IT’S official.
The vacant International Boxing Federation super bantamweight title relinquished by Manny Pacquiao will be contested by top-ranked Venezuelan Jose Luis Valbuena and No. 5 Mexican Israel “Magnifico” Vazquez.
The New Jersey-based IBF had already given last Thursday the green light for Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Valbuena, to hold the fight with Vazquez on March 25 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Pacquiao, through promoter Murad Muhammad, had officially abandoned the IBF belt last Jan. 15 to campaign in the higher featherweight class, where he is slated to challenge World Boxing Association (WBA)/IBF champ Juan Manuel Marquez on May 22.
The 32-year-old southpaw Valbuena boasts of a 24-2-1 win-loss-draw record with 14 KOs, while Vazquez, a perennial sparmate of Pacquiao at the Wild Card Gym, sports a record of 35-3 with 25 KOs.
