A Spark of Inspiration: Why meeting Paulie Ayala changed the life of Edward Vazquez | Boxing News

Edward Vazquez may not be a familiar name but on Saturday night he challenges Joe Cordina for the IBF super-featherweight belt in Monte Carlo. During this interview with Boxing News the 28-year-old gave his thoughts on facing Cordina, what his Mexican heritage means to him, the defeat to Raymond Ford, and why on Vazquez’s seventh birthday he asked his father to take him to a boxing gym.

Interview: Shaun Brown

BN: In the build-up to your fight against Joe Cordina he has said, “You’ve got to be special to beat me”. What do you think?

EV: He’s a world champion for a reason. If you have to be special, then I’m special because you don’t get these calls for any reason. I hope he doesn’t think he’s going [in] against a bum or somebody that’s not meant to be here. I think with him saying that it shows he’s a little bit arrogant. Boxing’s boxing, you don’t have to be anyone special.

BN: How does the fight play out?

EV: I see it like a chess match. I plan to give him a whole bunch of different looks. Whatever frustrates him the most and whatever gives him the most trouble we’ll go with. We’re not just gonna come with your traditional Mexican style. I’ll give him a taste [though] and if it works it works and if not, we’ll box around. I’m in 20-round shape, I’m gonna figure it out and break him down.

BN: What do you think of your career so far?

EV: It’s been a hell of a journey. It definitely hasn’t been easy. If you look at my Boxrec, I’ve fought a lot of good fighters and the majority of the time I was on the B-side. I didn’t have a whole lot of backing until very recently when I signed with my management [team]. I’ve had to take whatever was given to me which meant taking on tough men. All that is credit to where I’m at now and why I’m ready to go up against a fighter like Joe Cordina because of all the trials and tribulations I’ve had to get here.

BN: You’ve fought somewhere between 125lbs and 130lbs for most of your career. Is that back and forth something you find easy to do? Does it take a toll on your body?

EV: Actually 126[lbs] was starting to get a little bit hard for me. It’s no problem, 130lbs. I feel comfortable. I don’t have to be in such a calorie deficit or having to worry about sweating things out. I’m able to stay fully hydrated, stay fuelled up on my calories and get good sessions in. Moving up to 130[lbs] is definitely helping me focus more on boxing, my craft and the technique and the game plan of course and not worry so much about the weight cut. I’ve brought on really good dieticians that have taken on that part of the training camp, that part of the thinking, and taken it off my shoulders. I’m solely focused on boxing now so 130lbs [is] easy. I’ll feel strong, that’s for sure.

BN: Donald Curry, Paulie Ayala, ‘Mad Dog’ Gene Hatcher and Stevie Cruz are all from Fort Worth like yourself. Is it a fighting city?

EV: I would say we’re ageing out of that, sadly. I started boxing in the early 2000s and came up around some of those guys. I’m kind of the last of that cloth and I hope to inspire some fighters and light that spark back in them. DFW, the Dallas-Fort Worth area in particular, is a big boxing town, but not so much like it used to be, that’s for sure.

BN: Your grandfather, uncle and several cousins all boxed, so was it inevitable you’d become a boxer, too? Did you have a back-up plan?

EV: We love boxing. Being Mexican, and coming from a Mexican household and Mexican heritage, it’s instilled in us. I can remember putting on gloves with my brothers and my cousins at a very young age and beating each other up. It was something we loved to do. Never had a back-up plan, honestly. I have three brothers and they all play baseball; my sister plays softball; the majority of my cousins play baseball so I guess I could have been a baseball player. I played for three years as a kid all the way up to seven [years old] and then became a boxer. I always wanted to be a boxer; I think it was destined for me. I’ll run into people I haven’t seen since I was a kid and they’ll say, “Man, you told me you were gonna be a fighter.” I always say, “It’s the only goal I ever had.” More than that, I want to be a world champion and here we are.

BN: On your seventh birthday you asked your father to take you to a gym in Fort Worth. What prompted you to ask him and why on your birthday?

EV: You brought up Paulie Ayala earlier… around that time of me being a kid, he was a world champion; a hometown hero. I remember my dad taking us to watch him train. He signed a glove for me, took some pictures, and I think that whole experience lit a spark of inspiration in me even though I was young and didn’t think of it like that. Now looking back, I know what it was. I was obsessed with the idea of becoming a boxing superstar, but my dad let me know at an early age it wasn’t just gonna be for fun. If I wanted to be a boxer, I was going to have to be all in and put in work and take it seriously. Since then, I’ve been like a machine, unstoppable, super-dedicated. I really love this life and live this life.

BN: The belt you’ll be fighting for has been won by Mexicans such as Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Salgado Zambrano. Does legacy and being a part of history matter to you?

EV: Oh absolutely. That’s everything to me, being a part of that legacy. Being from a Mexican heritage it’s what carries me, gives me pride. Every time I go into the ring, I always think about that: the ones that came before me and how I have to carry that on. The Mexican style is nothing to play with.

BN: Barrera or Morales?

EV: I liked Morales. He was technical. Even to this day I feel like you could still learn from him by watching his fights back.

BN: When people hear your name, they will think about your fight against Raymond Ford. You lost but many, including Ford’s promoter Eddie Hearn, thought you won. Was it easy to get over what happened?

EV: I was mad but not for long. I was pissed and cussing people out. I wanted to fight Ray Ford in the locker room as soon as we got back there. Then it just clicked that this is my journey. I’ve been on the B-side so much, but I do this because I love it. I’m very blessed to be here. After an hour or so, I chilled out, took a shower, and sat down with my girlfriend. She was even freaked out and said, “Are you okay? You don’t seem very upset.” It wasn’t hard to get over. If you know me, I’m a gym rat, so I was right back in the gym within a few days and right back to it. A lot of people do see Ray Ford as the top dog, so I look it as an indicator that I do belong with these guys at the top. Here I am now about to fight for a world title before Ray Ford.

BN: Having had four fights and four wins since then have you improved?

EV: I’ve improved a whole lot as has my mindset knowing that I have to close the show when I fight. I can’t just think I’m winning the majority of the rounds and put it in cruise control. I know I have to finish the fight whether it be by knockout or dominating all the way through. I’ve realised I can’t handle everything, too. I can’t handle nutrition and sponsorships and setting up medicals and all this stuff. I’m more mature in that aspect. I can focus more on the boxing and let my nutritionist, my management, my promoter take care of all the rest. I’ve grown a lot in that manner. I’m a better fighter and a better person now.

BN: If you beat Cordina, is there any part of you that would like to give Ford a shot at the belt so you could get that rematch?

EV: Absolutely. I’m always the kind of guy that will fight anybody. I don’t care who you are or what it is for, I’ll fight you. Me and him go back and forth sometimes on social media. It’s mainly us just messing around. I always tell him, “Fight me.” Ray Ford is young, he’s talented, I would love to fight him again.