The main event was the return of Israel Vazquez 43-4, (32 KO’s) after a 19 month layoff due to 3 eye surgeries, at the Nokia Live in Downtown LA. His opponent was the battle tested Angel Priolo 30-7, (20 KO’s) who had lost his last 6 bouts, 5 by KO.
Israel looked pumped up and ready to battle as the fighters were introduced.
Round One opened with both fighters jabbing and finding distance. Izzy landed a nice overhand right for the first good punch of the night. Priolo landed a big right mid round and Izzy took it well. Tough round to score at ringside but Priolo appeared to land the bigger punch and worked well. Some ring rust no doubt for Vazquez.
Round Two began with more two way action as both fighters were not afraid to trade. Izzy did some nice work with his right again and looked to be the sharper of the two.
The Third saw more infighting with both men right in front of the other. Defense was not the name of the game in this round. Priolo could have stolen the round due to his activity and Vazquez started to show some redness and swelling on the right side of his face.
In the Fourth Vazquez looked a bit tired and took some shots early in the round. Priolo was aggressive but Vazquez came back strong and seemed to hurt Priolo late in the round.
The Fifth saw an active and sharp Priolo. The right hand was there and Vazquez could not do enough damage to make a mark. Tough rounds and a tough fight to score but #5 was for.
The Sixth was more of the same as both men traded tough shots and stood toe to toe. Without benefit of compubox this certainly seemed like coin flip of a round. Swelling and redness was visible on both men’s faces by this point in the fight.
The Seventh round was more of the same. Vazquez seemed unable to thwart Priolo’s rights and his face showed it. Blood trickled from Izzy’s face and things did not look great for the former champ at this point.
The Eighth was delayed by the ringside physician taking extra time to examine Izzy’s cuts. The fight continued and Izzy stepped on the gas pedal knowing he may need a quick stop. As hard has he tried, he could not break Priolo. Back and forth action ensued but no real damage was done and Izzy continued to look beat up.
Round 9 went on without a delay but it seemed as if Izzy needed to work harder as he may be behind on the cards. He did and floored Priolo with a strong combo early. Priolo went down again and Izzy did not let him survive his last assault. Izzy, in typical fashion, closed the show and stopped Priolo after the third knockdown at 2:10 of round 9.
Hard to know exactly where Vazquez is in his career right now but he gave the fans what he has always given them, in an exciting, and somewhat improbable KO in his return bout. Vazquez is now 44-4 with 33 KO’s
In the first of 2 co-main events unbeaten Luis Grajeda 7-0 (6KO’s) faced the awkward and unpredictable Jan Carlos Diaz 3-0, (2 KO’s). After a lot of posturing and a weird style by Diaz, Grajeda landed 2 hard rights in round 2 that ended the show and gave up and comer Grajeda another win.
The second co-main featured Santa Ana’s Ronny Rios 8-0 (4 KO’s) against John Wampash1-3-1 (1 KO). Rios has a good jab and is not afraid to use it. He also mixes his punches well and at 1:53 into the 6th and final round, the Wampash corner said enough. Wampash was bloody and appeared spent after many body and head shots.
All photos by Tom Hogan – Hoganphotos/GBP