Sonsona, Vazquez Jr. make weight for featherweight showdown

MANILA, Philippines – Marvin Sonsona and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. both weighed in at 125.8 pounds for their ten-round rematch on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The 23-year-old Sonsona (18-1-1, 15 knockouts) of General Santos City, Philippines and the 29-year-old Vazquez Jr. (23-3-1, 19 KOs) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico will renew their acquaintances after their 2010 bout, which Vazquez won by fourth-round knockout in Puerto Rico.

Vazquez won the vacant WBO junior featherweight title that night, unhinging Sonsona’s skyrocketing career at the time. Ensuing years have not been kind to both fighters. Sonsona was out of the ring for 20 months afterwards and admits that he lost the passion for the sport while Vazquez made two defenses of the title before being knocked out in the twelfth round by Jorge Arce in 2011.

Vazquez lost two other punishing fights to Nonito Donaire Jr. and Yasutaka Ishimoto while Sonsona has four straight, including a one-punch knockout of former titleholder Akifumi Shimoda in February. (RELATED: Marvin Sonsona seeks vengeance against Vazquez Jr. in New York)

Speaking with veteran reporter Ronnie Nathanielsz, Sonsona said “my condition is one thousand percent. I will give it everything. I will put on a show.” 

Just like in their first fight, Vazquez will again have the overwhelming crowd support as the Garden will be filled with supporters of Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto, who faces RING magazine middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in the main event.

Martinez (51-2-2, 38 KOs) will make his seventh title defense while Cotto (38-4, 31 KOs) is seeking to win a title in his fourth division. – Rappler.com