By Jake Donovan

It wasn’t necessarily by design, but it’s certainly a touch of class that Sammy Vasquez Jr. gets to headline a card near his hometown three days after Veterans Day.

The unbeaten welterweight, who serves as a Specialist in the U.S. National Guard, returns to the ring this Friday, as he faces Alberto Mosquera in a 10-round headliner at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Fight Week for most fighters means shedding those last few pounds, a media workout and on some occasions a meet and greet with local fans.

For Vasquez, this homecoming means so much more, given the Tuesday holiday dedicated to those who’ve served in the Armed Forces. While last Friday was reserved for shaking hands and kissing babies, Vasquez spent the weekend partaking in two separate Veterans Day parades, one in Pittsburgh before heading to a similar event held in his hometown of Monessen—roughly 45 minutes south of Steel City.

“We run a tight schedule, we’re super busy,” Vasquez (16-0, 12KOs) said of his pre-fight itinerary. “But you have to give back to the fans.”

Vasquez himself served two separate tours of duty in Iraq, the second of which prompted him to rediscover his boxing roots and get back in the ring. The southpaw made it as far as the semi-final round of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials to cap a brilliant amateur career before turning pro in April ’12.

All but three of his pro fights to date have taken place in the Western Pennsylvania/West Virginia regions, where he returns for Friday’s bout, which will air live on beIN Sports Live in the United States.

His most recent ring appearance was his most thrilling to date, surviving a shootout with James Stevenson before scoring a 9th round knockout in a free-swinging matchup of undefeated welterweight prospects. The bout took place at the very same arena as Friday’s show, but marks the first time in which any of his pro fights have been connected to Veterans Day.

“It’s huge,” Vasquez says of serving as an in-ring symbol for those who’ve served the United States in military. “To incorporate it… it’s just hard to explain how I feel. I am a veteran and know what these guys went through. It’s an honor to be the main event.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox