By Ian S Palmer
IBF Lightweight Champion Miguel Vazquez of Mexico will be attempting to defend his title against American Mickey Bey on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather vs Marcos Maidana rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this Saturday, September 13. The 12-round contest will be broadcast on BoxNation in Britain as well as on pay-per-view in North America. Vazquez is on quite a roll as he hasn’t been beaten since Canelo Alvarez accomplished the feat back in 2008. Bey has won two in a row since John Molina stopped him in the last round in July of 2013.
Many fans might be surprised to learn that Vazquez is still just 27 years old. He’ll be entering the ring with a record of 34-13 along with 13 Kos. The 31-year-ol Bey also has an impressive record at 20-1-1 with 10 Kos to his name. Vazquez has an inch reach advantage at 5-feet-10 inches to Bey’s 5-foot-9. He’s also got a three-inch reach advantage to utilize. Vazquez has a lot more experience since he’s fought 251 rounds as a pro compared to 116 by Bey. Vazquez last fought in February when he beat Denis Shafikov by a unanimous decision and Bey’s last outing was in May when he took a 10-round unanimous decision against Alan Herrera.
Vazquez has faced the tougher opposition over the curse of his career, but he’s not as popular as he’d like to be since he’s not an overly-exciting boxer. He’s certainly got a lot of boxing skills to call upon and doesn’t really carry much in the way of power. Bey’s not much of a power puncher either and possesses decent boxing skills of his own. Vazquez is also an excellent defensive fighter and prefers to box from the outside. Bey has good hand speed and decent footwork. He had a good amateur career and made the 2004 Olympic team by beating Brandon Rios, but missed the event after he became ill.
Vazquez has been beaten a pair of times by Alvarez and once by Timothy Bradley and one of the reasons was because he doesn’t let his hands go enough as he’s more concerned about not getting hit. He’ll need to throw punches against Bey or he may find himself being outworked. One of Bey’s weaknesses is his chin since Molina knocked him out and Herrera dropped him a few months ago. Vazquez isn’t known as a hard hitter, but can stop anybody with a perfectly timed and placed shot.
Vazquez can fight just as well on his back foot as he likes to jab his opponent while he’s moving in. This makes the champion hard to get close to and he usually ends up out boxing his foes. This makes it a pretty tough task for Bey and the challenger will simply have t try to outwork him over 12 rounds and hope for the best.
Prediction
This fight could be a bit of a snooze fest since both guys prefer to box instead of brawl. It’s likely to go the distance as both Vazquez and Bey are relatively light hitters. Whoever presses and initiates the action should have the advantage here. Basically the guy who throws the most punches here and takes the initiative will have a good shot at winning. However, Vazquez has too much experience and skill for Bey and should hang onto the belt by a decision.
