Israel Vazquez stood for the best of Mexican boxing

It’s always sad when someone’s life comes to a premature end. But when I think about Israel Vazquez, there’s more of a connection because he’s given so much to the sport. As fans of boxing, we have more affection for guys like that.

Vazquez got our respect, and our fanfare, and was the type of fighter who generated emotion in those who watched him. Now that he’s gone, after dying of cancer at the age of 46, that sense of sadness is even greater.

He was only a few years older than me; as fighters, we were of the same generation, so his death has provided another reminder of how short life is. We spend years planning for the future and trying to stay ahead of the game, but you reach a stage in life where you realise if you plan for much longer, it’ll all be over anyway – it flies by. When I heard the news I asked a lot of questions – life’s short enough as it is, and his life, tragically, was taken even earlier by a terrible disease. 

Everybody mentions his classic four-fight rivalry with Rafael Marquez, but there were also wins over Jhonny Gonzalez, Oscar Larios and more.

Vazquez was a really, really good fighter, and he was exciting. He could punch, but he also risked putting himself into positions where he could get hurt, and he recorded victories at the highest level.  

The rivalry with Marquez – which overshadows the trilogy with Larios, in which he won twice – was among the greatest we’ve seen. Vazquez and Marquez each won twice. Those first three fights, particularly, were amazing. Naseem Hamed may have been the fighter who put the lighter weights on the map, but Vazquez and Marquez helped keep them there. In more recent years we’ve enjoyed, among others, Roman Gonzalez and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, but it was Vazquez and Marquez who, as much as anyone else, helped to bridge the gap from Hamed’s era.

Nothing captures people’s attention like a really, really exciting rivalry – like the one Vazquez and Marquez had. It made both of them stars, and generated interest in both of them that otherwise might not have been there. 

When Vazquez and Marquez were at the height of their rivalry, boxing fans were increasingly buying into Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Every generation has its megastar – that era had two, so their success in having one of the rivalries of that same generation speaks volumes, and to the extent the time might come when we see it as one of the greatest rivalries as well. Vazquez and Marquez weren’t fighters the television networks were ready to buy into – they did that by themselves. 

Vazquez had a great career. I’m not sure whether it was so great that he deserves to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, when I consider where I think the bar to induction should be, but he regardless deserves to be remembered for his contributions and the way that he represented the traditions of Mexican boxing. 

The best Mexican fighters blend technique with aggression, and are exciting – Vazquez did all of those things, and always gave his all.