Two incredibly entertaining fighters here. At their best, they were undoubtedly elite. Now, neither were at their very best here but both were still worthy wins for Happy Lora - Vazquez, especially. The Mexican, Avelar, was a real brute. Hardly any tactical skill, but a humongous puncher with an awesome chin and a workman-like output. He's been likened to a flyweight George Foreman, albeit, not as good. Vazquez is a top five super-bantamweight, and a top fighter at bantam and featherweight. He has stacks of top wins and gave some of the best he fight extremely tough fights even when he lost. He's a bit of a boxer-puncher, but he had a hothead and loved to entertain. These two scrappers got in there with the Mexican vs Puerto Rico rivalry burning and gave us a great, great fight. Give it a watch, it's brilliant - and if you're too lazy for the full fight, just watch the fifth round. This content is protected This content is protected
Great fight. Avelar is interesting in that he had pretty fair longevity for a guy with his style, and at ever-increasing weight levels, too. He's painfully slow and easy to hit, but lots of upside too. He throws his punches nicely, and in intelligent combinations, he's just really slow and because of that doesn't have enormous output. Truly equalizing power though.
I find hard trying to liken these two to other fighters. Avelar has aspects about him that remind of me three other fighters: that bone-breaking, Mexican power reminds me of Cuevas; his technique and seemingly effortless method of getting ridiculous power reminds me of Little Red; and his tall, scruffy, pressure fighting reminds of Antonio Margarito. It all adds up to be a very entertaining fighter. Vasquez was just an incredible technician with a super fun style. Whether he was boxing on the back-foot, or fighting in a suffocating, left hook to the body, Miguel Cotto-inspiring slugger - he was brilliant to watch. I haven't looked recently, but I remember how gutted I was that his fights with Jacob, Park and Takuya Muguruma weren't on YouTube. I'm gonna have a look for those tomorrow, they'll be a good watch.
Already 40 years now since this incredible fight took place. What a goddamn fight, especially that 5th round. This content is protected
