that the best defense is a good offense."

He now has to put those words to action against a fighter whose bouts are normally the exact opposite. 

"I've been working for months for Vasquez," Mendez promises. "We all know what he does, he circles and jabs and then grabs if you cut him off and get too close. I promise the fans, tune into this and see me corner him and jump him and let my hands fly. I've always been a good puncher but didn't use it, now that's changed. I wil force Vasquez to fight and I won't let him hold me. I'm going to be like a lion let out of a cage. I'm determined to make this an entertaining fight and show boxing fans how good I really am.

"Al Haymon and Luis DeCubas Jr beliive in me, even after losing my belt at 130. I'm not going to let this be a boring fight, I owe them and the PBC movement that much."

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Facebook Page: JakeBScene