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VAZQUEZ SET FOR RINGSIDE
By Jesse Kelley
FRIDAY, AUGUST 6TH, 2010

One of the largest amateur boxing tournaments in the world is currently taking place in Kansas City, MO. Last year the Ringside World Championships brought in 1,400 boxers and the same, if not more are expected to compete this year. According to Livefromringside.com, over 40 of those boxers are from Minnesota.
36 year old Uppercut Gym boxer/coach Alfonso Vazquez will be one of those Minnesotans seeing "Ringside Tournament" action for the first time. He will try to bring home top prize in the Masters division on Saturday when he competes in the finals.

Vazquez says he has always been a fan of boxing and competition going all the way back to his childhood. His father was a boxer and the two spent a lot of time watching televised fights and attending live events. But it was a well known local fighter who played a key part in getting Vazquez to a boxing gym.

"My dad wouldn't let me box when I was younger but then a friend, Jose Leo Moreno who I went to Highschool with got me into it." Said Vazquez. "He used to box at the Rice Street Gym and I lived right across the street from Washington Jr. High, so I started to box at the age of 17."

Vazquez had a few bouts but drifted away from competition when he began his post Highschool education. Then came kids, marriage and the rest of life's joys which took priority over boxing for the most part.
To this day, Vazquez says he has only had 24 bouts despite being in and around the sport for 18 years.

Aside from the low number of official fights, Vazquez has built quite a reputation over the years both in and out of the ring. He can be frequently seen giving top level sparring to some of the states most well known boxers while more then holding his own in the process. But despite the high praise Vazquez has received from fighters and boxing people alike, he says it is fear and self doubt that have kept him from competing in the larger tournaments or even giving the pro ranks a chance.

"If it wasn't for my wife and family, I probably wouldn't even be competing anymore." Explained Vazquez. "My wife is my huge support when it comes to boxing. I did a couple tournaments and the only reason I did them is because she was the one pushing me to do them. See, I have this huge thing with fear. I am always doubting myself. My father always said your mind is your biggest enemy. You can lose before you even go in the ring. But my wife was always the one telling me to go to those tournaments and giving me the confidence I needed. She would say "What is the worst that could happen?" She is my biggest support and the one that constantly reminds me that someday I will regret it if I don't try."

Vazquez says that the door to fighting professional will remain open a crack also but coaching and amateur competition is where his focus lye's.

"It's probably something I will regret someday if I don't fight pro and I know my wife would like me to have a pro fight so that I can say it is something I did. But she is not the one jumping in there with 10 oz gloves (laughing)! I think I have decent enough skills to jump in there just to say I did it. I have been doing this in one way or another for 18 years now so we will see."

For now, Vazquez remains focussed on tomorrow's championship bout at Ringside. As our interview came to a close, the earlier talks of self doubt and fear seemed to disappear more and more as the competitiveness began to overshadow the negative thoughts he had shared.

"I have been told that you don't want to go down to a big tournament like Ringside with the intention of not winning it all and that is my intention, to win it all. I do have the skill to win this thing so I am going in there with the best intentions. I am not going in there over confident but I am going down there to win it.