The last time Edward Vazquez made a business trip to Las Vegas, he was 8-0, facing fellow prospect Adan Ochoa and doing so in the Top Rank Bubble at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2020.

Sunday, nearly five years and 11 fights later, the "Kid" is back in the fight capital of the world, but now it’s as a world title challenger at T-Mobile Arena, in the co-main event of Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue’s clash with Ramon Cardenas, and on Cinco de Mayo weekend, no less.

It’s a different feel, for sure.

“It feels like a dream come true,” said Vazquez, who faces Rafael Espinoza for the WBO featherweight crown “I've visualized myself being in this kind of situation many, many times in my head. I can't say that I visualized it being on Cinco de Mayo for a world title at the T-Mobile Arena; that's kind of like all the stars aligning just perfectly. So it's sweet. What more could a fighter like me want? A fighter since I was seven years old, being Mexican, fighting on Cinco de Mayo, on ESPN, with Top Rank for the world title. Come on, man, it’s a blessing and I'm very thankful.”

Vazquez smiles on the Zoom call, clearly much too happy for someone about to get into a fistfight with an unbeaten champion who has seemingly gotten better since winning the title against Robeisy Ramirez in December 2023.

But the 29-year-old from Fort Worth isn’t just satisfied with being here. He’s been in this position before as the B-side, and he’s made the adjustments and strides in his game to make sure what happened in his 2023 title fight with Joe Cordina and his 2022 loss to Raymond Ford doesn’t happen again.

In fact, he doesn’t even call the only defeats on his 17-2 record losses.

“We’ll call ‘em blemishes,” Vazquez laughs, clearly at peace with two bouts that didn’t go his way in the judges’ eyes, but that many fans and pundits believe should have.

Of course, the only opinions that count are those of the three judges at ringside, and win, lose or draw, Vazquez insists on always looking for ways to improve.

“I definitely have to reevaluate and self-reflect,” he said. “I'm huge on having to go back to the drawing board, and even when I win I still do the same thing. I have to always look for improvements and look for things that I'm doing wrong or that I could be doing better.

"Unfortunately, those two fights didn't go my way, and even though they could have, there were still things that I could have done a lot better, that could have possibly given me the wins. I've gone back and watched those fights and broke them down and changed my game and I’m just trying to get better consistently. I'm all about that. I'm all about getting better.”

It’s what you want to hear from any fighter, and after two wins in 2024, that he’s getting another crack at a world title makes sense to him. To those outside of his inner circle, the boxing business is a little more complicated because you can seemingly win a fight, but not actually win it, and then get back in the spotlight 18 months later. It's baffling.

“I always say that you just got to play the game,” Vazquez said. “And sometimes that's what happens when you're on the field and not on the sidelines. You have to understand that there is a bit of politics involved in boxing, and that's unfortunate, but that's just the way all sports are. And you’ve got to know your role.

"I've embraced the role of the guy that's going to come in and put up a damn good fight, and I answer the phone call and I'm willing to fight the best that you have to offer as long as I'm treated well. And sometimes the only thing I can control is what I can control, and that's for me to go out there and fight my ass off and give the fans what they want to see and leave it all on the line. The rest is out of my control, and that's what I mean by playing the game. The best you can do is control the controllables.”

With just four knockouts, Vazquez’ controllables likely won’t include stopping Espinoza, so the Texan is preparing for a 12-round war, which is just what the doctor ordered for a Mexican-American who embraces his heritage’s fighting spirit just like Guadalajara’s Espinoza does.

“It's going to be a Mexican shootout, toe-to-toe banging,” he said. “It's going to be a war, it’s going to be a test of the will and we're going to see who has the biggest balls. That's what we're going to find out.”

Vazquez smiles, and again, how do you smile at the prospect of going into some dark places for 12 rounds in order to grab a belt? That’s fighter stuff, and for more than two decades it’s the life Vazquez has lived. And if he leaves Vegas with that title of world champion, you can’t put a price on that.

“It will solidify my work,” he said. “It'll solidify everything that I've sacrificed for the sport, all the work that I've put into my craft. And since I was a kid, I've set up for this mission and I've told myself this is what I wanted. So it will solidify that for me, and I'll be able to finally check it off and say I'm world champion. And next would be to unify. But my first goal that I had written down was to be a world champion. And it’s not too long now.”