By David A. Avila WEST LOS ANGELES-After 18 months of inactivity Israel El Magnifico Vazquez returns to the ring to re-establish his credentials as one of the top professional prizefighters in the world regardless of weight. Im very happy and anxious for this moment, said Vazquez. The former WBC junior featherweight titleholder is sliding up one weight division and will test out the featherweights and also his reconstructed right eye against Colombias Angel Priolo (30-7, 20 KOs) on Saturday Oct. 10, at Nokia Theater in downtown L.A. Recovering from a detached retina is not an easy thing. Everything is fine, said Vazquez (43-4, 31 KOs), who is originally from Mexico City but now lives in Los Angeles. Im just very hungry to return. When Vazquez fought fellow Chilango Rafael Marquez in what is now one of the sports greatest trilogies, the explosiveness and violence had to take its toll on both fighters. And it did. Along with Vazquezs eye problems Marquez is said to have experienced dizziness for many months following the third cataclysmic encounter at the Home Depot Center in March 2008. It took almost a year for both to recover and the big question remains if either fighter can return to that former state. Rudy Perez, who took over from Freddie Roach as Vazquezs trainer after the first fight with Marquez, said hes convinced that his fighter can and will return to his former eleite status as one of the worlds best fighters. So far he looks very sharp in the ring. He has a new energy, said Perez, who formerly trained Marco Antonio Barrera during that fighters hey day. Every thing is going smoothly. http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/7245/israel-vazquez-returns-from-eye-surgery/
I can't believe how much flack these guys took for the long inactivity. A year off is perfectly reasonable if you actually watch the fights.
