The 31 year-old has claimed two victories since suffering his only loss to John Molina Jr last summer and is thankful for the opportunity to take his place on the world stage with a win on Saturday night.
“Vazquez is a legit champion with several title defenses. I give full credit to him. He’s rated No. 1 at lightweight. That’s what makes it better for me. A lot of people complain that guys are fighting for vacant titles or cherry-picking. I just love the biggest challenges and coming out on top and that is what I’m gonna do on Sept. 13. We’re both stepping up and I’m the underdog,” said Bey.
“I prefer this. I don’t need the easy route. I’m finally where I’d be if I hadn’t had all the inactivity. So I’m gonna kill all the birds with one stone. People don’t know how hungry or determined I am. You never know who’s gonna come out on top in this game, you never know for sure what the guy has inside, and you never know what a fighter’s gonna bring that night. So you’ve got to be ready.
“There’s no added pressure on me. Every promoter has fighters that lose. I’m just glad that I finally get to step up for a title against a legitimate champion and can become a world champion. That is definitely big for me.”
In the Molina fight, Bey was well ahead on the scorecards until he was inexplicably knocked out with just 59 seconds of the fight remaining and says he blames himself, but won’t make the same mistake again.
“I learned from the [John] Molina fight. I’d won every round but the only thing I shouldn’t have done was showboated at the very end. Nobody beat Molina like I beat him, not even (Lucas) Matthysse. Matthysse had problems with him.
“So I learned the hard way that you don’t play around until after the bell rings and the fight is over,” added Bey.
Mayweather v Maidana 2 is live on Showtime PPV on September 13 and BoxNation in the UK. To subscribe click BoxNation
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