LOS ANGELES, October 20 – After two fights and two knockouts, Oscar Larios and Israel Vazquez, the two premier super bantamweights in the world, still stand at a stalemate, with neither fighter able to fully claim superiority over the other.
So what are two Mexican warriors to do?
They fight for a third time – for a unified title, for local bragging rights, and most importantly, for pride.
Golden Boy Promotions, in association with Sycuan Ringside Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, is pleased to announce the world championship rubber match between Larios and Vazquez, which will take place on Saturday, December 3rd, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas , Nevada .
The bout, which is the co-feature to the highly anticipated middleweight championship rematch between Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins, will be telecast live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9pm ET / 6pm PT.
The Larios-Vazquez rivalry dates back to April 12, 1997, when the unheralded Vazquez (then 11-1) stunned the 20-0 Larios via a first round knockout. Both would go on to great success in the fight game, and on May 17, 2002, the two would meet again, this time with the interim WBC super bantamweight title on the line. There would be no quick knockout this time, and Larios and Vazquez waged an epic battle that made its way on to many ‘Fight of The Year’ lists. But in the end, ‘Chololo’ got his revenge, stopping Vazquez in the 12th and final round of their championship belt.
Larios (56-3-1, 36 KOs ) hasn’t given up the belt since, successfully defending his title nine times. In that same time frame, Vazquez (38-3, 27 KOs) won a world championship of his own, stopping Jose Luis Valbuena in 12 rounds on March 25, 2004, to win the IBF 122-pound title. He has successfully defended his title twice, but to him, as well as Larios, nothing is more important than unifying the title and settling the score.
That score will be settled on December 3rd.
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