Joe Cordina fights Edward Vazquez this Saturday with the Welshman defending his WBA super featherweight strap in Monaco.
The fight will be shown live on DAZN (excluding Australia and New Zealand) as Cordina attempts a title defence.
Vazquez told BoxingScene.com about a gym encounter with a fighter he met when he was just four years old, Paulie Ayala.
As a younger man, Ayala lost to Joichiro Tatsuyoshi in Japan on a technical decision with the Japanese fighter’s WBC bantamweight title on the line.
Ayala would win the WBA strap at 118lbs against Johnny Tapia less than a year later, and told Vazquez about the difficulty of fighting on foreign soil.
“He actually gave me a pretty solid piece of advice the other day,” Vazquez said. “His first world title challenge was also overseas. It was in [Yokohama]. And he said, ‘You’ve gotta go into this fight knowing that you’re two rounds behind.’ That was some really good advice right there.”
Vazquez continued: “I don’t feel like I have to knock him out, but I do feel like I have to dominate him.
“You know, I have to control most of the fight and not win the majority of the rounds, win ‘em all. I do think I have to shut him out because, you know, there’s a lotta money invested in him. He’s the promoter’s guy and he’s the favorite on that side of the world. So yeah, I feel like I will have to knock him out or dominate. We’re ready for that.”
The American praised his opponent ahead of the clash this weekend.
“I think Cordina, he’s a solid fighter,” Vazquez acknowledged. “He comes from a good amateur pedigree. He’s got a pretty style. But that’s it – I think he likes to fight pretty. He likes to dictate range and the pace of the fight. And I think that me being able to frustrate him and out-think him in certain situations will get him out of his game plan.
“And once I get him out of his game plan I’ll be able to capitalize on just, you know, frustrating him a little bit, having him overthink a little bit and not letting him get comfortable with one certain look. I know he probably thinks I’m just gonna come forward, but we’re gonna mix it up, give him a few different looks and see what works best.”