Wilfredo Vázquez
| Wilfredo Vázquez | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Wilfredo Vázquez Olivera |
| Nickname(s) | Wil El Orgullo de Puerto Rico ("The Pride of Puerto Rico") |
| Rated at |
Bantamweight Super bantamweight Featherweight |
| Height | 5 ft 4 1⁄2 in (164 cm) |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Born |
August 2, 1960 Bayamón, Puerto Rico |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 68 |
| Wins | 56 |
| Wins by KO | 41 |
| Losses | 9 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 1 |
Wilfredo Vázquez Olivera (born August 2, 1960) is a former Puerto Rican professional boxer. He is a former world champion at three different weights; bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight.
Vázquez was born in Río Piedras, one of the largest districts of San Juan, but he was raised in Bayamón. Unlike most Puerto Rican boxers, he began practicing the basics of boxing when he was 18 years old. Vázquez began training on November 1978, two weeks after the death of his father, Juan Vázquez. His decision was directly influenced by his father's desire of having a son that practiced boxing. Juan Vázquez was a follower of Wilfredo Gómez and died shortly after purchasing tickets for his fight against Carlos Zarate. This affected Vázquez, who decided to mimic Gómez and win a professional world championship, drawing motivation from his accomplishments. He began training at Ruiz Soler gym, where he met several boxers that he regarded as "world class" material, but all of them failed to reach success after following other paths. As an amateur, Vázquez fought 17 times, losing three contests. He didn't pursue a spot in Puerto Rico's national boxing team, considering that at his age it would be hard to earn a spot, while being expecting to earn money quickly as a professional. Vázquez married Alice Lozada, with whom he has three sons, Wilfredo, Jr., Noel and Israel.
Vázquez debuted as a professional on January 29, 1981, training under the guidance of Manny Siaca. In this contest, he lost to William Ramos by unanimous decision in a four-round fight. After this fight, he won his first fight, defeating Felix Cortez by knockout in two rounds. This was followed by a second knockout against Roberto Mercedes, who debuted against Vázquez. On April 30, 1981, he scored the first draw of his career, in a six-round fight against Eusebio Espinal. Vázquez's first contest outside of Puerto Rico was against Reinaldo Roque, whom he defeated by knockout in Miami, Florida. In his next match, he won the first decision of his career scoring a points victory over Herminio Adorno. Vázquez was scheduled to participate in Don King's Carnival of Champions card, where Gómez and Wilfred Benítez competed, but an injury suffered during training left him out of the event. In the last fight of this year, he defeated Pedro Alindato by knockout. On March 3, 1982, Vázquez beat Orlando Perez by points. He would fight eight more times during this year, all of them in New York City or Las Vegas. In these fights, Vázquez defeated Ion Trian, Jose Luis Martinez, Sonny Long and Rudy Perez twice. In 1983, he fought five times, winning every contest by knckout. His opponents during this time frame were: Euginio Paulino, Andres Torres, Robert Mullins, Ramón Cruz and Pedro Rodriguez. On March 17, 1984, Vázquez defeated Juan "Chiqui" Torres by knockout in the fourth round to win the vacant Puerto Rican bantamweight title. This marked the first occasion that he and Gómez fought in the same card. In his next fight, Vázquez received the first no contest of his career against Julio Guerrero. He closed the year defeating Javier Barajas and Norgie Castro. In 1985, Vázquez had a slow year, only fighting twice. His only contests were against Jeff Whaley and Osvaldo Acevedo, both of whom he defeated by technical knockout.
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