A step up in weight for Miguel Vazquez produced a revitalized attack for the former world champion—and a familiar result.
Vazquez showed uncharacteristic aggression Saturday night as he outboxed Erick Bone to win a 10-round unanimous decision in their 144-pound main event at Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio.
Even while retaining his 135-pound title for four years, Miguel Vazquez employed an awkward, defensive style that although earned plenty of wins, didn’t always win over fans. But the 29-year-old Mexican confronted Bone from the opening bell, albeit cautiously, and landed a big right hand in Round 2 to set the tone.
“I wanted to throw the heavier punches because I thought I could win by knockout, but that didn’t happen,” Vazquez said. “There was an overhand right in the eighth round that I thought hurt him badly, but he was an elusive fighter and survived, so there are still things that I have to work on.”
Bone, who was fighting Vazquez less than two weeks after replacing the injured Felix Diaz, picked up the pace in Round 3 and landed several body shots and a big right hand over the next few rounds as he began to mix up his punches.
With many rounds being extremely close, Vazquez (36-5, 13 KOs) continued to pile up the points in the latter half of the fight as he worked behind his jab and consistently landed the cleaner punches against the 27-year-old Ecuadorian.
Bone (16-4, 8 KOs) suffered his third straight loss in a fight against a former world champion, having previously been defeated by Chris Algieri and Shawn Porter.
“We knew that [Bone] would eat a lot of jabs, and Miguel needs to be faster with it. Plus, he got caught with some uppercuts that I didn’t like,” said Vazquez’s trainer, Javier Capetillo. “We wanted him to be elusive, but at the same time, work on his counters.
“Bone ate a lot of right hands, and Miguel has power. I think that if he could’ve followed up on a lot of those punches, like the hooks and overhand rights, we could’ve gotten him out of there.”
With his campaign in the 140-pound division officially underway, Vazquez turned his attention forward after defeating Bone.
“I’ve always wanted a fight with Adrien Broner, but he says he’s moving up. I want to make that,” Vazquez said. “I would love an opportunity to fight [for a title] at 140, but if there’s a chance to fight someone at 147, I’ll move up.”
In undercard action, Miguel Flores (20-0, 9 KOs) continued his ascent in the 126-pound division with a 10-round unanimous decision over veteran southpaw Ruben Tamayo (26-9-4, 18 KOs), and Brandon Figueroa (7-0, 5 KOs), the 19-year-old brother of former champion Omar Figueroa Jr., gained a fifth-round TKO against Jonell Nieves (6-3, 4 KOs) in a 122-pound bout.
For a complete look at Vazquez vs Bone, including highlights and scorecards, visit our fight page.
Miguel Vazquez, left, was effectively aggressive over 10 rounds as he earned a unanimous decision over Erick Bone in a 144-pound fight at Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio. (Ryan Greene/Premier Boxing Champions)