Former two time super bantamweight king Israel Vazquez returned to the ring Saturday
night after a 19 month absence with a ninth round knockout of Angel Antonio Priolo
30-8(20) at the Nokia Theater, Los Angeles, California.
Vazquez showed what a year and a half of inactivity can do to a fighter as he looked rusty as the bout progressed. The bout was close going into the ninth round when Vazquez 44-4(32kos) dropped his opponent three times to stop him at 2:10 of the round.
Vazquez claimed the victory in spite of two swollen eyes and a cut he suffered in the sixth round. His inactivity over the last 19 months was caused by a detatched retina in his right eye that needed to be repaired.
Vazquez returns without his super bantamweight title that he had to give up, to fight as a featherweight. "I was a little rusty, but I wanted to knock him out" said Vazquez after his return, "I was really hungry for the win. I am a warrior and I have been showing that all along in my career, and now I want the big fights again. I was getting a little tired, and it took me a little bit of time to get my rythm back, but my eye didn't bother me at all. It was just a cut" said Vazquez "I had a good opponent tonight, but I was hungry".
Vazquez is hoping with a bout with WBA featherweight titlest Chris John.
The undercard featured unbeaten featherweight Ronny Rios 8-0(4kos) as he scored a sixth round stoppage over John Wampash 1-3-1(1).
Rios had more skills but the fight remained competitive early as Rios could not avoid the left hooks of Wampash. As the bout progressed however Rios got stronger and wore down his rival.
By the sixth Wampash was bleeding heavily from the nose and was cut over the left eye prompting his corner to advise referee Ray Corona to stop the contest. Wampash had a point deducted in the fourth for spitting out his mouth piece and by the end which came at 1:59 of the sixth, he was behind on the scorecards.
Light middleweight Luis Grajeda 7-0(6) ruined the pro debut of Juan Carlos Diaz with a tko at 2:48 of the second round.
Khabir Suleymanov 9-0(3) was unimpressive in a featherweight six rounder as Hugo Ramos 2-4(1) put him down in the second round.
Ramos had a point deducted for hitting Grajeda while he was down but gained the point back flooring Grajeda again in the third. By the fourth, Ramos looked spent as Grajeda came on and referee Pat Russell stopped the bout at 2:39 after checking with the doctor at ringside about a cut Ramos had. The crowd booed as it showed it's disaproval over the stoppage, but Grajeda gets the win in unimpressive fashion.
Also on the card, light middleweight Ricky Duenas 4-1(2) stopped Jose Cardenas 1-3 in the third round of a scheduled four and super flyweight Oscar Venegas made his pro debut by stopping 0-4 Misael Martinez, also in the third.
By MITCHELL DEFER
