Edward Vazquez’s first world title fight didn’t go the way he hoped. The judges awarded Joe Cordina a majority decision, even though Vazquez believed he had done enough to seize the IBF junior lightweight title on that Monaco night in November 2023.

Exactly 18 months later, Vazquez will get his second chance at a world title – and he hopes to make the most of it – when he challenges Rafael Espinoza for the WBO featherweight belt.

Espinoza-Vazquez will serve as the co-feature to a main event in which Naoya Inoue will defend the undisputed junior featherweight championship against Ramon Cardenas. The show will take place on Sunday, May 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

The broadcast, on ESPN, is timed to take advantage of a lead-in featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers, with one Japanese superstar (Shohei Ohtani) on a baseball diamond before another Japanese superstar (Inoue) takes to the boxing ring.

“It’s huge,” Vazquez, a 29-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, said in an interview with BoxingScene. “It’s definitely a dream come true. I’ve been fighting since the age of 7, 8 years old. It’s coming up on 23 years of chasing after this. We landed the opportunity with Joe Cordina in 2023, but I feel like this fight is a larger magnitude. I’ll be able to perform for my fans here in the United States. I’ll be able to have my family out, so that makes it all that much more sweet. It’s like a lifelong dream come true, especially it being in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena on Cinco de Mayo weekend and for the world title versus a game competitor in Rafael Espinoza. It’s sweet, man, and I am definitely trying to take it all in.”

Vazquez, 17-2 (4 KOs), has won two straight since the Cordina bout, outpointing the 13-1 Daniel Bailey last May and stopping the 14-3-2 Kenneth Taylor in four rounds in October. In a previous interview with this website, Vazquez spoke of how much he’s been able to improve once boxing became his full-time job.

He draws a distinction between the version of him who fought Cordina and the version of him who will face Espinoza.

“I have the experience of being at the world title level, so I have that under my belt now,” Vazquez said. “I’m just all-around more seasoned, and I think I’m smarter in terms of just the game in general, how to box better, how to just handle all situations, in terms of not just fighting, you know, everything that comes with being a professional fighter in terms of lifestyle. I’m just better off at handling all that. I’m just much more mature in the fight game.”

Vazquez hasn’t competed at 126lbs since July 2023, when he came in more than two pounds overweight ahead of a July 2023 decision win over Brayan De Gracia. Vazquez regrets what happened but says he only had four weeks’ notice and that his body hit a wall. He has much more time to prepare for the featherweight limit for the Espinoza fight.

“I actually had 10, 11 weeks for this, so it’s more than enough time,” Vazquez said, implying that he was getting ready for this bout before it was officially announced. “I don't have stress so much about making the weight. I am able to focus on my training and follow my nutrition plan without having to worry about how I need to lose a set amount of weight per week. Over time, it kind of comes off naturally and I am able to focus more on training.”

Just shy of seven weeks before the weigh-in, Vazquez said he was at 140lbs, which means he only needs to drop 14lbs.  Part of the reason for his current fitness is that Vazquez was originally in discussions with other opponents.

“I was expecting to fight [Eduardo] “Rocky” Hernandez in February, and I had gotten notice of that in December, so I was kind of already revving up for that,” Vazquez said. “And then once the Rocky Hernandez fight fell through, I got another call to fight [a rematch with] Raymond Ford on April 12. And then this opportunity arose before we closed the deal on that. And so I’ve been kind of revved up for a little while. Once the Rocky Hernandez fight fell through, I was able to kind of take back a little bit, that way I’m not overtraining. But I’ve been ready and I’ve been training for a while now. I really don’t ever stop.”

Hernandez, 37-2 (32 KOs), is a former title challenger who lost to O’Shaquie Foster in a dramatic come-from-behind knockout in October 2023, one week before Cordina-Vazquez. Ford, 16-1-1 (8 KOs), is a former featherweight titleholder now competing at 130lbs. 

Vazquez lost a split decision to Ford in February 2022, but even Ford’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, believed that Vazquez deserved the nod. Vazquez has wanted a sequel with Ford for some time. But a bout with Espinoza for a world title is a much bigger opportunity. 

It is also a much bigger challenge, literally speaking.

Espinoza, 26-0 (22 KOs), is a very tall featherweight at 6-foot-1. He captured the WBO belt with a majority decision over Robeisy Ramirez in December 2023 and has made two successful defenses, dominating Sergio Chirino over the course of four rounds last June and putting away Ramirez in six rounds in their December 2024 rematch.

“He’s pretty much a traditional Mexican-style fighter, but he’s just tall,” Vazquez said of Espinoza. “Even though he’s tall, he doesn’t like to use his reach. He wants to kind of fight on the inside. I think him using his reach is something that they probably have been working on. I’ve heard in interviews that they want him to use his jab a little bit more and stay on the outside. Maybe that’s something they’re going to try to use. I don’t know. 

“I think at the end of the day, when things get going, you always revert back to just who you are and the way you know how to fight. I think he’s just the Mexican-style, come-forward fighter. And it makes for entertaining fights. He’s got a good left uppercut. He’s got a good left hook to the body. He’s not very dynamic in terms of defense or anything like that. He tries not to take any steps back and he tries to be a bully in the ring.”

Vazquez declined to go into detail about his game plan for Espinoza, who is trained by Manny Robles.

“He’s very one-dimensional,” Vazquez said. “Maybe he’s changing a few things up. I’ve fought against one of Manny Robles’ fighters, so I’m sure that Manny Robles knows what I bring to the table. I’m sure they’re trying to make adjustments. Like I said, I think he’s just very one-dimensional and I think I’m a multi-dimensional fighter. I think whatever he wants to bring to the table that day, we’ll be able to make an adjustment and capitalize.”

The height difference – Vazquez is listed at 5-foot-7, or six inches shorter than Espinoza – won’t be an issue, he said. Vazquez also has a listed reach of 65 inches, contrasted with 74 inches for the defending titleholder.

“Height and reach and all that, to a certain degree, plays a role, but at the end of the day I think it’s really just about IQ and being able to make adjustments on the drop of a dime,” Vazquez said. “Being able to execute the game plan, and being able to stick to the game plan when you face adversity, I think that’s the most important part. I think the height and the reach and all that is just something extra.”

That doesn’t mean Vazquez is ignoring his opponent’s height and length..

“Having to see if being on the outside works, or being on the inside works better,” he said. “Just getting these different looks, these guys that are taller and are applying pressure and maybe digging to the body a little bit more. We also get guys that are staying on the inside and wanting to flick the long jab, and having to work past that, just because we don’t know if [Espinoza is] going to bring the typical Mexican-style that he’s always brought out, or if Manny knows [Vazquez] comes forward a lot and we need to work our jab and stay on the outside and make him pay on the way in. 

“If that’s what they’re working on, we are working on fighting that kind of opposition also. We’re trying to cover all bases, really. He’s a smart guy. He’s well-seasoned. His coaching, Manny Robles, they’re smart guys, too. We kind of got to cover it all, because I don’t want to underestimate him or overlook anything.”

Vazquez has fought in Las Vegas once before, but that was a long time ago under very different circumstances. It was in September 2020, in the “bubble” setup during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. Vazquez was 7-0 at the time and competing in a six-rounder. This bout will have a much brighter spotlight, far more fans in the arena, and is double the scheduled duration.

“I’m just more experienced now at those type of levels,” Vazquez said. “It doesn’t matter where you put me, you know, in Vegas or New York. It doesn’t matter the venue or really where it’s at. I’m really good at being able to block all that out and just kind of lock in on my opponent and on my task.”

That task: defeat Espinoza, fulfill that childhood dream, and then move forward with the future as a world titleholder.

“It solidifies everything I’ve worked for and everything I said would happen ever since I was a kid,” Vazquez said. “I think it’ll land me obviously more opportunities, either in the 126- or the 130lb division, and the type of opportunities I’ve been asking for. I’ve always been the guy that wants the big fights, that wants to go in and be the challenger and be on the road. That’s how I’ve kind of made a name for myself is being on the road and taking on these tough challenges. I think now, once I beat Rafael Espinoza and have that title around me, I think I’ll be able to land these opportunities that I’ve been seeking, that I’ve been asking for, versus the other top guys in the world, whether it be at 126 or 130lbs.”

Foremost on Vazquez’s mind: a rematch with Ford, who is scheduled to face Thomas Mattice, 22-4-1, on the undercard of the Jaron “Boots” Ennis-Eimantas Stanionis welterweight unification match on April 12 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“Whether that means going up to 130 or Ray coming back down to 126, I think that [winning a world title] will make that fight a much larger fight in all aspects, a more lucrative fight, just a better appealing fight to the public and to the promoters. Also, there’s rumors of Inoue making his way up to 126, so I think that would be a great opportunity also, to give him a warm welcome into 126. There’s just a lot of opportunity.”

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.