Last night, Friday November 20th from the “Kissimmee Convention Center” in Kissimmee, Florida undefeated Puerto Rican prospect WILFREDO VÁZQUEZ jr. attained a very impressive and important victory as he outgunned the tough Mexican veteran Genardo Garcia to come away with a 7th round TKO.

After the bout  attention in the live Telemundo telecast quickly turned to Junior’s next fight which will be for the junior featherweight title recently vacated by Juan Manuel Lopez,  who is set to move up and fight current WBO champ, Steven Luevano, in the featherweight division this coming January. To my personal surprise a foe was already mentioned and it was to be none other than rising Filipino junior bantamweight champion Marvin Sonsona. The fight was mentioned to take place on the 20th of February from the Philippines.

Marvin, many will know, recently acquired his first title, the WBO junior bantamweight title, by beating another Puerto Rican, Jose “Carita” Lopez this past 4th of September. My surprise in hearing Sonsona mentioned as foe was due to the fact that he just recently acquired his title, TWO division south of the 122 limit and was set to defend it today, a day after to Vazquez-Sonsona fight announcement. However, it all made sense today  as I read an article by  Rob Cruz in Philboxing.com stating that Sonsona had failed to make weight for his title defense.

SONSONA FAILS TO MAKE WEIGHT, VACATES TITLE

“Marvin did not make the contractual weight of 115lbs, however the fight is still on. After this fight, there are plans to move Marvin Sonsona up in weight for another world title. Marvin’s coaches and management did not force Marvin to lose the extra 2.6lbs due to further possible dehydration during the fight that will put Marvin at risk.” Is stated in the article.

Apparently Sonsona’s handlers were already aware of Sonsona’s problems in making the 115 limit and had already made other arraignments for their fighter to dispute for a new title at the higher weight.

The fight should be a good one as Sonsona is already being looked as Pacquiao’s successor by some in the Philippines. Hermie Rivera, a veteran Filipino scribe, personally stated to me that Sonsona had the greatest promise of all young Filipinos when I spoke to him in Vegas during the Pacquiao-Cotto media dinner. Interestingly enough he will be going up against a pretty good prospect when he faces the son of a Puerto Rican legend in Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Senior was a great champion who held titles at three different weight divisions, Bantamweight, Super bantamweight and Featherweight.

Junior did not began his career with the fanfare that other prospects of the island have had dude to the fact he had no amateur experience, but under the tutelage of his dad and the promotional guidance of Tutico Zavala Junior, Vazquez has made great strides in his career building a great fan base in Central Florida where he has fought most of his fights.

With so many championship fights taking place between Puertorican and Filipino boxers this year, Vazquez jr. – Sonsona should add another interesting chapter in the developing new rivalry between the two countries. Cotto was unsuccessful in beating Pacquiao, maybe Junior will be successful in beating his “successor”.

NO SHAME IN LOSING TO AN ALL TIME GREAT

It’s only been a week since Cotto got beat to a pulp by the great Manny Pacquiao and it already seems like ages ago. Talks have quickly moved on to discuss a possible mega match between the Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather and where Pac stands among boxing’s great. However, I still occasionally get asked about my experience in travelling to Vegas (from Florida) only to see my fellow countryman beat to a bloody mess and I can only reply it was great. Not that enjoyed watching Cotto lose, as I was cheering for my fellow Boricua, but regardless of the outcome it was an incredible experience to see boxing’s best at work. Include me in the category of former doubtfuls, or as veteran boxing writer Michael Marley  stated in one of his columns you can include me in the “I have come to Jesus.. I mean Pacquiao category”. Pacquiao is not simply good, he is an all time great. The greatest fighter that I have ever been able to see fight live and no doubt the greatest of my generation. While I am a Boricua and proud, I am also a true boxing fan and consider myself fortunate to have seen such an amazing performance. The atmosphere was great, created in large part by the passionate fans of each country. I enjoyed my debates with the great Filipino boxing fans I met throughout Vegas, in the halls of the MGM and even the bar at the club XS, all where respectful and very knowledgeable making for interesting discussions. In the end Miguel Cotto fought bravely and did us proud, there is no shame losing to an all time great.