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Wilfredo Vazquez defends the WBA Featherweight Title against Bernado Mendoza on Showtime Boxing
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00:00The WBC title holder has become boxing's current longest reigning champion, has made more consecutive title defenses than anyone today, and has compiled more knockouts than any other strawweight in history.
00:15And tonight, as the first from boxing's smallest division to headline a Showtime card, it's Lopez versus South Korea's Young Sub Park for the WBC's strawweight title.
00:26Plus, also appearing tonight, it's another of boxing's best little men, the power-punching and always exciting three-time world champion, Wilfredo Vazquez.
00:37It's Vazquez versus Chili's Bernardo Mendoza for the WBA featherweight title.
00:43Coming up next, live from the Fantasy Springs Casino in Palm Springs, California, on Showtime Championship Boxing.
00:56Welcome to the Fantasy Springs Casino, located on a Native American reservation in Indio, California, just outside Palm Springs.
01:16And normally, we associate the Palm Springs area with warm weather.
01:22Well, today's high, check it out, 76 degrees, but the desert air cools off considerably at night here in December, a huge swing.
01:32The current temp, 58 degrees and dropping.
01:35Big difference from our last visit in June when the mercury at fight time rose to a scorching 130 degrees.
01:40As you can see, the fans are prepared, trying to stay comfy, and we'll soon see if the weather is a factor for the fighters.
01:49Probably not, as we present two world championships featuring the little man of boxing.
01:54Hello again, everybody. I'm Steve Albert. Glad you could join us for a first here on Showtime as we present boxing's smallest weight division.
02:03Little Ricardo Lopez may be the best-kept secret in boxing, despite having defended his WBC title a staggering 17 times in six-plus years.
02:13He's the longest-reigning champion in boxing today, and he's never lost, pro or amateur.
02:17Yet outside of the boxing fraternity and outside of Mexico, his name evokes little or no response.
02:24Let's check him out of the dressing room.
02:25He's the heaviest hitter in boxing's lightest weight class at 105 pounds, known as the strawweight division,
02:31and acknowledged throughout as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
02:35Yes, he is the smallest world champion, but that doesn't take away from his unique ability as a master technician in the ring.
02:42When Lopez fights, other fighters should be taking notes.
02:45He's a walking manual on the art of boxing.
02:51Another little big man you'll be seeing tonight, also deserving of recognition, is Wilfredo Vasquez,
02:57whose power and destructive force belie his 126-pound featherweight tag.
03:03Tonight's weights may be very low, but the energy level, the excitement, is usually very high
03:08when these unsung heroes of boxing step in the ring.
03:11Let's bring on the fight, Dr. Ferdi Pachanko.
03:13And, Ferdi, as good as Lopez is, can he ever take his place among boxing's elites?
03:18He'll take time.
03:19Shows like tonight, where people see how good he is and continue TV exposure, and as he goes up and captures these records
03:26and reaches the records of great fighters like Muhammad Ali and surpasses them, people will take notice.
03:31And if you watch him, you'll come to love him, as I have, and I think Bobby has, as a terrific technician.
03:37All right.
03:37As we bring on our other partner, our colleague Bobby Chez, it's Lopez's 18th title defense.
03:42Tell us about, though, his quality of opposition.
03:44Well, Steve, the universe of fighters at 105 pounds is very, very small.
03:48And the universe of fighters at 105 pounds that are near as good as Lopez is virtually nonexistent.
03:53He has fought all the best that would fight him at that weight, and now he's relegated to mop up the rest.
03:58Well, to get recognition, he has to move up.
04:00When's he going to fight 108-pound champion Michael Carbajal?
04:03You know, I believe he has to move up, too, Steve.
04:05I think 108 pounds and maybe even to 112.
04:07Right now, Michael Carbajal has three fights signed for next year, none of them including Lopez.
04:12And because of different promoters and different TV affiliations, that fight may never take place.
04:16But if it does, it wouldn't be to at least the end of 97.
04:20But either way, Ricardo Lopez has to go up.
04:22Are you saying perhaps that Carbajal may be ducking Lopez?
04:26Well, certainly one has to take one's own interest at heart, and to get beat is not in your best interest.
04:30Carbajal may be ducking him, and then again, he may be just looking out for what is the easiest, best way for him to capitalize on what he does best.
04:37All right, Bobby, as mentioned also on tonight's card, one of three Puerto Rican Wilfredos to win three world titles.
04:4335-year-old Wilfredo Vasquez recently joined former greats and fellow countrymen Gomez and Benitez as three-time world champions.
04:51And tonight, for the first time, he puts his WBA featherweight title on the line against number 11-ranked Bernardo Mendoza of Chile.
04:59But before we get to that, we take a sharp turn to the big men of boxing.
05:04Because earlier tonight, former IBF heavyweight champ Tony TNT Tucker faced Tyrone Campbell in a scheduled 10-round non-title bout.
05:11And let's take a look at some of the action.
05:15Tucker now at 36, tipped the scales at 251.
05:17A no-doubt-about-it finish, a vicious combination with a crunching left hook at the end of it.
05:23As the night was over early for Tyrone Campbell, hitting the canvas and ropes in emphatic fashion.
05:28KO round three, official time 216.
05:31Tony Tucker upping his record to 54-5 with 45 knockouts, trying to position himself now for a bigger money fight.
05:38And now, it's the WBA featherweight championship from Fantasy Springs featuring three-time world champion Wilfredo Vasquez versus Bernardo Mendoza as we close in on the first bout of our championship doubleheader.
05:54Well, when Wilfredo Vasquez met longtime champ Eloy Rojas for the title last May, many thought Vasquez was too old and too small to win.
06:05But the experience, power, conditioning, and heart of Vasquez vaulted him to his third world title with a stirring 11th round TKO.
06:13Tonight, Vasquez sets his sights on another ring veteran named Bernardo Mendoza, whose list of opponents is somewhat of a question mark.
06:21Since I wasn't an amateur, everything I have had to learn in boxing has been in the professional ring.
06:36I am very proud to have accomplished that and to be the first in history to do that.
06:54And my name will be heard for many years to come because of that achievement, or as long as boxing exists.
06:59I will defend my current title as many times as possible.
07:06But at some point, I would like a shot at the 130-pound title without being stripped of my current title.
07:14There are other Puerto Rican champions that have won three titles, like Wilfredo Gomez, like Wilfred Benitez.
07:22And I would like to rise above them and win the fourth title in the fourth division.
07:28So, can Wilfredo Vasquez hold on to his third world championship belt against a relatively unknown, yet vastly experienced Bernardo Mendoza?
07:37Ferdi, how do you see this fight going?
07:39Well, I think in competition, the competition obviously goes to the champion.
07:43He's been in great fights.
07:44Whereas Mendoza has had a long but career against who's, you know, against hardly anybody.
07:50So, therefore, I think with the desire and the capability that the champion has, I think this will be a fight that goes into the middle rounds.
07:59But a tough fight with the champion, should retain his championship.
08:02And talk about longevity.
08:03Musk has turned pro back in 1981.
08:06That's a lot of ring wars.
08:07Has it taken its toll on him?
08:09Well, I can only tell you what he told me yesterday.
08:11He wants to go until he's 40 years old.
08:14He wants to win a fourth title, be the only Puerto Rican to win a fourth title.
08:18Therefore, I think he wants to stick around a long time.
08:20It does take its toll.
08:22But then again, Mendoza's been in a lot of wars himself.
08:25And Bobby Chez, I was very impressed with the way Vasquez came back to win his third world title.
08:29He was really behind on the cards against Aloy Rojas.
08:32What did you think?
08:33Well, Steve, you know as well as I do that going into that fight, he was already a two-time world champion.
08:37So we know that he's had the abilities to win and win in crunch situations and pressure cookers.
08:42And that's what he was in.
08:43But with Rojas, I was extremely impressed with the way he overcame tremendous height and reached disadvantages.
08:48And when he hurt Rojas, he finished spectacularly.
08:50I'm expecting something similar from him here tonight.
08:53He looked great last time out.
08:54All right, Bob.
08:54We're set to take a look at the challenger in the ring.
08:57And there he is, Bernardo Mendoza.
09:00And, Bobby, this may sound weird, but is it peculiar to you that after 55 fights, Mendoza's nose is so perfectly intact?
09:09Steve, even when I weighed 105 pounds, I was 13 years old.
09:11My nose had some dents in it.
09:13I can't imagine a guy who has 50 semi-professional fights and not be a little banged up or flat in the nose.
09:17But on you, it looks good.
09:20Well, despite his many fights, Knight represents only his first shot at a world title.
09:24He's fighting tonight for the first time in America.
09:27The former Chilean 115-pound and 118-pound champ now campaigning at 126, his third fight at this particular weight.
09:38All right, here is the champion, Wilfredo Vasquez, his first defense of the title, his 17th world title fight.
09:4412-3-1 on those bouts.
09:46One of 20 triple division champs in boxing history.
09:48But, Ferdy, is that somewhat misleading since, you know, there are so many subdivisions in boxing today, junior this and super that, et cetera?
09:58Yeah, I don't put any importance in it anymore.
10:01When there used to be just eight divisions, if you could win three, much less four, you were some kind of freak of nature because it's not possible to do that.
10:08Now there is.
10:09It depends on your weight on what time of the morning you get up and what kind of breakfast you have.
10:14I think our multi-weighted partner, Bobby Chez, depends on the breakfast, can be at four different weight divisions under today's conditions.
10:22Bobby's breakfast always consists of Froot Loops.
10:25Yeah.
10:25And there are the three championship belts for Vasquez.
10:30Let's check the numbers as we take a look at the tail of the tape.
10:32Vasquez at 35, two years older than Mendoza.
10:35All the numbers fairly even, no major disparity.
10:38Mendoza one inch taller.
10:40He weighed in three pounds under the limit.
10:42And a slight one-and-a-half-inch reach advantage for the challenger Mendoza.
10:46Vasquez was at a bigger disadvantage his last fight with Rojas, and he won.
10:50And the WBA rules for this title fight.
10:53Ten-point much system scoring.
10:55Three judges will score.
10:56No standing eight count.
10:57Three knockdown rule is in effect.
10:58The referee or the doctor can stop the fight.
11:00A fighter cannot be saved by the bell except in the last round.
11:03If an accidental foul occurs before the end of the fourth round, the fighters rule the technical draw.
11:07If it happens after the completion of the fourth, they go to the cards.
11:11So here at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, closing in on our first bout,
11:16the WBA featherweight championship, Wilfredo Vasquez versus Bernardo Mendoza.
11:21We're set for the formal introductions.
11:22Let's go up to our ring announcer, Jimmy Lennon, Jr.
11:27Ladies and gentlemen, a very good evening to you,
11:31and we welcome you to the beautiful Fantasy Springs Casino
11:34here on the reservation of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians near Indio, California,
11:40as we have a big night of action coming away,
11:43brought to you by Don King Productions and Budweiser, the undisputed king of beers.
11:50This bout coming away is sanctioned by the World Boxing Association,
11:54the President, Gilberto Mendoza, Supervisor at Ringside, Manuel Landero,
11:59along with the California State Athletic Commission, the Chairman is William Eastman.
12:04Introducing to you the judges scoring this bout from ringside,
12:08Hubert Earl, Gonzalo Rivera, and Larry Rosadilla.
12:13Introducing to you our referee in charge of this bout,
12:16working in this, his 54th world title bout, Lou Moret.
12:22All right, fans, here we go with the WBA featherweight championship of the world,
12:28scheduled for 12 rounds of boxing.
12:31Introducing to you first the challenger on my left,
12:35fighting out of the blue corner,
12:37wearing white trunks, and joining us from Santiago, Chile.
12:41He weighed in at 123 pounds.
12:45His record includes 49 wins,
12:48six losses with 29 of his wins coming by way of knockout.
12:53Tonight he is attempting to be the first Chilean to win a world title.
12:57He is currently ranked the number 11 featherweight contender by the WBA.
13:01Please welcome tonight's challenger, Bernardo Chifeo Mendoza.
13:07Come on, Chifeo!
13:09Come on, Chifeo!
13:12And his opponent across the ring is the defending world champion on my right,
13:17fighting out of the red corner,
13:19wearing red trunks with white trim,
13:21hailing from Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
13:24He weighed in at the featherweight limit of 126 pounds.
13:29His record includes 46 wins,
13:31seven losses, three draws,
13:33with 35 big wins coming by way of knockout.
13:37Please welcome the three-time world champion,
13:40known as el gran campeón puertorriqueño,
13:43introducing Wilfredo Masquez.
13:47Once again, our referee in charge, Lou Moretz,
13:54now to give instructions.
13:57Solamente dos, por favor.
14:01Wilfredo.
14:09Oui.
14:11Dos solamente, por favor.
14:16Dos.
14:17Dos.
14:21Cuidado con tal vez adentro, peguen atrás.
14:25Los riones, la visos ahorita,
14:27dan la mano, espera la campaña.
14:29Buen suerte.
14:29so we're getting set for this championship bout the champion wilfredo vasquez showing much
14:39determination fortitude and endurance and winning the title last may a courageous 11th round tko
14:45over longtime champ aloe rojas he can bang and he certainly proved it and come from behind fashion
14:50the challenger bernardo mendoza bidding to become the first fighter from chile to win a world title
14:55not only his first fight in the united states his first trip to america as well he's been here about
15:00a week and feels well acclimated to the tricky altitude here the wba featherweight championship
15:07now officially underway scheduled for 12. third man in the ring is lou moretta of eagle rock california
15:14the champion wilfredo vasquez in the red trunks with a white trim the challenger bernardo mendoza in
15:19the white trunks with the powder blue trim interesting sidelight going in vasquez manager
15:23titulo zavala jr managed mendoza in 88 so mendoza said he's out for revenge feeling that his ex-manager
15:30hand picked him as an easy opponent for vasquez but vasquez told us that if he feels mendoza is a
15:37dangerous enemy because he comes in hungry and he has lots of experience
15:41you know steve when they touch gloves vasquez the champions banging the gloves pretty hard
15:48almost as if he had a little bit of a grudge going already
15:50right now all we see is an awful lot of movement uh by mendoza but meaningless movement
15:56it's just like a nervous movement vasquez feels he has the advantage because mendoza is not used to
16:02fighting at 126. mendoza was a national champion at 115 and 118 but tonight his third fight at this
16:11mendoza is not used to fight at this fight vasquez told us he's never seen mendoza fight although his
16:15people tell him he comes forward he's strong brave and tough
16:21vasquez a seasoned veteran classic boxer puncher he's a bundle of energy we saw that against eloy rojas
16:27very aggressive pressure type fighter straight up and he goes to the body a lot he got these little
16:33short arms he gets inside and pounds to the body i think almost anybody he fights has got a reach
16:37advantage over him but he seems to neutralize that by coming in and punching hard to the body never
16:42neglects the body he just did that just that moment he put a little hook to the body right now he's
16:47showing a lot of patience take his time getting a read on mendoza and i'm sure as this fight goes on
16:52he's going to pick it up and put it together oh he's measuring him all right he's just picking
16:59him here and picking him there just testing the defenses all the way around but you can see him
17:03zeroing in as you can see vasquez very busy fast-paced also economical with his punches that one right
17:11off the top of mendoza's head who slipped it he's got a good stiff left jab which he uses to set up a
17:16sneaky explosive right hand excellent tools well disciplined we're talking about vasquez the champion
17:22of the red also a very good defensive fighter is vasquez pretty good chin knows how to deflect those
17:31punches with his arms and elbows mendoza and the white the challenger told us the last time he saw
17:41vasquez fight was eight years ago describes himself as a boxer puncher uses both hands well and he said he'll
17:49try to work the outside but he is coming inside the mistake aloe rojas made in the last fight was that
17:57he fought too often on the inside and he had the advantages with reach and height heading for the bell
18:04round one
18:09as main corner said don't show your hands don't show them what you're going to do you're just
18:36telegraphing your punch get under and pound the body and of course that he will do
18:43he said keep walking don't go crazy throwing punches walk and take some blood coming right on his lip there
18:57must have split his lip he's got some blood coming from it awful lot of Vaseline on there
19:04it is round two yes a lot of Vaseline on the face of bernardo mendoza to try to prevent cuts he told us
19:15yesterday in our meetings he does not cut
19:17Vasquez's corner he may have noticed with a blanket over the fighter to keep him warm the temperature
19:24in the high 50s but dipping fast
19:27you know i'm surprised to see mendoza the first round he came down in low tried to work
19:35Vasquez's body the shorter fighter he crouched low inside which doesn't seem to suit him or his style
19:41this is the mistake as we mentioned that eloy rojas made i always say if you got a taller guy why is
19:47why is he bending down to the little guy bending down equals him out he's got the height stand back
19:52and use it you should fight vasquez from a distance right bobby well you know it would make some sense
19:58vasquez appears to be a better puncher and a better fighter overall on paper but sometimes what the bigger
20:04fighters do do is they come inside try to work a smaller fighter's body because most of the time it's a
20:10smaller fighter who is working the body no one ever works their body sometimes it pays off sometimes
20:15it doesn't those body punches are very debilitating particularly in the in the legs and it wears you
20:20down later in the fight
20:24vasquez 46-7-3 with 35 knockouts he's 35 years old at a bioma in puerto rico
20:31and mendoza 49-6 with 29 ko's out of santiago chile
20:37you see being the bigger puncher you would think that you would stay away from
20:39vasquez's power as opposed to pulling into it which is exactly what mendoza is doing and he
20:44leans in see how he leans in he makes himself the same size as the other guy negating his own
20:48advantage of size i mean every time i saw that happen the taller guy leaning in is the one he gets
20:54creamed and mendoza not a knockout type puncher and vasquez does have a solid chin so all things
21:02is pointing toward the favor of the champion will fredo vasquez here round two continue
21:09maybe mendoza corner thinks that he cannot box him walk him around getting frustrated but
21:14the game plan's not working right now
21:18vasquez told us his goal is to win four world titles perhaps move up to 130 to do so
21:24as he measures mendoza missing with that left hook okay there's some bad intentions on a few of those
21:29punches he was looking to take his head off you can see i mean for the first time in the fight he
21:34really loaded up three or four punches two of them landed but two of them didn't but boy he loaded up
21:39when vasquez gets down into that deep crouch he uncoils and really unleashes some vicious blows
21:46right now vasquez is having a little difficulty gauging and timing mendoza he's not getting off the
21:51counters to work the way he wants to he's having a little trouble with the awkwardness of mendoza
21:55and once he gets that in time and he's in tune with it he's going to be dangerous
22:01final seconds of the second round for the wba featherweight championship
22:05all right take a look and keep your eyes on vasquez you can see him
22:35tightening up that you see the right hand it looks like it's a cock like like with a rifle there it
22:39goes he missed comes back with a hook that missed but he's not through he's coming back for some more
22:44there's the right hand that did hit and the other one just grazed his forehead yeah you can see him
22:49he's got that right hand cock and he's kind of telegraphing what his corner told him not to here
22:52you go again he's reaching with a feeler like left hand just unload that right hand and he was trying
22:58to take his head off and that's exactly what the corner said to him again when he came back
23:01he said i see you did it again you loaded up and you couldn't uh land because you showed him you
23:07were coming and here we go round three vazquez has retired three fighters eloi rojas raul perez
23:15and chan you park he said he'd love to fight prince nassim hamed who he feels hasn't fought anybody who
23:21can punch a man of course scheduled to fight tom boomer johnson february the 8th in london
23:26wasquez feels johnson will win that particular what a great round robin that would be with those
23:32three fighters yes meanwhile vazquez says first things first he has to dispose of chile and
23:42bernardo mendoza and white trunks right great hey hey
23:49the referee lou merritt the right referee for this fight he speaks only spanish to both
23:53fighters so far he's been very good just saying listen to my commands break when i tell you to
23:58break referee lou morett he says what i mean out out right none of the fighters on this card
24:07here on showtime speak english as the temperature continues to drop here in indio california it's
24:15now in the mid 50s it started out close to 80 degrees this afternoon
24:19no no no no it's the type of fight where you see a lot of one two misses and then tying up and
24:26wrestling and when they do that that fight that type of fight will take its toll on you physically
24:30condition a big factor a ferocious straight right hand by wilfredo vasquez right on the jaw of mendoza
24:37starting to get that timing down i was talking about it looked like he threw it all away from
24:40left field he wound up and came what's that one point holding one point over at is taking
24:47a point away from the challenger mendoza for holding said you can't hold him you said it in
24:52spanish as if he's already has enough problems now they take a point away and now some low blows
24:58there by vazquez marrett didn't quite see it well he can ill afford that point and have to go put it
25:06on his credit card because he has no he's not out in front you know it's very much a tactic to hold
25:11and tie a fighter up when you're hurt or when he does certain things the way evander or if he'll
25:14be mike tyson tying over inside but technically believe it or not in the rule book holding is
25:19illegal look out of push there wild shots by mendoza but bernie and bobby he's leaving himself wide
25:25open but he has no regard for the fighter he has no respect for the guy in front of him he just figures
25:30this guy can't do anything to me and sometimes that's a bad mistake
25:33yeah sometimes that work you know the best leg plans in my cement time sometimes go astray and
25:42he seems to be loading it with big shots a little bit too much see that telegraph you can see it
25:46coming mendoza is getting vazquez very angry right now and vazquez looking to take it out on the man in
25:54front of him in vicious fashion he's measuring him out with that left there's a wide left hook a glancing
26:03blow by vazquez they both missed and at the bell mendoza did land on the forehead but nothing too impactful
26:16okay very upset with the referee we're taking the point away
26:26okay let him go when he comes in lift your left hand this guy is throwing right hand bombs
26:38let's see why they took that point away i really didn't see that it was that big a fault all during
26:44this uh round so far i didn't see him doing it that much but apparently the referee did
26:49see he's just holding on but uh not behind the head right let's see here he won't let go for the
26:54next part of the problem yeah that yeah the right right the referee got mad
26:59and there it is he takes the point away from the challenger bernardo mendoza
27:05who's already well behind yeah well you see he lost a round it's a 10-9 run now he lost a point on top of
27:11that's a 10-8 round well he could ill afford it since he'd blown the other two rounds and now round
27:15four of bernardo mendoza found out in round two why vasquez is the champion as he got hit with a number
27:22of good shots
27:29gentlemanly didn't take advantage of the slip he
27:32he he mendoza slipped on the corner ice there and he didn't take very nice of
27:38oh nice right right hand right hand by bernardo mendoza that got the attention of
27:43little friend oh vasquez out of nowhere you know i'm just going to say there's a little bit of a
27:47wealth around the left eye of vasquez one or two of those right hands must have landed and another one
27:51one just did and mendoza continues to bore in on vasquez vasquez looking to counterpump one thing
28:01about vasquez he likes the action in close he likes to fight and he's not one of these guys that comes
28:05here to do a little diffident work i mean he comes in here rolls up his sleeves and he wants to go at it
28:11the left eye of vasquez is as you pointed out bobby seems to be worsening it's getting red and ugly
28:17but you're right ferdy uh vasquez likes to lure his opponent into a street crawl yeah he didn't mind
28:23getting hit he doesn't mind at all so long as he can come back with two or three oh a short crisp
28:29left hook by vasquez who has some answers for mendoza you know right now vasquez doesn't seem quite
28:36as strong as he did even just a round to go there's a little momentum right here for mendoza but
28:41doesn't have what it takes to sustain some wild swings and misses by mendoza
28:46and you see the duck on her defensive moves by vasquez straight right hand by mendoza
28:51flush on the face of vasquez every once in a while he gets one in there and doing more damage
28:57inside than he was ever before he landed all the hard shots inside there i mean i agree with bobby
29:03the momentum has swung here this round as he gets braver that right hand made him brave
29:08last case trying to uh get down to that deep crouch to uh avoid being such a big target
29:17you know i think what's happened here is i think mendoza has taken vasquez out of his game plan a
29:23little bit got a little angry and frustrated make him try and almost get even immediately
29:27it's costing here the vasquez really using his ring savvy here his experience he's 35 you see
29:32the defensive moves he's catching punches with his arms and his elbows a lot of those punches by
29:37mendoza are not getting through mendoza's big left hooks from time to time are connecting
29:43taking some starch out of us has his leg well he's landed some very good right hands that's what's
29:47got him in the swelling and that's not calculated to do you any good i mean they build up
29:51build up and all of a sudden you're on the canvas if you don't watch out now as we continue to keep
29:56an eye on the eye of vasquez the left eye there's a welt under the eye
30:12and just tell him to go under and go over okay we're not much not much instruction in the corner
30:33all right let's take a look at the right hand that woke up vasquez and might have turned this round
30:44around it looked that bad right there but after let's take another look at it you know you take a
30:50look at it he throws it right down the pipe right inside the gloves and it's on the button and he landed
30:55two or three more several follow-up combinations let's take another look bobby i'm not convinced that
31:00that was such a big right hand i mean that one was see if that's the same one that different view
31:05looked different it looked more effective when it was live but not so much on the replay
31:09he ducked away from it he backed off either way it landed and i think that's a round i finally gave
31:14mendoza the first round that he's won the perception of the judges will be that it was a good point
31:19as good as round three was for vasquez round four looked to be mendoza's best thus far here we are
31:24round number five for the wva featherweight title well fredo vasquez on the red a lunging
31:31bernardo mendoza the challenger in the white vasquez looking sharp here as we begin round five
31:39he seemed to get back to boxing smart boxing he's the one with the championship experience let him
31:44fight his fight not let mendoza dictate it and that's a smart way to do it vasquez looking very
31:49focused here oh very low very low mendoza already having a point taken away for holding a few rounds
31:58ago and now low blow now mendoza going to the bicycle
32:09i'll tell you what vasquez uses his legs very well he moves out of danger very well he's a good
32:13defensive fighter he knows how to use his legs to move out of danger he doesn't stay there and take
32:19the punch classy fighter well discipline there's a slapping left hook by vasquez that back mendoza up
32:26mendoza tries to counter right now vasquez is looking to counter with big shots he's got to just
32:32ease up a little bit not load up wet so much let the combinations flow
32:36he's going upstairs and then mendoza trying to answer back with a wild left hook they're swinging
32:46a miss well vasquez is back on track i mean this round he got discombobulated that last round
32:58referee lou moret has to break them up he's been a busy man
33:02he's been a busy man he touched gloves no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no
33:08no more holding says barrett and butting both guys have complained about putting heads
33:13we've seen just about every foul now there is in the book well i think either one of those was
33:17intentional i mean neither the low blow nor the headbutts mendoza's just ducking he's coming in
33:22he's throwing a shot oh there it is big right hand right hand by vasquez down goes mendoza
33:27down for the third time in his career oh he did did he make it okay he just made it
33:37he just made it but i don't think he's gonna make it too much lower the round yeah this could be in
33:42trouble this is over vasquez they throw the towel from the mendoza corner and this one is you could
33:47see he didn't know where he was he got up i'm not even sure he tried to beat the count he just stood
33:51up because his body almost reacted it was a great right hander you see again punching power the pace
33:57of a champion it was strictly instinctive that he got to his feet at 10. yeah it's a very good
34:03thing that they stopped well it was pointless to continue but uh those right hands that he was
34:08throwing one of them was going to land and when it did it had the signature of knockout on it
34:12so there you have it wilfredo vazquez
34:30has done it makes his first defense of the wba featherweight championship raising his record in world
34:36championship fights to 13 3 and 1 and overall now as he's hoisted on the shoulders of his manager
34:43tuto zapala jr 47 7 and 3 at the age of 35 wilfredo vazquez literally and figuratively on top
34:54he's one of only 20 men in boxing history to win three world titles and let's take a look at some of
35:05the action well here you see a classic right overhand right right on the button and those are lazy with
35:10his jab lets it stay down and doing what he does vasquez over the top here you see we have another look at
35:16it and he comes again he puts that jab he lets it fall and bang over the top picture perfect looping
35:22overhand right right on the jawline and you can see how hurt mendoza really is
35:29and this is pretty much the coup de grata fights practically over he is out on the ropes he's just
35:33trying to survive he gets hit now at another right hand on the chin right on the chin line
35:38and this fight's over he's out it is all over for bernardo mendoza as we take one more look
35:45and once again right before he gets hit with his right hand at the corner had already thrown in the towel so
35:49it was academic but what a exclamation point put on that statement
35:55beautiful right hand big finish
35:58for wilfredo vasquez who retains his wva featherweight championship gets the hugs
36:05from his handlers and has some post fight comments right there let's get the official time from our
36:12ring announcer jimmy lennon jr ladies and gentlemen we have the time of two minutes 37 seconds of round
36:21number five our referee in charge lou barrett stops the contest he's the winner by way of knockout and
36:28still champion wilfredo vasquez
36:37well fredo vasquez retains his wva featherweight title his first defense of the title as bernardo
36:44mendoza slips to 49 and seven the question now will vasquez look to unify the title against
36:50either ibf champ tom boom boom johnson flashy wbo champ prince nasim hamed or wbc champ luis espenoza
36:59time will tell coming up next boxing's lightest weight class the straw weights take center stage as
37:04we go into the dressing room of long time wbc champ ricardo lopez one of the hardest punchers in the
37:10lighter weight classes the undefeated lopez has knocked out 33 of his 43 opponents 16 of his 33 kos in
37:17three rounds or less also a brilliant ring technician a gentleman and we underline the
37:22the term gentleman who epitomizes the expression sweet science he'll look to continue his long reign
37:29as champion against beyond sub park and right now we are set for post-fight reaction from our previous
37:36bout as we take it up to the fight dr ferdy pacheco in the ring ferdy campeón tu cree que eso iba
37:42hacer tan fácil do you think that was going to be that easy no este pensaba que iba a ser fácil pero
37:47estos peleadores así este ticket eran loco a veces hacen de lucir a uno un poco he said no i didn't
37:55think it was going to be that easy but guys that throw punches that crazy sometimes make you look bad
37:59and he didn't think he looked good at the beginning uh usted pensó que el nocari va venir temprano cuando
38:05empezaste a conectar con la derecha did you think that the right hand was going to start to knock him out
38:09early he said that his corner was telling him he's a little bit too crazy looking for it if he just
38:29settled down and goes instead of looking for the knockdown then he would get it and of course that's
38:34exactly what happened he settled down into his routine and his championship routine and he got
38:38him now we're going to try to show you the knockdown champion vamos a ver el knockdown campeón usted
38:43habla ahí estuvo la derecha que la tuve buscando por mucho tiempo y no la había podido conseguir
38:48en los primeros asaltos pero cuando de mi esquina mi entrenador Luis Rodríguez ya le mató me mandaron
38:53a que buscar en loco con calma que iba a salir pues así lo hice salió el knockout esta fue la última
38:58el último knockdown no podía levantarse ese correcto el golpe fue demasiado fuerte y yo sabía que no se podía parar
39:05he said that the right hand that he was throwing at the beginning was just too crazy and too hard
39:09dennis corner said settle down now go for the right hand you can knock him out now of course he did that
39:13when he got up again he said he thought that was properly he hit him real hard he wasn't going to
39:17get up and at the end of the fight he assumed that it was correct the guy wasn't going to get up the
39:22right hand finished him he is he is uh dedicating this fight to pacheco not me but but a guy that
39:35does cartooning although i i do cartooning as well but not me a guy in puerto rico named pacheco god
39:41bless him whoever he is and uh what's next yeah that keep on there bueno yo quiero que don king
39:47me ponga unifical el titulo con tom johnson or el principe y después puede buka buka luna
39:53oportunidad una oportunidad en la ciento 30 para hacer historia con cuatro correas en distintas
39:59all right it's uh tom jones then to royalty the prince or whoever wins either one and then he wants
40:05to go and look for the belt the fourth belt could that be possible don don king is standing right next
40:10yes he can i think that he's going to get a shot at the winner of the prince nassim and uh tom boom
40:15boom johnson fight that will take place february 8th in london that's going to be a giant fight with
40:20two little guys but they're going to really be an explosion and vasquez is standing in the wings
40:24waiting you know uh for the encore and so he really got a shot at it and after he does that he wants to
40:29go up and get the fourth belt he's a phenomenal fighter we're afraid of vasquez all of the world is
40:34proud of him but especially a puerto rico all right thank you very much don thank you campeon
40:43and back to steve albert at ringside and i thank you for
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