Austin Williams vs Ivan Vazquez Predictions: ‘Ammo’ gets a late sub and a chance to impress

Middleweight contender Austin Williams takes on late sub Ivan Vazquez this Saturday, July 19 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The bout takes place on the undercard of Jesse Rodriguez’s super flyweight unification fight with Phumelele Cafu. DAZN will screen the event live.

Here are my Austin Williams vs Ivan Vazquez predictions ahead of this middleweight meeting.

Austin Williams vs Ivan Vazquez Odds

Williams is 1/33 to take home the W. Vazquez is priced at 10/1 for the victory while the draw is a long-shot at 25/1.

Austin Williams vs Ivan Vazquez Fight Preview

Williams was initially scheduled to face 21-0 Etinosa Oliha, before the world-ranked star pulled out with a ruptured vein in his eye. Replacement Vazquez is also unbeaten, but his 10-0-2 record does not inspire quite the same excitement.

Fair play to Mexico-born American though, ‘Ammo’ is not a challenge to be taken lightly and coming into the fight two days before is an act of real bravery. A good display here could be the spark his uneven career needs.

Vazquez debuted in 2014 but did not throw another professional punch for over four years. Another two-year lay-off from 2019 onwards made for a stuttered start to his journey. Things have levelled out since then, though draws with the unheralded pair of Reshard Hicks and James ‘Not The Chef’ Martin have not helped perceptions.

Williams will need to keep his eyes on the prize here. ‘Ammo’ had been scheduled for an IBF final eliminator when Oliha was the opposition. The victor would have become mandatory challenger to WBO and IBF boss Janibek Alimkhanuly. Reports suggest that fight could still be revived, but Team ‘Ammo’ decided not to let a training camp go to waste.

Normally this would be an easy fight to criticise. A name fighter taking on little more than a public sparring session. Harsh perhaps, but ultimately fair. But one cannot blame Austin for wanting to tick-over nor Vazquez for fancying a transformative crack at a famous face.

Williams has lost just once, courtesy of a frankly frightening 11-round display by Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz. Given the fact Slough’s own son went up in weight and destroyed Edgar Berlanga in six rounds last weekend, that loss does not look too bad. 

Other than his run-in with Sheeraz, it has largely been a straightforward existence for Williams. ‘Ammo’ has beaten fringe faces like Patrice Volny, Steve Rolls and Armel Mbumba-Yassa. Londoners got a close-up look at his ferocity when he took out Coventry’s River Wilson-Bent at the O2 two years ago.

There is a fighter in there, even if the Sheeraz defeat did not show the fullness of his talent. But Williams has bounced back. The result of this fight will mean little in the grand scheme of his career, but adding a third win on the trot is vital.

An ‘Ammo’ riding three victories and, you’d think, a big knockout against Vazquez will be a handful for anyone. If Williams wins this in the spectacular fashion one would expect, you wonder if Oliha will remain as keen to pick up the phone.

Austin Williams vs Ivan Vazquez Full Card

Jesse Rodriguez vs Phumelela Cafu

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Nishant Dev vs LaQuan Evans

Hector Beltran vs Edgar Gutierrez

Austin Williams vs Ivan Vazquez

Austin Williams vs Ivan Vazquez Prediction

This should be a walk-over. No disrespect intended, but I have seen nothing that convinces me Vazquez is built for this challenge. If Williams had just lost to Sheeraz, perhaps you might expect the Texan to exploit some gun-shyness. But ‘Ammo’ is coming off a dominant win over Volny.

I think Williams knocks his surprise opponent out, a result you can back at 8/11.

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