Edward Vazquez was not about to let history repeat itself.

Vazquez overcame a difficult start to finish strong and grind out a hard-fought unanimous decision over Daniel Bailey Friday night at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston, Texas. Scores were 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73 for Vazquez, who improved to 16-2, 3 knockouts.

During the opening round, Bailey momentarily shook Vazquez with a right-left combination to the head. Vazquez was able to get through the onslaught of punches from Bailey and, by round three, began to dictate the action by outboxing Bailey. 

“It was like a six or seven-month layoff, so I kind of had to shake the cobwebs off,” said Vazquez after the fight. “It took about a minute or two, but once I got those cobwebs out, I was ready to go and I found a rhythm and I started to walk him down, break him down. He didn’t have too much power, so once I felt his best shot, I was like it’s just time to press forward and just try to get him out of there. We broke his will and it just fed right into our hands.”

Vazquez dominated Bailey during the second half of the fight, throwing and landing a series of right hands to the head in round five, and outboxing him during the sixth round.

Early during the eighth round, Vazquez landed a right hand that snapped Bailey’s head back. Despite being momentarily stunned, Bailey fought back, even standing in the pocket to trade with Vazquez during the last minute of the fight. 

The 28-year-old Vazquez previously fought on November 4, losing a close majority decision to IBF world junior lightweight titleholder Joe Cordina. The fight was back and forth, but some media and boxing insiders thought Vazquez did enough to win the fight. 

Prior to the loss to Cordina, Vazquez had won four fights in a row since a disputed split-decision loss to Raymond Ford, who is the current WBA world featherweight titleholder, in February 2022. Vazquez did not care for Bailey’s antics and trash-talk before the fight, instead choosing to come out victorious.

“It felt great to get back in the win column,” said Vazquez, who is promoted by Lou DiBella and resides in Fort Worth, Texas. “We took a tough loss in our last fight, but it felt good to get back in the win column and it felt good to give this guy a piece of humble pie. He came in here with a big ego. It’s normal to be confident, but he talked a lot of s**t and, just like the other guys, I gave him a piece of humble pie. You saw him walk out of here with his head down. That’s what he gets for coming in here (and) talking s**t.”

Bailey, who resides in Miami, Florida, falls to 13-2, 6 KOs. The U.S. Army veteran last fought on March 1, stopping Jerson Ortiz in the fifth round. 

On December 1, which also took place at the Red Owl Boxing Arena, Bailey defeated previously unbeaten Malik Warren by majority decision.

In the co-feature, junior bantamweight Ephraim Bui dropped Ernie Cuevas twice en route to a knockout win in round five. Bui, who resides in nearby Sugar Land, improved to 9-0, 8 KOs. 

Bui dropped Cuevas during the third round. Cuevas was able to beat the count and was game afterwards, Bui ended matters early in round five, with a devastating left hook to the head that dropped Cuevas down to the canvas. Referee Joseph Rodriguez waved the fight off at 12 seconds.

Cuevas, who resides in Greenville, South Carolina, falls to 8-2, 5 KOs.

In super middleweight action, amateur standout Lorenzo Simpson of Baltimore, Maryland improved to 14-1, 8 KOs, stopping Mexico’s Noe Alejandro Lopez (11-6, 4 KOs) at the end of the opening round. 

Another amateur standout, 18-year-old Tony Nash of Colorado Springs, Colorado defeated Roman Reyes (5-1, 4 KOs) of Greenville, South Carolina by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Nash, who improved to 2-0.

The card was promoted by Red Owl Boxing and streamed live on DAZN.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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