Edward Vazquez, in the eyes of promoter Lou DiBella and other boxing insiders, is an undefeated fighter.

Despite a few setbacks, the junior lightweight contender continues to move forward with his career, aiming for another meaningful fight in 2025.

Vazquez will face Kenneth Taylor on Wednesday night at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 10-round bout will precede the main event bout between IBF world bantamweight titleholder Miyo Yoshida and challenger Shurretta Metcalf.

Both fights will stream live on ProBox TV (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

DiBella is confident Vazquez will receive another opportunity to fight a top contender soon, leading to a world title shot against one of the world titleholders. He believes fans know what type of fighter Vazquez is, despite the outcomes in the only two defeats of his career.

“In my mind, Eddie Vazquez should have gotten the nod in the (Joe) Cordina fight and was clearly jobbed versus Raymond Ford,” DiBella told The Ring Monday afternoon. “He’s a champion-in-waiting for a bigger opportunity. Hopefully, another good win will help (make) that happen.”

Vazquez (16-2, 3 knockouts), who resides in Fort Worth, Texas, defeated once-beaten prospect Daniel Bailey by unanimous decision in his last bout on May 3. The win over Bailey took place about six months after Vazquez lost a close majority decision to then-IBF world junior lightweight titleholder Joe Cordina.

In February 2022, Vazquez lost by split decision to Ford, who would go on to win the WBA world featherweight title on March 2 of this year. Most boxing insiders and fans thought Vazquez did enough to earn the win against Ford in the clash between unbeaten featherweights.

Since the loss to Ford, the 29-year-old reeled off four consecutive victories, including two consecutive split decision victories over Viktor Slavinskyi and Misael Lopez, the latter occurring on a ShoBox telecast on February 17 of last year. Over five months later, Vazquez defeated fringe contender Brayan De Gracia by unanimous decision.

Taylor (14-3-2, 6 KOs), who resides in Tyler, Texas, last fought on April 26, losing by majority decision to unbeaten junior lightweight prospect Victor Hernandez. The loss to Hernandez snapped a string of three consecutive victories.

The clash between Vazquez and Taylor, along with the Yoshida-Metcalf fight, will be part of the Broadway Boxing card that is promoted by Lou DiBella. Portions of the proceeds from the Heroes on the Hudson event will be donated to military charities, including to the West Point Society of New York, Merging Vets and Players, and the Headstrong Project.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

Follow @FSalazarBoxing