Vasquez has yet to reach his peak
Boxer wants shot at Mount Everest
Boxing isn’t my limit. But I enjoy boxing, and it’s very therapeutic for me.” Sammy Vasquez
With all that Sammy Vasquez Jr. has been through in his life — being bullied as a kid, which led him to the boxing gym in the first place; twice being deployed to Iraq; having his Olympic dream dashed then becoming a professional boxer and climbing the welterweight ladder — it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear him unveil a plan for the next stage of his life.
“To be honest, I’d like to climb Mount Everest,” Vasquez, 30, said by phone recently.
OK, that’s kind of a shocker. Boxers punch, run, jump-rope. They don’t climb, especially that high. With so much to accomplish in the ring before conquering the most intimidating peak on the planet, Vasquez’s grand plan for Everest might be considered a pipe dream.
“I don’t know of another world champion who, after they got the belt, ever climbed Mount Everest. That’s something I’ve always been wanting to do,” Vasquez said. “I’m an extremist. I thrive on adversity and the chances of survival. I’ve always thought it would be pretty cool. After you win a world title, what are you going to do next?
“I want to climb Mount Everest, take a picture … and run down the mountain as fast as I can,” Vasquez said matter of factly.
If you think that sounds like a man who might not understand the dangers involved in scaling the world’s highest peak, think again. Vasquez, who grew up in the Pittsburgh area, knows exactly what it entails. Now living in Colorado Springs, he’s been warming up on Rocky Mountain peaks.
“I do a lot of fourteeners (14,000-foot-plus peaks). Colorado has, I think, 53 fourteeners. I’ve trained up for it,” Vasquez said. “Everest is definitely something you have to train up for, so it’s nothing that I can’t handle, and it’s for my kids, too. It’s like, ‘What does your dad do?’ ‘Oh, he went to Iraq twice, he became a welterweight world champion, and he climbed Mount Everest. What about your dad?’ ”
First things first, however. Vas- quez (21-0, 15 KOs) is training for his next fight, a welterweight battle against Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz on Saturday in the cofeature of Deontay Wilder’s heavyweight title defense against challenger Chris Arreola in Birmingham, Ala. It’s a Premier Boxing Champions card on Fox TV (8 p.m. ET).
Diaz is a late change. Vasquez’s original opponent was veteran Luis Collazo, 35, a former welterweight champion, but he was derailed by an injury a few weeks ago. Enter Diaz, 32, who won gold for the Dominican Republic in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Diaz (17-1, 8 KOs) was training to fight Miguel Vasquez (no relation), who pulled out with an injury.
“That’s boxing, you always got to prepare, no matter what,” Vasquez said. “The only difference between them, really, is the size. He’s 5-5, compared to Collazo who’s 5-9 or 5-10. So you want to box a little bit more. (Diaz) is a counterpuncher. ... I had a veteran with great experience, but now I have someone young and hungry just like me. He has Olympic gold, so it’s going to make for a hell of a fight.”
Vasquez dreamed of Olympic gold once, too, but lost in the U.S. Olympic trials in 2012.
“Of course (I wanted to fight for my country), but at the same time we’re bred for adversity,” he said. “Stuff happens, and you need to learn to adapt and overcome.”
Vasquez expects adversity on his way to the welterweight title, and he’s prepared. He also knows his life experiences separate him from the rest of the pack chasing a title.
“The objective is to keep winning,” he said. “You don’t make it to the top and you don’t get to fight for a title unless you make yourself known. There are some guys who get a world title shot just because of the type of fighter they are ... tough, gritty fighters, even if they take a loss it’s a tough loss and they’re just somebody who they know is going to give a great championship fight, so they get opportunities.
“At the same time, I think about the opportunities I’ve been presented with and I’m grateful that, regardless of if it’s a title fight or not, for me to go through everything I’ve been through in my life, and still be ranked in the top 10 in the world, it’s huge.”
Like many soldiers who have been to Iraq, Vasquez was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and boxing is his antidote, though he knows PTSD will never go away.
“It lingers with you for the rest of your life,” he said. “My wife helps with a lot of it, and I see counselors. Boxing helps me relieve stress, and it’s a great opportunity for me to showcase my skills and still be totally there mentally and physically.”
If he gets a title, Vasquez feels his boxing career will be validated. He wants to be in the sport long enough to support his family comfortably.
You don’t make the big money in winning the title for the first time, he said, “you get the money when you defend a title. So I’ll defend it a couple times and do what I need to do. ... Boxing isn’t my limit. But I enjoy boxing and it’s very therapeutic for me.” His ideal title fight? “Me and Danny Garcia,” he said. “I’m from Pittsburgh, he’s from Philadelphia, it’d be the battle of Pennsylvania. It would probably sell out no matter where we fight. He’s the world champion, I’m at the top of the WBC bracket. He’s a great competitor, and I’m coming up. These guys sit on these titles for a while, and it’s time for some new blood.”