Opportunity knocked for junior featherweight Alan David Picasso and he made the most of it fighting on a big stage.

Picasso stopped former world title challenger Damien Vazquez this past Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The eight-round bout was part of the Canelo Alvarez-Jaime Munguia non-televised undercard.

The 23-year-old Picasso improved to 28-0-1, 16 knockouts.

From the opening bell, Picasso was the busier and more-effective fighter, breaking Vazquez down in each moment of every round. A barrage of punches forced the fight to be stopped at 2:11 of the fifth round.

Eric Gomez, President of Golden Boy Promotions, believes Picasso is a talented fighter and has the ability to excel in one of boxing’s most competitive weight classes. According to Gomez, Picasso facing fringe contenders or former world title challengers, like Vazquez, has been important in his development in becoming a contender.

“He’s fighting rated fighters,” Gomez told The Ring last week. “We will continue to build him here in the U.S. He is ready for bigger (and) getter fights.”

In his last fight on January 27, Picasso defeated gatekeeper Erik Ruiz of Oxnard by unanimous decision. In his previous fight on October 16, Picasso stopped Colombia’s Yeison Vargas in the second round.

The win over Ruiz was the United States debut for Picasso, who is co-promoted by Golden Boy and Zanfer Boxing. Prior to the Ruiz fight, Picasso had stopped 10 of his previous 12 opponents.

Picasso headlined a card in his hometown of Mexico City on July 15, stopping Sabelo Ngebinyana of South Africa at the end of the sixth round. He is currently a student at La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), where he is studying neuroscience.

Vazquez, who lives and trains in Las Vegas, falls to 17-4-1, 10 KOs. Vazquez stopped Jeronil Borres in the sixth round of his last fight on August 12. Vazquez was losing on all three judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage.

The 26-year-old has won his last two fights since losing by knockout to former world bantamweight titleholder Rau’shee Warren in August 2021. Vazquez challenged then-WBA world junior featherweight titleholder Brandon Figueroa in September 2020, losing by knockout in the 10th round.

Vazquez is the younger brother of former world champion Israel Vazquez.

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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