Andy Vences

At the age of 27, Andy is a six-year pro. A rising contender at 130 pounds, he was an amateur standout in California before his debut.

He stayed active in the ring and made good progress. He fought five times in 2013, three times in 2014, five times in 2015, three times in 2016, three times in 2017, and two times in 2018.

Andy has had four scheduled 10-rounders and been the full 10-round distance three times.

He also stepped up in class of opposition and gave impressive performances.

In his last fight on July 7, 2018, in Fresno, California, Andy won a 10-round unanimous decision against Frank De Alba. The event was originally scheduled to be headlined by Jose Ramirez’ WBC super lightweight world title defense against Danny O’Connor, but the fight was cancelled when O’Connor was hospitalized with severe dehydration in trying to make weight.

ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael reported from ringside [excerpts]: The fight between up-and-coming junior lightweight Andy Vences and Frank De Alba was elevated from the ESPN+ coverage of the undercard to the televised co-feature slot when Ramirez-O’Connor was canceled, and Vences took advantage of the exposure.

Vences landed numerous right hands to the head and body and easily outpointed De Alba to win a lopsided decision. The judges scored it 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92 in favor of Vences.

Vences was busier than De Alba, a southpaw, and regularly landed his jab and right hand to the head and body. He tried to further throw De Alba off balance by switching to a southpaw stance in the third round, but he went back to a right-handed one in the fourth round.

In the fifth round, Vences connected with solid right hands as he cranked up the pace and stalked forward. He rocked De Alba’s head back with another right hand in the seventh round. Vences rocked him with two right hands and a body shot in the ninth round. De Alba, whose left cheek was swollen in the second half of the fight, never got going offensively and Vences cruised to the victory. [End Rafael item]

In his post-fight interview, Andy said, “I was trying to maintain. My coaches wanted a knockout. Good experience with a good fighter. He had never been stopped. I tried. I was keeping composed. I followed the game plan, but I should have put more punches together.

“I wanted to put more punches together. He was a little sharp, he was countering. Good experience – what can I say? “We’re moving forward.”

In earlier interviews, Andy said, “I do my strength training at the SNAC facility [note: Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning] in San Carlos with Victor Conte and Remi Korchemny. I’ve been working with them and incorporating everything since my seventh pro fight, but I started really going under their wing after my 18^th pro fight. My last four fights were with them and the results have just been amazing.

“It’s made a tremendous difference in my power and explosiveness. My last two fights have ended in knockouts. The way I feel going into the ring now – it’s an unbelievable feeling now that I’m doing everything the right way.

“I do my boxing training at FightKore International in Martinez, California. Angel Cordon has always been in my corner since my seventh pro fight, but he was an assistant then. He’s been my chief trainer now for about a year. We’ve had three fights together, but I’ve known him my whole life – I knew him in the amateurs. I think what he’s done is, he’s realized all the abilities and skills I have, and mixed them together so I’m a more well-rounded fighter. I fight outside, I fight inside, I do everything now. He just really put it together. Cordon has perfected everything I knew already.

“I’d say my style is a boxer-puncher. I can fight going both forward and backwards – I’m a pretty well-rounded boxer-puncher.”

“My nickname is El Tiburon – The Shark. My coach gave me that nickname. I’m from San Jose, and the hockey team here is named the San Jose Sharks. It’s also from the way that I fight. My coach said I’m like a shark – smooth in his attack and when he smells blood, goes for the kill. I pretty much have that style where it’s smooth and nice, but when my opponent’s ready to go, I take him out.”

When Andy signed a promotional contract with Top Rank in 2015, Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler said, “Andy is special. He has a great skillset, fights hard, and has a great fan following. Andy is the best young fighter in Northern California. We are all excited about him at Top Rank.”

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Andy said, “I was born in Watsonville, California, but we moved to San Jose when I was around six, seven years old and I grew up here. I have one younger brother, he’s nine, and an older brother who’s 25. My dad is a manufacturing engineer and my mom, she does home care, but they’re not together anymore.  My grandpa was an amateur boxer in Mexico City.

“I was about 13 years old when I started boxing. When I was around 11, I did martial arts. But we didn’t compete with each other physically – it was more that you had to learn the forms. My dad always had me involved in martial arts. He himself was a martial artist – he did freestyle kung fu. He competed in a national tournament – whoever won that was going to start posing for magazines and getting job offers, but he fell short and came in second place.

“What ended up happening was, I was having trouble in school. I was getting in a lot of fights – my first fight was in fifth grade. We always used to watch the fights at family reunions and stuff, and one day I told my dad that I wanted to start boxing. His first words were, ‘If I don’t see improvement in a month I’m taking you out, because you don’t play boxing.’ He saw that I liked it and he saw improvement in a month, and he supported me ever since.

“I only had about 75 amateur fights. I had an up-down career – I had about 56 wins and the rest were losses. For my whole amateur career, I trained at the San Jose PAL.

“I never did anything big as an amateur that was a standout, but here I am. That just shows everybody that when you work hard and stay dedicated, and are willing to learn and are willing to be a student and listen, things can change over the years quicker than you can imagine.

“I’m naturally right-handed. I live with my fiancé, Stephanie Perez. She’s a team player – she’s my chef, too. We have a date to be married – August 3^rd, 2019.”…

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

Andy won the local, regional, and California State Golden Gloves 2010, 2011, and 2012…

He was a USA Boxing local and regional gold medalist in 2010 and 2011, and a gold medalist at the Adidas National Tournament in 2010 and 2011…

2012 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN GLOVES – Vacaville, California, 141 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST [incomplete results]: in the finals on 4-2-12 he won a decision against Robert Jimenez of the Azusa Boxing Club…

2012 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Fort Carson, Colorado, 132 pounds: in his first fight on 2-26-12 he won a 16-12 decision against Deontae Jordon of St. Louis, Mo.; in his second fight on 2-27-12 he had an 18-18 draw, but lost the tiebreaker against Toka Kahn Clary of Providence, R.I….

2011 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Toledo Ohio, 132 pounds (open division) – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 10-4-11 he won a 20-7 decision against Javar Jones of Anderson, In.; in the quarterfinals on 10-6-11 he won a 25-16 decision against Sonny Fredrickson of Toledo, Oh.; in the semifinals on 10-7-11 he lost a 21-14 decision against Toka Kahn Clary of Providence, R.I….

2011 LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER – Cincinnati, Ohio, 141 pounds: in his first fight on 7-4-11 he won a 25-21 decision against Ernest Muhammad; in his second fight on 7-5-11 he won a 25-22 decision against Jerome Rodriguez; in his third fight on 7-6-11 he had a 32-32 draw, but lost the tiebreaker against Donald Griffin…

2011 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Colorado Springs, 141 pounds: in his first fight on 6-21-11 he lost a 28-17 decision against Gary Allen Russell…

2011 NATIONAL GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS – Indianapolis, Indiana, 141 pounds: in his first fight on 4-25-11 he lost a decision against Amir Imam…

2010 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – San Antonio, Texas, 132 pounds: in his first fight on 10-5-10 he won a 17-7 decision against Arthur Porter; in his second fight on 10-6-10 he lost a 4-3 decision against Joshua Davis…

2009 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Denver, Colorado, 141 pounds: in his first fight on 6-9-09 he lost a 15-4 decision against Andre Sherard…

STRENGTHS: Has good skills and movement…has good punching power…is experienced against good opposition…had a strong amateur background…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 22 fights…102 total rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 4.6 rounds…

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: of total fights – 54 %…of wins – 57 %…

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 10 rounds – 3 (2-0-1)…9 rounds – 1 (1-0)…8 rounds – 2 (2-0)…