Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Stops Marvin Sonsona to Claim WBO 122-Pound Title

Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Stops Marvin Sonsona to Claim WBO 122-Pound Title

By Gabriel Montoya, Max Boxing (Feb 28, 2010) Special to Doghouse Boxing

Saturday night from the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Wilfredo “WV2” Vazquez Jr., 18-0-1 (15), worked over Filipino Marvin Sonsona, 14-1-1 (12), in four rounds, en route to a brutal body shot stoppage to capture the vacant WBO 122-pound title. It is the first title for the son of boxing great Wilfredo Vazquez, and the first loss for Sonsona.

From the onset, the physical difference between the two fighters was evident. Vazquez is a compact, wide-framed junior featherweight while Sonsona, who moved up from junior bantamweight for this fight, has the physique and face of a 12-year old. In the first round, Sonsona, the speedier fighter, circled out of his southpaw stance, pawing with his jab but not using his fast feet to set up an attack. Vazquez bored in, cutting off the ring, gauging Sonsona’s speed and looking to find his range. Vazquez was able to catch Sonsona with a nice left hook as the Filipino fighter leapt in with a left cross. Sonsona was able to get to the body with both his jab and lead left and that may have been the difference in the round.

In the second, Vazquez set a faster pace and began to cut off the ring in more aggressive fashion. A right hand caught Sonsona off-balance and he stumbled into the ropes with Vazquez tearing right after him. Sonsona moved away quickly, but was backed into another corner. Again, Sonsona escaped but, this time, he did so using a lead left. Vazquez answered back with a right hand lead followed by an uppercut and another one-two. But Sonsona came back with a lead left to the body. By rounds end, after getting the worst of Vazquez shots, Sonsona already had a mouse under his left eye.

In the third stanza, Vazquez began to take over and Sonsona seemed to run out of answers to the questions of his opponent’s strength, chin and pressure. Vazquez would bully him into the ropes and Sonsona would try and fight off them but, more often than not, the Filipino shelled up and let Vazquez work the body. This would be a pattern that ultimately cost Sonsona the fight in the fourth.

Lying on the ropes, Sonsona fell victim to Vazquez’ body attack. A left hand to the body got through Sonsona’s guard followed by a right that snapped his head back. A left hook to the mid-section dropped Sonsona to the canvas. Sonsona complained it was low (contrary to what most observers witnessed) and then, grimacing in pain, was counted out at 2:01 of the fourth.

In a bizarre co-feature from Guadalajara, Mexico at the Coliseo Olimpico, Filipino Rodel Mayol, 26-4-2 (20), and Mexico’s Omar Nino Romero, 28-3-2 (11), fought to a technical draw after Romero knocked Mayol out following a low blow.

The bout started as expected with Mayol as the mover, boxing from the outside and using his speed to keep Romero, the pressure fighter, at bay. Romero was getting to Mayol’s body early on, insuring a pretty solid opening round for the Mexican.

But Mayol came back in the second and rocked Romero with a left uppercut that wobbled the challenger. Mayol swarmed and began to light up Romero. Another uppercut landed, this time from the right side and hurt Romero again down the stretch of the round.

However, it was in the third that the fight ended on one of the most bizarre notes I have ever seen. Romero had begun to press the body attack with some early success, but strayed low with a left and a right that prompted Mayol to step back and complain to the ref. But the WBC junior flyweight titleholder didn’t step all the way out of the action and Romero seemed to think the clock was still running. However, referee Vic Drakulich, who was positioned behind Romero, saw the low blow and was moving in to break the action. Romero didn’t see this and only saw a complaining Mayol with his guard down. With Drakulich grabbing Romero’s right arm as he went into motion, the challenger leapt in with a left hook that crushed Mayol. The defending titlist fell like a marionette with his strings cut, subsequently pointing to his cup saying “low blow.” But Mayol remained on the canvas and was eventually carted off on a stretcher in preparation for a trip to the local hospital.

The technical draw ruling was awarded because the low blow was ruled as such, but Drakulich was unable to break the action before the punch was set in motion. Romero did not break the rules, other than administering the low blow while Mayol broke the most important of all unwritten (but advised by the referee in most pre-fight instructions) boxing rules: protect yourself at all times.

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