FanHouse Israel Vazquez

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Oscar De La Hoya never forgets where he came from -- the rough streets of east Los Angeles. So it's no surprise some of De La Hoya top prospects from Golden Boy Promotions were in east Los Angeles to hand out Thanksgiving dinners to those in need. In this FanHouse exclusive, we visit with the boxers at the event.

Check out the video after the jump.

A fourth bout between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez "is 70 percent done," according to an e-mail received by FanHouse early Sunday morning from Gary Shaw, the promoter of Marquez.

The 34-year-old Marquez (38-5) ended a 14-month layoff in May when he scored a third-round knockout -- the 34th of his career -- over 37-year-old Jose Francisco Mendoza.

Last month, the 31-year-old Vazquez overcame a 19-month layoff for a ninth-round knockout over Colombia's Angel Antonio Priolo, whom he floored three times.

Vazquez, who rose to 44-4 with his 32nd career knockout, dropped Priolo to 30-8 with 20 knockouts.

Both Marquez and Vazquez fought their last bouts at the 126-pound featherweight limit -- this after having previously clashed at super bantamweight (122 pounds).

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Frank Espinosa been managing boxers for 18 years. His pride and joy is two-time world champion Israel Vazquez.

In this FanHouse video, we talk to Esponisa about Israel's comeback fight that took place in Los Angeles. He also tells us what it takes to be a good manager and much more.

Check out the video after the jump.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

An eye injury kept two-time world champion Israel Vazquez out of the ring for 19 months. This Weekend in downtown Los Angeles, Vazquez made his comeback in a Hollywood fashion.

Vasquez went nose to nose with Angel Priolo (30-7) in a thrill of a fight that kept the fans on the edge of their seats. In this FanHouse exclusive we hear from Vazquez and Priolo along with Vazquez's Promoter Frank Espinosa.

Check out the video after the jump.

Aging former titlist Israel Vazquez overcame a 19-month layoff for a ninth-round knockout over Colombia's Angel Antonio Priolo at the Nokia Theater on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Vazquez, who rose to 44-4 with his 32nd career knockout, dropped Priolo to 30-8 with 20 knockouts.

On Saturday night, three fights of interest will transpire in the superbantamweight and featherweight divisions.

Puerto Rico's WBO superbantamweight (122-pounds) champion, Juan Manuel Lopez (pictured left) and WBA featherweight (126) king Yuriorkis Gamboa (middle) will be involved in two of them at the WaMu Theatre in New York's Madision Square Garden, with Mexican-born 126-pounder, Israel Vazquez (right) being in the third at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

Depending on the results, any of the three boxers could soon wind up in the ring opposite each other.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Former heavyweight fighter and longtime trainer Justin Fortune has been living boxing for the past 20 years. In this FanHouse exclusive, we meet up with Fortune at his Hollywood gym and talk to him about the time he use to train world champ Manny Pacquiao and how he helped Israel Vazquez win two titles. We also get his take on the Pacquiao - Cotto fight, and why he thinks Manny might get a tough test Nov. 14.

Check out the video after the jump.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

After having to sit out for almost two years due to an eye injury, two-time world champion Israel Vazquez is poised to get back in the ring Oct. 10th to face Angel Priolo. In this video, we ask Vazquez about his conditioning, how he got his name and what message does he have for his fans.

Check out the video after the jump.

Israel Vazquez defeated Rafael Marquez by split decision in another very good fight between the two best 122-pounders in the world.

Vazquez entered the ring as the junior featherweight/super bantamweight champion, having beaten Marquez in a classic fight on August 4. Marquez had previously beaten Vazquez on March 3.

Vazquez went down for the first time in the trilogy in the fourth round, but he got right back up and drilled Marquez. Ultimately, Vazquez won because he knocked Marquez down with just seconds to go in the 12th round. He won on one judge's card by just one point, and that knockdown was the difference.

This was the longest fight of the three; the first fight went seven rounds and the second fight went six.

After the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor fight last night, I was flipping through the channels and heard one of the sports talking heads describe it as something along the lines of, "a rare time when boxing actually gave us a good fight."

But that got me thinking, and looking at the schedule of upcoming fights, good fights are actually not rare at all. In fact, 2008 is shaping up to be an excellent year for boxing.

Next week we've got Wladimir Klitschko taking on Sultan Ibragimov, and while neither of those guys is the most graceful fighter you'll ever see, it's a step toward unifying the heavyweight title belts, which would be a great thing for the sport.