Downtown L.A - On Saturday night at the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live, it was not an easy night for the former WBC Super Bantamweight champion, Israel ''Magnifico'' Vazquez (44-4, 33KOs). Vazquez showed the huge heart which has been his trademark by fighting through a horrible cut, and a swarming attack to stop Colombia's Angel Priolo (30-8, 20KOs) in the ninth round of a scheduled ten round Featherweight bout.
Priolo who came into the fight riding a six fight losing streak, was figured to be an easy comeback fight for Vazquez to get back into the swing of things. Following a year and a half lay off due to a detached retina and time off to heal following his rubber match win over Rafael Marquez, Vazquez needed to work some serious rust. Vazquez ended the first round with a small nick over his right eye and a bruised cheek bone.
Priolo stayed busy, landing at a steady clip. Vazquez has never been known as a defensive wizard, but the former "fighter of the year" stayed on course, marching forward just to fall behind the ball, with a potential stoppage as clean punching opened up a horrible cut over his left eye
The horrible cut over Vazquez's left eye was opened up in the third round which saw the ring side doctor take a close look in-between rounds. Vazquez slowly overcame the rocky start on the strength of the good work done on the cut by his corner. With sheer volume of shots, Vazquez utilized chopping body shots and hard head shots which kept Priolo from winning round after round.
Priolo would close the gap in the seventh and eight, rocking Vazquez in spots.
With the situation looking dire as the fight progressed, Vazquez who must have felt a sense of urgency entering the ninth round came out hard, landing several shots and dropping Priolo with a right hand. With the crowd re-energized, Vazquez once again put his shots together, dropping Priolo once more against the ropes. Priolo, barely beat the count. Vazquez went in for the finish with another series of shots, battering the Colombian down to the ground. In no shape to continue, the referee called the fight at 2:10 of the ninth frame.
