Jesse Bam Rodriguez is confident he can beat Naoya-Inoue
ProBox TVBoth Edward Vazquez (130 lbs) and Daniel Lugo (130 lbs) have made weight for their WBC USA super featherweight championship showdown in the 10-round main event tomorrow night, Friday, June 5, live on ProBoxTV (7:30 pm EDT/4:30 pm PDT) from College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
ProBoxTV CEO Garry Jonas says Vazquez, 19-3 (6 KOs), facing Lugo, 28-3-1, (19 KOs), is an important part of his march toward a third shot at a world title after being unsuccessful in his first two.
“Edward Vazquez has been knocking on the door of being a world champion for years now,” said Jonas. “Starting with his world title loss to (IBF super featherweight champion) Joe Cordina, which most people think he won and his very competitive fight with future champ Raymond Ford, which a lot of people also thought he won. Edward has been on the cusp for a long time.”
In addition to the Cordina challenge, Vazquez also dropped down in weight last year to lose by knockout while vying for WBO featherweight champ Rafael Espinoza’s belt, in a fight that precipitated his move up back to 130 to stay.
Jonas says the 30-year-old Vazquez’s return to 130 lbs has done wonders for his prospects.
“He’s very strong at 130. We believe he’s now in his prime and has a serious chance at a super featherweight title. This matchup with Lugo is another step in that direction. We think it’s a very competitive fight, and if Edward doesn’t bring his A game he won’t come out ok. But if he’s as impressive as he was last time out, we will know he’s getting very close to ready for a title shot.”
Jonas says the co-main event is also an important career step for power-punching Filipino Weljon Mindoro, 16-0-1 (16 KOs), who will make his fifth ProBoxTV appearance to date and have his first 10-round fight as a super middleweight, against Elias “Latin Kid” Espadas, 23-8-1 (16 KOs), from Yucatán.
Mindoro weighed in at 162.6 lbs Elias Espadas came in at 162.4 lbs for their fight.
“Weljon has been scorching the earth with highlight reel knockouts at super middleweight. His power is real. But there’s a time to step up in every young man’s career. We think Espadas is the right measuring stick fight. We’re cautiously optimistic, but we know you learn new things about a fighter when you bring him up a level. It’s time for Weljon to prove he’s that guy in this dangerous fight and find out what he’s really got. I’m curious to see how it unfolds.”
Other TV Bout Weights
Alan Garcia 137 lbs vs. Bryan Jimenez 136.4 lbs
Guillermo Keb 137.4 lbs vs. James Bernadin 139 lbs
Malachi Ross 153.4 lbs vs. Derrick Whitley Jr. 155.2 lbs
Figo Ramirez 121.6 lbs vs. Roberto Tapia 122 lbs
