Miguel Ángel Vázquez Bautista (born 6 January 1987) is a Mexican professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 2010 to 2014.

Professional career Early career Vázquez made his professional debut on 20 January 2006 against Canelo Álvarez (who was just fifteen years old at the time) in a welterweight bout, losing a four-round split decision. He won his next eighteen bouts before losing a unanimous decision to Timothy Bradley on 27 July 2007, in a bout for the WBC Youth super lightweight title. Bradley would go on to say "I knew the fight was going to be tough—he's Mexican. I give him a lot of credit. He's a good fighter."Avila, David A. (2007-07-27). "Timothy Bradley Keeps His 0". The Sweet Science. Retrieved 2015-09-27. In June 2008, Vázquez claimed the WBC FECARBOX light welterweight title, defeating veteran Aldo Valtierra by technical knockout after eleven rounds. The local commission later came under criticism by a ringside doctor, as the fight was too one-sided and risked the wellbeing of Valtierra. A rematch against Álvarez was fought on 28 June 2008, this time at light middleweight, in which Vázquez lost a ten-round unanimous decision.

On 17 July 2009, Vázquez won a ten-round split decision over then-undefeated world-ranked prospect Breidis Prescott. Prescott scored a knockdown early on but as the fight went, Vázquez accumulated rounds with his sharper boxing and ultimately got the nod over Prescott.

Lightweight title reign On 14 August 2010, Vázquez fought Ji-Hoon Kim for the vacant IBF lightweight title. Vázquez beat Kim by unanimous decision to win the world title. His first successful title defense was against Ricardo Dominguez on 27 November 2010. Vázquez won the fight with another wide unanimous decision Vázquez made a second successful defense on 12 March 2011 against then-undefeated Leonardo Zappavigna, defeating him by a wide margin over the twelve-round distance. During the fight, Zappavigna landed a solid overhand right to the champion early, but Vázquez responded by opening up a cut over the challenger's left eye and outboxing him for most of the fight.Australian Leonardo Zappavigna beaten by IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez Daily Telegraph.

Vázquez made his third defense against Ammeth Díaz, scoring a knockdown in round 6 en route to another wide decision win. Vázquez headlined a show on HBO for the first, defeating Marvin Quintero via split decision. Vázquez notched a fifth successful defense against Mercito Gesta, whom he defeated by unanimous decision on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV.

Vázquez vs. Burns cancellation On January 14, 2013, it was announced that Vázquez will meet lightweight titleholder Ricky Burns in a unification bout on March 16, the card would take place at Wembley Arena in London. Warren announced that he would reschedule the bout for April 20 because Vázquez suffered a viral infection due to food poisoning. After weeks of rumors about the fight being in doubt it fell apart.

In February 2014, Vázquez decisioned Denis Shafikov on Macau.

During his title reign, Vázquez often was criticised for being a boring fighter, as he focused on controlling the distance and keeping opponents at bay through his footwork and jab, as well as employing "dirty" tactics like headbutts and excessive clinching to outmaneuver his opponents.

On 13 September 2014, Vázquez faced Mickey Bey on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana II. Vázquez lost the IBF title in a split decision, being defeated for the first time since 2008. The judges' scorecards were 119–109 and 115–113 for Bey, and 115-113 for Vázquez. Many ringside observers felt Vázquez had won the fight and criticized the decision, especially the 119–109 by Robert Hoyle.

Later career Vázquez bounced back with a wide unanimous decision win over Jerry Belmontes. However, in October 2015 he suffered another setback, losing another controversial decision to Argenis Mendez. Vázquez won his next four fights against outmatched journeymen. In September 2017, it was announced that Vázquez would face Josh Taylor for the WBC Silver light welterweight title at the Royal Highland Centre on 11 November. Although Vázquez's style seem to pose problems for Taylor early on, Taylor wore him down as the fight went on. Vázquez went down in round 9 from body shots, and he failed to beat the count. This was Vázquez's first stoppage loss.

In his next more notable fight in the UK, Vazquez faced Ohara Davies. Vazquez lost the fight on a controversial points decision .

On 17 October 2020, Vazquez fought Lewis Ritson for the vacant WBA Inter-Continental light welterweight title. Vazquez boxed beautifully throughout the fight and seemed to be winning most of the rounds. Despite that, two of the referees scored the fight 117-111 and 115–113 in favor of Ritson, while the other referee had it 116-113 for Vazquez, awarding Ritson with a highly controversial split-decision victory. Promoter Eddie Hearn called it a disgrace of a card and terrible for the sport whilst the majority of observers also felt Vazquez won the fight clearly.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes56Loss44–12Timo SchwarzkopfUD104 Feb 202355Loss44–11Gary CullyKO5 (10), 12 Mar 202254Win44–10Oliver FloresUD102 Oct 202153Win43–10Isai HernandezTKO7 (10), 16 Apr 202152Loss42–10Lewis RitsonSD1217 Oct 202051Win42–9Jesus Velasco TKO5 (6), 28 Dec 201950Loss41–9Batyrzhan JukembayevUD1026 Sep 201949Loss41–8Ohara Davies1028 Jun 201948Win41–7Ghislain MadumaSD1016 Mar 201947Loss40–7Thulani Mbenge9 (12), 8 Dec 201846Win40–6Cosme RiveraUD1013 Apr 201845Loss39–6Josh TaylorKO9 (12), 11 Nov 201744Win39–5Jose Daniel RuizKO4 (10), 2 Sep 201743Win38–5Javier MercadoUD81 Jul 201742Win37–5Armando PatinoKO2 (8), 29 Apr 201741Win36–5Erick BoneUD1028 May 201640Loss35–5Argenis MendezUD106 Oct 201539Win35–4Jerry BelmontesUD1013 Mar 201538Loss 34–4Mickey BeySD1213 Sep 201437Win34–3Denis ShafikovUD1222 Feb 201436Win33–3Mercito GestaUD128 Dec 201235Win32–3Marvin QuinteroSD1227 Oct 201234Win31–3Daniel AttahUD1016 Jun 201233Win30–3Ammeth DiazUD1221 Jan 2012 32Win29–3Marlon AguilarKO2 (10), 18 Jun 201131Win28–3Leonardo ZappavignaUD1212 Mar 201130Win27–3Ricardo DominguezUD1227 Nov 201029Win26–3Kim Ji-hoonUD1214 Aug 201028Win25–3Breidis PrescottSD1017 Jul 200927Win24–3Antonio ValenciaTKO3 (4), 28 Feb 200926Win23–3Manuel BocanegraTKO3 (8), 19 Dec 200825Win22–3Rodrigo JuarezUD84 Oct 200824Loss21–3Canelo ÁlvarezUD1028 Jun 200823Win21–2Aldo ValtierraTKO11 (12), 5 Jun 200822Win20–2Jorge OrtizUD82 May 200821Win19–2Francisco VillanuevaUD1223 Nov 200720Loss18–2Timothy BradleyUD1027 Jul 200719Win18–1Reyes SanchezUD824 May 200718Win17–1Juventino BarreraUD1230 Mar 200717Win16–1Marco NazarethKO2 (6)16 Mar 200716Win15–1Victor MarquezKO4 (10)16 Feb 200715Win14–1Mario Alberto Altamirano BecerraKO4 (6), 2 Feb 200714Win13–1Juan CarioKO1 (8)19 Jan 200713Win12–1Juan Jose GarciaTKO2 (8)8 Dec 200612Win11–1Juan AvilaUD824 Nov 200611Win10–1Javier ZavalaKO1 (6)10 Nov 200610Win9–1Francisco Villanueva4 (6)27 Oct 20069Win8–1Azael GonzalezUD613 Oct 20068Win7–1Luis RomeroKO1 (6), 29 Sep 20067Win6–1Leonardo Perez1 (6)15 Sep 20066Win5–1Baltazar MolinaUD618 Aug 20065Win4–1Alfonso EnriqueUD46 Jul 20064Win3–1Irving SidartaUD41 Jun 20063Win2–1Javier PrietoUD44 May 20062Win1–1Christian Juarez423 Mar 20061Loss0–1Canelo Álvarez420 Jan 2006

See also List of Mexican boxing world champions

References

External links

Miguel Vazquez - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live