By Paul Padua
Bayamon, Puerto Rico – Boxing fans were in for a treat in Bayamon. This proved to be a great night of boxing from the performances of Wilfredo Vazquez and Jonathan Oquendo. Vazquez and Oquendo faced each other for the vacant WBO international super bantamweight championship belt.
The first two rounds were all about the two fighters trying to get a feel for each other.Vazquez was always finishing most of the rounds strong. Round two saw both Boriquas trade shots even though no effective shots went through. The levels of aggression from both fighters were vivid while the crowd was getting excited. Judges’ scorecards put round three in favor of Oquendo since his pacing was evident and some effective aggression came through against Vazquez’ defense. round four is where Vazquez tried to pace and position himself against Oquendo’s aggression.
Round five was a total war without any hint of letting up from both fighters. Oquendo seem to have peaked in this round, unleashing his payload against Vazquez who was hanging by the ropes. The Vega Baja native had one very clean uppercut to Vazquez granite chin. Later in the round, Vazquez had his back against the ropes as Oqeundo was on the attack.
Oquendo gassed out in the later part of the sixth and in round seven he was knocked down and stayed on his knee as the referee was counting. Three scenarios came into mind, its either he didn’t get enough time to recover or he really tired out while giving all he had in the previous rounds. Another reason could be that Vazquez was relentless in his assaults, which was very clear.
Either way, this was the better move, than to give all he had and exit the ring a beat up loser, knowing he had been out powered by the superior boxer. Oquendo could live to fight another day which is always the wiser choice. The fight took place at the Ruben Rodriquez Coliseo in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
