WILFREDO VAZQUEZ Jr. vs ZSOLT BEDAK

Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. is looking like an emerging Puerto Rican superstar, with the moves and power of his father and trainer, Wilfredo Sr., who was a world champion at three weights.

Vazquez has made astonishing progress. He had no amateur experience to my knowledge, yet after 19 fights he is looking like a seasoned professional.

On Saturday, Vazquez defends his junior featherweight title against Hungary’s Zsolt Bedak and he is, of course, a massive favourite.

Although Bedak has won 15 fights in a row and was an experienced amateur he is little known outside hard-core boxing circles. Bedak has stopped only five opponents, which suggests that he is not much of a puncher. Vazquez, meanwhile, has won 15 fights inside the distance.

Bedak, 26, faces a formidable task. Vazquez, 25, is clearly much the bigger puncher, he looks the bigger, stronger man, and he is on home ground in Puerto Rico. The fans in the Island of Enchantment have fallen in love with Vazquez, in part because of the backstory of a son trained to achieve glory by a well-respected father who brought honour to Puerto Rican boxing. There will be a thunderous reception for Vazquez when he ducks between the ropes, while Bedak is likely to be lustily booed.

The whole promotion seems to be set up as a triumphant night for Vazquez. His opponent’s picture doesn’t appear on the fight poster.

Vazquez looked sensational in his last fight when he blew through the unbeaten Filipino Marvin Sonsona in four rounds. This had looked, on paper, like being a competitive contest but it proved to be man against boy. Vazquez’s body punching was of the highest order.

Has Bedak got a chance in Saturday’s PPV event?

I think he has.

Bedak has been a 122-pounder his while career, whereas Sonsona was moving up two weight divisions. Sonsona couldn’t keep Vazquez off of him and seemed to give up after a couple of rounds. Bedak had a long career in the amateurs, which included boxing in the Athens Olympics and in the world championships in Thailand and China. He was a silver medallist in the European Union championships and he twice defeated Abner Mares in the amateurs, first in the Acropolis Cup, then in the first series of the Olympics (Bedak went out to a Ukrainian boxer at the second stage).

Although Bedak usually wins by decision he does seem to have quite a sharp left hook. He has stopped three of his last four opponents, and he dropped the Colombian veteran Franklin Teran with a left hook in the opening round. Bedak calls himself “Mr. Left Hook” and the monicker is apt.

Of course, Bedak must be careful not to get into an exchange of firepower with Vazquez. As the old-time trainers would say: “Don’t hook with a hooker.”

If Bedak can hit and move, however, and not stay in front of Vazquez too long, he can do well.

Bedak, from what I have seen of him, is speedy and smart. He has been matched carefully, but the same could apply to Vazquez.

They have an opponent in common, the Mexican trial horse Jorge Cardenas. Bedak outpointed Cardenas in a tough, close fight in Germany a couple of years ago, just four months after Vazquez had boxed a draw with the same fighter in Mexico. These results are comparable because I believe that Vazquez suffered an injured hand against Cardenas; without this he would surely have won.

One of Bedak’s result that concerns me is his majority decision win over a Ukrainian fighter named Mamed Yagdarov in September 2007. Yagdarov entered the ring with a record of three wins and three losses in six bouts, but he pushed Bedak awfully close. Looking a little deeper, though, maybe Yagdarov is better than his record suggests. Two of his three losses were to unbeaten boxers, the other was to the excellent Oleg Yafimovych, and he is on a run of 10 wins in a row.

Bedak is trained in Germany by former champ Artur Grigorian and should be well conditioned. He seems confident.

If Bedak is going to upset the odds he will have to do so with speed, getting in, getting out, moving off laterally when Vazquez seeks to close the range and hammer him with hooks. Vazquez is much the stronger puncher, but I think that Bedak might hit with enough authority to get some respect.

It might not mean anything, but Bedak is the WBO’s mandatory challenger, which means that this is a fight that the Vazquez camp might not necessarily have wanted to make but one they were obliged to take.

I do believe that this fight is by far Vazquez’s toughest test. With the self-belief of a champion, and knowing he is far more powerful than his opponent, Vazquez could simply come out and ride the roar of the crowd to an exciting and impressive victory. I can see some problems for Vazquez, though. I believe Bedak has the seasoning, smarts and skills to give him problems.

I don’t see Bedak collapsing at the first whiff of gunpowder. Vazquez should win but I can’t get away from the notion that there could be a surprise on Saturday night.

NOTE TO READERS: Due to technical problems beyond my control I'm currently unable to upload images but I hope to be adding text while the site is being reconstructed. I'm glad this didn't happen while I was on the other side of the world. — Graham.