Bryan Vasquez has been around the block for years, fighting top-level opposition and even challenged for a world title, but now he's ready to fight to continue his current win streak and have it translate to championship gold.
Vasquez may have fought in the United States multiple times in his career, but tonight will be the first time he gets to fight inside the world-famous Madison Square Garden when he faces Felix Verdejo. In an interview with Fightful, Vasquez said it is a dream fighting at the venue and hopes to add his name to the list of boxing greats who have had memorable fights at MSG.
"I’m excited to be fighting in this venue where many of the greats have fought before. It’s always been my dream to be a part of that group of greats. To be able to further cement myself as a great, I’m going to have to be in wars and that’s what I’m prepared for on Saturday and I’m ready to be the lone man standing," Vasquez said.
Vasquez will take on a hungry fighter in Verdejo, who is looking to get his career back on track after a motorcycle accident killed his momentum and opportunity at fighting for a world title. Since then, Verdejo has a 2-1 record in fights and is seemingly at the back of the line of contenders looking to fight for a lightweight world title. Despite questions surrounding Verdejo’s ceiling as a pro boxer still unanswered, Vasquez expects the very best out of the 25-year-old Puerto Rican when the two meet in the ring.
"Well, all boxers and human beings for that matter make mistakes. It must be tough coming here specifically, but he has one thing going for him and that is the love of an entire country of people. Puerto Rico is a country with a sporting legacy. Whether or not he uses that legacy to his advantage is up to him. I expect the best version of him come fight night and I think it will be a big fight and hopefully my hand is raised at the end," Vasquez said.
As far as a prediction for the fight is concerned, Vasquez simply said he is ready to go to war with Verdejo, something the Costa Rican boxer believes Verdejo has not experienced much in his career.
"I’m ready to go 15 rounds even. If it ends before the final bell, then it ends that way, but if it goes to the final bell, then it’ll go there. I just know that in order to beat me, he’ll have to kill me. If he’ll go and kill me, he’ll also have to go as far and be willing to die in the ring. In his past fights, I’ve noticed he doesn’t really have that willingness to truly leave it all in the ring or isn’t ready to do so. It’ll be tough for him," Vasquez said.
The fight will be a part of the Terence Crawford vs. Amir Khan pay-per-view card at Madison Square Garden. Fightful will have live coverage of the entire card from New York City. You can watch Verdejo’s interview with Fightful in Spanish in the video at the top of the page. An English transcript can be seen in the description of the video page which can be seen at this link.
