By Ernesto Castellanos, notifight.com
The lightweight champion of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), Jalisco's Miguel "Puppet" Vazquez, believes former world champion Marco Antonio Barrera is a prime candidate to challenge him for the title on June 4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Vazquez was in Tijuana for talks with his promoter Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions, and they discussed his next defense. He told Beltran that he would like to fight Barrera, a former world champion in three divisions. Vazquez provided a formidable boxing exhibition on March 12, when he easily beat mandatory challenger Leonardo Zappavigna to retain his crown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Vazquez will be in one of the stars to appear on the Staples Center undercard, where Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will go for the WBC middleweight title against champion Sebastian Zbik of Germany. Julio César "Pingo" Miranda will defend his WBO flyweight crown against Brian Viloria.
Vazquez became the IBF champ in 2010 by beating South Korea's Ji-Hoon-Kim in Laredo, Texas. Subsequently he retained his title against Ricardo Dominguez in Tijuana, and against Zappavigna.