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A lot is on the line tonight in a crossroads fight between junior lightweights.
Former world title challenger Edward Vazquez will face Daniel Bailey at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston, Texas. The eight-round bout will headline the BoxFest IX card that will stream live on DAZN (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).
At Thursday’s weigh-in, Vazquez weighed in at the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds. Bailey came in at 129.8 pounds.
The winner of tonight’s Vazquez-Bailey fight could be in line to face other contenders in a very talent-rich weight class on bigger platforms later this year or in 2025.
Vazquez (15-2, 3 knockouts) has already fought against elite fighters at 126 and 130 pounds. There are those in the sport that state Vazquez could still be unbeaten had close and disputed decision losses gone in his favor.
In his last bout on November 4, Vazquez lost a close majority decision to IBF world junior lightweight titleholder Joe Cordina. The fight was back and forth, but some media and boxing insiders thought Vazquez did enough to win the fight.
On July 29, the 28-year-old Vazquez defeated fringe contender Brayan De Gracia by unanimous decision at Rider Field (a minor league baseball stadium) in Frisco, Texas, not far from his hometown of Fort Worth.
Prior to the loss to Cordina, Vazquez had won four fights in a row since a disputed split-decision loss to Raymond Ford, who is the current WBA world featherweight titleholder, in February 2022. Vazquez is promoted by Lou DiBella and co-managed by David Dubinsky and Jim Kurtz.
Bailey (13-1, 6 KOs), who resides in Miami, Florida, stopped Jerson Ortiz in the fifth round of his last bout on March 1. In his previous fight on December 1, which also took place at the Red Owl Boxing Arena, Bailey defeated previously unbeaten Malik Warren by majority decision.
The 27-year-old has won his last three fights since a knockout loss to Jonathan Fierro in February 2022.
In the co-feature, hard-hitting junior bantamweight prospect Ephraim Bui (8-0, 7 KOs) of Sugar Land, Texas, will square off against once-beaten Ernie Cuevas (8-1, 5 KOs) of Greenville, South Carolina in an eight-round bout.
In super middleweight action, amateur standout Lorenzo Simpson (13-1, 7 KOs) of Baltimore, Maryland will face Mexico’s Noe Alejandro Lopez (11-5-1, 4 KOs) in a six-round bout.
Junior featherweight Emanuel Moreno (6-0, 1 KO) of Wichita Falls, Texas will square off against Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez (6-2, 3 KOs) in a six-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]
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