By Mark Vester
After 19-months of being away from the ring, former champion Israel Vazquez (44-, 30KOs) got off to a very rusty start but came out in true form in the ninth round to stop Angel Priolo in the ninth round of their featherweight bout at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California. By the end of the fight Vazquez's face was a battered mess with swollen eyes and a bad cut above left eye, opened up in the sixth round.
Vazquez knocked Priolo down three times in the ninth to force the stoppage but it was very close due to Vazquez's rust. At the time of the stoppage the scoes were 76-76, 76-76 and 78-74 Vazquez. There will be questions about how much the Rafael Marquez trilogy took out of Vazquez - because Priolo lost seven straight fights coming into this contest - six of them by knockout.
I was a little rusty, but I wanted to knock him out, Vazquez said. I was really hungry for the win. Im a warrior, and Ive been showing that all along in my career, and now I want the big fights again. I was getting a little tired, and it took me a little bit of time to get my rhythm back, but my eye didnt bother me at all, Vazquez said. It was just the cut. I had a good opponent tonight, but I was hungry.
The fight was Vazquez's featherweight debut. He called for a fight with WBA featherwieght champion Chris John.
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