| Israel Vázquez | |
 |
|
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Israel Vázquez Castañeda |
| Nickname(s) | Magnifico |
| Rated at | Super bantamweight |
| Height | 5 ft 4.5 in (1.64 m) |
| Nationality |  Mexican |
| Birth date | December 25 1977 |
| Birth place | México, D.F., Mexico |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 46 |
| Wins | 42 |
| Wins by KO | 31 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Israel Vázquez Castañeda (born December 25, 1977 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the current WBC and Ring Super Bantamweight (=Junior featherweight) champion (122 lbs).
Career
Vázquez is a relentless offensive fighter with a feared left hook. He turned professional at bantamweight in 1995 stopping his first nine opponents before getting knocked out himself. Now fighting mainly in the US and at junior featherweight, he bested 11 opponents, more among them the 20-0 Oscar Larios before losing again, this time on points. In 2002, he met Larios again. This time, he was outboxed and stopped in the 12th round. He rebounded with a stoppage of durable Ex-world title holder Jorge Eliecer Julio and won the vacant junior feather IBF title against southpaw Jose Luis Valbuena in 2003. He knocked out undefeated Armenian Artyom Simonyan but opted to fight nemesis Larios for the third time for the WBC title instead of his IBF belt in 2005, winning the rubber match by a spectacular knockout victory in the third round thus becoming the Ring's Super Bantamweight world champion. In his most recent bouts, he defeated the WBO Bantamweight champion Jhonny González on September 16, 2006 in a bout were Vázquez was knockdown twice before coming back to win the match. In his next bout, Vázquez lost his title to the #1 Bantamweight Rafael Márquez, on March 3, 2007 when he forfeited the bout due to an injured nose. However, in a rematch bout, Vásquez fought and defeated Márquez by a knockout in the sixth round. He is currently trained by Marco Antonio Barrera's coach, Rudy Pérez.
See also
External links
| Preceded by Manny Pacquiao Vacated |
IBF Junior Featherweight Champion March 25 2004 – December 3 2005 Stripped |
Succeeded by Steve Molitor Filled vacancy |
| Preceded by Oscar Larios |
WBC Super Bantamweight Champion December 3 2005 – March 3 2007 |
Succeeded by Rafael Márquez |
| Preceded by Rafael Márquez |
WBC Super Bantamweight Champion August 4 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
