MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV, June 21
TV: CBS
By Peter Lim
It's a crying shame that outside the community of die-hard boxing aficionados, virtually no one else knows that this is an A+ matchup between two all-action, albeit still relatively obscure fighters. Both are versatile and explosive boxer-bangers whose strengths and weaknesses collide to produce a potential Fight of the Year.
In Vasquez (18-0, 3 KOs), we have a defensively-flawed southpaw who rips the body in real life more violently than Rocky Balboa in the movies. Unlike Sylvester Stallone's fictional character, though, Vasquez also possesses an educated lead right hook that can stop a heavyweight in his tracks.
Omotoso (25-1, 21 KOs) is typically an offensive fighter, but under pressure, he knows how to catch and counter from a tortoise-like defensive shell, which might be the perfect foil Vazquez's reckless attacks. And as his 84 percent knockout ratio suggests, the Nigerian can crack with both fists.
The two key determining factors in this bout is Omotoso's 2013 loss to Jessie Vargas and Vasquez's aforementioned check hook. Vasquez, like Vargas, is a high volume puncher but hits a lot harder. It will be a war of attrition in which both fighters have their moments but Vasquez's short right hook lands more accurately and consistently to inflict more damage over the long haul than anything Omotoso can deliver.
Omotoso will be damaged goods late in the fight and Vasquez will move in for the kill and stop him in the eighth or ninth round.
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