130-Pound Contender Bryan Vasquez Signs with Top Rank
*LAS VEGAS (June 19, 2018) —* Top Rank has signed former two-time interim
WBA super featherweight champion Bryan Vasquez to a promotional contract,
Bob Arum announced today. Vasquez (37-3, 20 KOs), from San Jose, Costa
Rica, is 30 years old and has been fighting at the world level for nearly a
decade. His debut under the Top Rank banner will be announced soon.
Vasquez is currently ranked No. 8 by the WBA at 130 pounds and is angling
for a third world title shot.
“I feel really happy. I feel blessed to be signed by the biggest company in
the sport of boxing,” Vasquez said. “I want to rule the 130-pound division.
I’m ready for big names, whether it’s Christopher Diaz or Oscar Valdez.
They better watch out now that I’m with Top Rank. I will show everyone that
Vasiliy Lomachenko is beatable, and in the near future, I want the rematch
with Ray Beltran with proper notice now that I have a real promotional
company behind me. I’m happy and motivated.”
“We are really grateful for this opportunity,” said Hector Cordova,
Vasquez’s manager. “Bryan fought Beltran with three weeks’ notice and a
broken hand in the second round and still managed to make him look bad. We
will be working with Jose Benavidez Sr. in our corner, and we are here to
make history. We are with the top promotional company in the sport, so
we’ll see if the top guys keep on hiding.”
Vasquez fought Beltran last August for the NABF and NABO lightweight
titles, dropping a majority decision after putting forth a spirited effort.
Beltran would go on to win the WBO lightweight title in his next bout.
Vasquez rebounded on Feb. 24 in Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica, stopping Miguel
Gonzalez in the 11th round of a bloody contest. The Gonzalez victory earned
Vasquez the WBA Fedelatin belt.
After more than 100 amateur bouts, Vasquez turned pro in 2005 and won the
interim WBA super featherweight title in 2011 with a 12-round unanimous
decision against Santos Benavides. Following a ninth-round TKO over Jorge
Lacierva, Vasquez fell short in his first world title challenge, getting
knocked out in the seventh round by longtime WBA super featherweight
champion Takashi Uchiyama. In 2013, Vasquez won the interim WBA super
featherweight title for a second time with a technical decision over René
González and defended the belt with a unanimous decision over Jose Felix
Jr. in April 2014 on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley
rematch in Las Vegas.
His second world title challenge — for the vacant WBA super featherweight
title — came on May 29, 2015, in Brooklyn, New York, and he was outboxed by
Javier Fortuna en route to a unanimous decision loss.
Vasquez is 2-1 since the Fortuna defeat and is re-energized as he sets his
sights on another world title run. A boxer-puncher who is a natural
southpaw, Vasquez fights out of the orthodox stance but is effective
fighting as a southpaw as well. Boxing also runs in his family. He is
married to WBA and WBO female 154-pound world champion Hanna Gabriels
(18-1-1, 11 KOs).
