by Ryan Burton
2013 has been a rough year for Miguel Vazquez. The IBF lightweight champion was scheduled to face Ricky Burns in a big unification clash before he had to pull out of the fight due to food poisoning. Shortly after the fight was rescheduled Burns changed promoters which effectively killed the fight. Vazquez is still upset that the fight didn't come through.
"I really wanted to fight Ricky Burns. We had an agreement then I got sick so it was postponed. We thought we still had an agreement but then it fell out. That was the fight I wanted," said Vazquez who indicated that he is still interested in the fight.
"I was willing to fight Ricky Burns in the UK. I still am very interested in that fight. That is the type of fight I want. I want big fights. At this point in my career big fights are exactly what I want. I know he has switched promoters. Hopefully the fight can still happen."
The Mexican fighter maintained a busy schedule in 2012 fighting four times. He has yet to fight this year and said that in addition to the fall out with Burns, fights against Yuriorkis Gamboa and Adrien Broner also fell through.
"It's been hard. I had the fight with Ricky Burns. Everyone thought it was going to happen but then it fell through. They offered me a fight against Gamboa [two weeks ago] which would have been a title opportunity for Gamboa. Then they didn't like the fight and chose to fight Perez instead for an interim title.
"That is a fight I really wanted but Gamboa and his people didn't want to fight me. It is hard to fight these guys when they don't want to fight me. I was offered a fight before against Broner before as well and they changed their mind too."
Vazquez hopes to return to the ring soon and said that if he can't secure a big fight in the lightweight division, he will look at moving up to 140 pounds. He thinks that he is having trouble getting a big fight because his rivals know they will lose if they face him.
"I think that deep down these guys know that fighting me will be a tough fight. They pick fights where the other guy doesn't have a chance to beat them," Vazquez told BoxingScene.com.
"They know that I can beat them so they aren't in a hurry to fight me. I just want to get the big fights. If those opportunities are at 140 then I will move up to 140."
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