“I’m going to put on a great show. I expect the victory and we’re gonna shoot for the knockout.”
Those were the words spoken by U.S. Army National Guard veteran and hometown hero, Sammy Vasquez Jr. (20-0, 14 KOs), ahead of his headlining fight on Tuesday’s Premier Boxing Champions on Fox Sports 1 telecast.
Vasquez took on Jose Lopez (25-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of a raucous crowd at California University in California, Pennsylvania–only 15 minutes away from where Vasquez grew up.
Clairvoyant to a t, Vasquez turned in a dominating performance, stopping the game but out matched Lopez. The difference in skill level was immediately apparent in Round 1 as Vasquez came out snapping effective lead left hands and jabs.
Lopez, who never shied away from eating punches while coming forward, was determined to try and close the gap to try and work Vasquez on the inside. But the “Who Can Mexican” did a good job of repeatedly tagging Lopez with right hooks and turning him, nullifying any rhythm that Lopez was trying to settle in to.
Vasquez continued to measure Lopez in Round 2 and 3 with numerous big shots, and to his credit, Lopez showed that he wasn’t going to lay down in his stateside debut.
By Round 4, it was abundantly clear that Lopez was beginning to slow down as Vasquez’s sharp punches began to take a toll.
PBC commentator Paulie Malignaggi pointed out the troubles Lopez was having as he aimlessly chased Vasquez around the ring.
“He doesn’t know how to cut the distance. He’s out of ideas.”
The variation in Vasquez’s offensive arsenal was impressive and simply too much for Lopez to handle. The beginning of the end came in Round 4 when Vasquez let off a vicious barrage of punches which Lopez ate flush on the chin.
Sammy Vasquez was sharp and impressed in a dominating performance against Jose Lopez #Boxing pic.twitter.com/NBTxPZHvGl
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) September 16, 2015
In Round 5, Vasquez finished the job at 1:08, earning a TKO stoppage victory in front of his adoring fans.
After the fight, Vasquez was candid in his post-fight interview with PBC’s Claduia Trejos who asked about potential matchups against fellow top-notch Welterweights.
Re: Porter Thurman Garcia “I’ll swim. Absolutely. If I get thrown in that pool it’ll be a hell of a fight I’m ready.” pic.twitter.com/Walv3zhVOq
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) September 16, 2015
It remains to be seen what exactly Al Haymon has planned for Vasquez–who has a strong following in his home state of Pennsylvania–and whether or not Vasquez will be thrown in with the bigger names quite yet.
Vasquez against Errol Spence, Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman are all very intriguing on paper. Sign me up for any of those.
Omar Douglas vs. Braulio Santos
Omar Douglas (15-0, 11 KOs) came out strong in the opening bout of the PBC on FS1 telecast, taking the fight to Braulio Santos (12-3, 10 KOs) and relentlessly attacking the Puerto Rican to the body.
Douglas scored knockdowns in Round’s 1 and 2 and it seemed as though an early stoppage was coming. But Santos hung tough and kept himself in the fight with his own strong body work and big left hooks.
Douglas was forced to work a full 10 rounds for the first time in his career but he responded well and controlled the action throughout.
Official scores were 96-90, 99-87 and 97-89 all for Douglas.
“I felt great. I felt good all the way through. I’m going to stay in the gym and probably Tuesday or Wednesday I’ll be training again for what’s next,” said Douglas.
Milton Santiago vs. Alvaro Ortiz
In the co-featured bout, Milton Santiago (12-0, 3 KOs) took on Alvaro Ortiz (7-4-1, 5 KOs) in a scheduled six-round bout.
Ortiz spent most of the night following Santiago around with little regard for cutting off the ring or getting in the proper position to unleash effective punches.
Santiago, who is only 19 years old, made a successful television debut and said after the fight that he’ll be back in the gym in a week or so to continue to improve and likely fight at the end of the year.
Photos by Lucas Noonan/PBC
