Super featherweight Andy Vences was a promising boxing prospect, but after three losses, he was without a manager and promoter trying to find his way.
Boxing is a cold sport that judges its combatants harshly. In the first part of the 20th century, boxers fought multiple times a month, and a loss didn’t mean much. Today, a single defeat can set a fighter’s career back years. Andy Vences is finding that out the hard way.
In 2015, Vences notched his 12th victory. He was undefeated and in his mid-20s. As a super featherweight with a 5-foot-8 frame and 8 KOs to his credit, Vences attracted the attention of Top Rank boxing, who signed him.
That was Vences’ big break. He now had one of the biggest boxing promotions in his corner, and they were grooming him for a title shot. Everything was moving along smoothly, but a draw in 2018 and a loss to Albert Bell in 2019 besmirched Vences’ perfect record.
“I’ve been with Top Rak for most of my career, starting when I was 12-0 to recently when they let me go, Vences said to FanSided. “So it was a good experience. I mean, I can’t complain because I was given opportunities to fight on TV to showcase my skill. And that’s why a lot of people know me now.”
A lot has happened between Vences’ first loss to today. The pandemic certainly didn’t help. Vences’ career was put on hold, but Top Rank was the first boxing promotion to develop the bubble concept.
A few losses had Andy Vences without a promoter and manager, but he continues to grind to keep his boxing future alive
Vences made it onto a card in July 2020, but gyms were closed. He shared with FanSided how he made a back-porch gym to train. Despite his creative training methods, Vences dropped a close decision to Luis Alberto Lopez.
It was another mark of Vences’s record, and this one further damaged his career. Vences wanted another fight with Top Rank but never received one.
“So after the Lopez fight, I was supposed to be offered another fight,” Vences said. “I believe it was like, by the end of that year, which they didn’t so pretty much the contract lapsed to where they didn’t give me the fight. So basically, my contract expired.”
Just like that, Vences was without a promoter for the first time in over five years. Top Rank elected not to re-sign Vences, which left him as a free agent.
Peter Kahn, Vences’ boxing manager at the time, got him a fight with Triller. His opponent was former title challenger Jono Carroll. Vences fought well, but Carroll was awarded the majority decision.
Vences now had his third loss but showed that he had plenty of fight left in him. He was never blown out in a contest and was competitive in each of his three losses. Many people believe he deserved the win over Lopez and Carroll, but that’s boxing.
Vences has fought since. He’s only 31 years old but found himself without a promoter, and his manager told him he couldn’t get him a fight. Vences made the decision to cut ties with Kahn.
“I just called Peter, and I just told them like, you know what, Peter, like, it’s all good,” Vences said. “Like, I just want to try to do things my own way. Network with someone’s gonna put me on, and he was honest with me, he told me I don’t have nothing for you at the moment.”
Vences was completely on his own, business-wise. He has been training with Charles Perales but without the guarantee of a fight in the future.
“Training has been good,” Vences said. “I’ve been in the gym, it’s just, coming to the gym with no purpose or no guarantee of anything, it’s been kind of tough on the mental side.”
According to Vences’ social media, he now has a manager on his side, and he’s gearing up for a fight on Sept. 23. He had faith in himself and relied on his self-belief to keep him going.
Life isn’t fair, and the boxing business isn’t either, but Vences has talent, and he worked to get another shot. Even when others lost faith, Vences never did. It’s further proof that he’s a fighter to the core.