'Miles' above the rest

“I must break you,” Dolph Lundgren’s character Ivan Drago mutters as he towers over Sylvester Stallone before the duo’s epic battle in “Rocky IV.”

He doesn’t compete in a boxing ring, but images of Stallone’s character Rocky Balboa training to avenge the death of his friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) still dance just behind Juan Vazquez’s eyes as he stands in a dark locker room, awaiting his entrance music — Europe’s “The Final Countdown.”

The scene isn’t foreign to Vasquez. The 25-year-old has spent much of his adult life in various locker rooms, but in this, his second amateur mixed martial arts bout, something feels different.

“I have to admit I was more nervous for my second fight,” he said. “I don’t know if it was because I knew the guy I was fighting was scrappy or if it was the pressure to stay undefeated.”

Vazquez’s stomach gets a little tighter with every step toward the cage, but once the bell rings the “sweet science” takes over and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I just thought the kid (Juan) was amazingly gifted the first time I met him,” said Eric Zamora, owner and head trainer at Zamora Boxing Gym. “I thought back then, as I still do, that he just had a butt load of potential.”

Vazquez’s punching power laid waste to his first two opponents, and earned him a shot at the vacant 145-pound championship at Barbarian Fight Club’s “Fight Fair” Aug. 5 at the Fredericksburg Fair Grounds.

“I feel really good about the title shot,” Vazquez said. “I do feel some pressure because it’s going to be against the most difficult guy I’ve fought yet.”

Punishing the body
Vazquez (2-0) finished his first two opponents with rib-rocking shots that would have impressed even the great Mike Tyson.

The Brooklyn, NY, native left his first opponent unable to continue after a well-placed shot in the second round left Keyon Wilkins with broken ribs.

Vazquez’s second opponent didn’t even make it out of the first round after a series of uppercuts to the body sent Charles Kessinger to the mat where he couldn’t defend himself.

“It’s a known fact that body shots hurt more than head shots,” he said. “If you’re going to give me that shot, I’d be a fool not to take it.”

Daniel “Yeager-Bomb” Yeagley — a veteran of eight fights — stands in the way of Vazquez claiming the title belt.

Yeagley, 21, fights out of Pandemonium Fight Club and enters the bout with a 5-3 record, but Vazquez and Zamora agree they’ve found enough holes in the Fredericksburg fighter’s game to ensure a victory.

“His most dangerous tool is that he’s wild, but the other side of that is he’s sloppy,” Vazquez said. “I think my technique will take him out. I wouldn’t be surprised if I knocked him out.”

“He is unpredictable,” Zamora added. “That can be good for him and bad for him. The most important thing for Juan is to stay composed.”

The squared circle
Vazquez’s studied footwork and crisp punches probably lead most to believe he grew up in the ring, but the fact is, he had no formal boxing training before joining Zamora’s gym in November of last year.
Instead, he cut his teeth on New York’s professional wrestling circuit.

“I loved the acting and entertainment part of it,” Vazquez said. “I was always the good guy, and my niche was that I could really sell everything I did to the crowd.”

Vazquez began wrestling not long after graduating high school. His character was a high-flying luchador named “Juan Miles” — a moniker he earned because he would drive to New York from North Carolina, where he was stationed with the Marines at Camp Lejeune, to take part in shows on the weekends.

“It was awesome winning with high-flying moves,” Vazquez said. “But that’s also where I got most of my injuries like a dislocated elbow and torn MCL.”

Vazquez said performing in front of crowds and learning how to deal with the aches and pains that come with taking bumps at a wrestling show helped prepare him to compete in the cage.

“Yes, wrestling is fake,” he said. “But it hurts, it hurts like crap. I guess my body got conditioned to take the pain.”

Vazquez’s wrestling days taught him the importance of putting on a mean face. He tries not to smile in his MMA photos because he doesn’t want his opponents to think he’s a, “happy little kid.”

But he said when the belt gets wrapped around his waist on Thursday; he may not be able to control himself.

“I have a feeling there’s going to be a big cheesy grin on my face after that,” he said.

At 5-foot-9, 145 pounds, Vazquez may not be the biggest featherweight in the world but he packs a punch for his size. If Yeagley isn’t careful, he’ll be the next victim lying broken on the mat.

Want to go?
What: Barbarian Fight Club’s “Fight Fair”
When: Thursday at 8 p.m.
Where: Fredericksburg Fair Grounds
Learn more at barbarianfightclub.com