This time next week our man is in the thick of it against the very solid Miguel Vazquez for the IBF title. I rate the IBF below only the Ring title in terms of credibility. This might be the best fight on the Cotto-Mayorga card including the main event. Lenny is stepping up to where recently, only Darchinyan, Katsidis and Bika have dared to go - big fight against top opposition in America.

Vazquez is certainly no Juan Manuel Marquez. Lenny has every chance of winning. Add the Australian-Mexican cultural tradition of aggressive toe-to-toe brawlers, it should be action packed. What do you guys think?

I haven't been this keen for a fight since Katsidis' last bout. It's a big stage and an even bigger opportunity for Zappa (as well as being a genuine title). If he grabs it with both hands and scores an impressive KO win, who knows where it'll take him.

I'm still 50/50 on the fight though. Zappa either gets the KO or he gets outpointed over 12. He had that great win in his last bout, but in my mind, it doesn't erase all the shortcomings he showed in the Angulo fight.

As much as I want him to win, I also want to see him tested first. I'd prefer he show he can overcome a bit of adversity rather than just blowing out his opponent early.

Interestingly, the bookies basically have this fight as a toss-up.

The Angulo fight was a bit of a robbery, but to that Angulo was a late replacement and three pounds overweight on the scales. This is a guy who went to war with Juan Diaz over 12 rounds.

Badly cut and 'losing', I thought LZ showed a lot of heart in a bad scenario. Even if he was unable to adjust the gameplan and neutralise Angulo's attack, he brought plenty of action and gave it his all.

Haven't seen a lot of Vazquez, but with only 12 knock-outs in his 30 wins, he's not a big bomber. Having been outpointed by Tim Bradley and a teenager named Alvarez, isn't a top-tier stylist boxer, but at 5'10" he's an awkward proposition for the shorter LZ.

This is probably the fight im most excited about this year so far. The other fight I would really love to see come together is Will Tomlinson and Ricky Burns. This fight should keep me satisfied for the meantime though.

Without a doubt Lenny has his work cut out for him, Vasquez from what ive seen is quite the boxer and what he lacks in power he makes up for with his chin. He has never been knocked out and he has fought Saul Alvarez twice and Bredis Prescott and has also fought above the welterweight limit, so i think it is highly unlikely that Zappa will blow him out like he did Kim.

I see Zappa taking the early rounds with his energy before the middle rounds favour the more experienced Vasquez before Zappa comes home hard in the championship rounds on heart and balls alone to win a close but clear UD along the lines of 8-4, maybe with a knockdown for Lenny and a point deduction against Vasquez who holds trying to survive in the late rounds.

Thats the dream atleast =]

I'm not impressed from the fights I've seen of Zappa - he'll need to put on a solid performance to convince me he's the real deal.

I'm not impressed from the fights I've seen of Zappa - he'll need to put on a solid performance to convince me he's the real deal.

I know what you mean. A lot of that has to do with the substandard level of competition in Australia. Moving up from the domestic scene to international level is not easy for local fighters. All of them have hit roadblocks. The level of competition and the training standards aren't good enough to produce world champions.

The proof is in the pudding. Only Tszyu and Darchinyan can boast legit world title reigns. Both migrants from Russia and Armenia respectively. Green and Mundine are paper titlists who won phony belts or belts against weak opposition. Both have manipulated boxing's weaknesses to make fake champs of themselves.

I'll be impressed if Zappa beats Vazquez.

miguel vazquez is an excellant technition. and knows how to move.
he wasnt making headway at 147 so he dropped down in weight and has been on fire. he's surrounded by pro's in his corner. margarito and capettillo.

zappavigna's in trouble here. he most certainly has a punchers chance.
but he's not on the same level.
this vazquez rules!
expect lenny to go down in flames late.

zappavigna can gain statis in a "good loss" here
oh. and vazquez is 5'10"

miguel vazquez is an excellant technition. and knows how to move.
he wasnt making headway at 147 so he dropped down in weight and has been on fire. he's surrounded by pro's in his corner. margarito and capettillo.

zappavigna's in trouble here. he most certainly has a punchers chance.
but he's not on the same level.
this vazquez rules!
expect lenny to go down in flames late.

zappavigna can gain statis in a "good loss" here
oh. and vazquez is 5'10"

Ji Hoon Kim was 5'9 1/2" and he went 12 rounds with Vasquez. He couldnt even last 3 minutes with Zappavigna so I dont think the height advantage is a big deal in this fight. Zappavigna will have to work hard and probably munch a few jabs in order to get inside, but once he does he is going to do some damage and put Vasquez on his bike.

Zappa was in the fight during the first six rounds, getting in some good inside and body shots, but he practically lost every round from 7 onwards - he couldn't handle Vazquez's movement and jab.


Oh well. :lol1:

Good learning experience for Zappa, he was beaten soundly but at least not in humiliating fashion. Vazquez' stock goes up in my book. He's a wily customer and definately in the mix at 135.

I think it was towards the end of the second round that I could see Lenny was going to have issues with Vazquez, especially his jab. He was just walking straight into them. Throw in some of those sticky angles and you could see it was going to be a long night.

It was worth it this time around, but I think that Lenny needs some careful matchmaking in the future. Awkward boxers at a classy level are bound to give him more fits than an in-your-face kinda guy. Bit more head movement would've been nice to see though.