LAS VEGAS – defended his WBO featherweight title Sunday with a brutal beat down of , then later followed him to the T-Mobile Arena tunnel, hugging him as his fallen foe lay flat on his back receiving medical attention. For as fearsome a fighter as he is, Espinoza sure has a soft spot, as evidenced by the recent trend of him grabbing the mic and serenading the masses in Spanish.

Haney’s uninspiring performance in a wide win over Jose Ramirez and a heavily favored Garcia’s loss to Romero rendered their second bout inadvisable in the short term because they devalued it by passively approaching those two fights.

LAS VEGAS — leaned on size, speed, swarming combinations, and a concerted body attack to brutally and systematically beat on Sunday night at the T-Mobile Arena.

The ESPN broadcast is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET — after Inoue's Japanese countryman and baseball star Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the Atlanta Braves.

For his Cinco De Mayo Weekend showdown against Vazquez (17-2, 4 KOs), Espinoza will be the warm-up act on the ESPN card headlined by Naoya Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight title defense against Ramon Cardenas at the T-Mobile Arena.

On Sunday, Vazquez (17-2, 4 KOs) will get another crack to evolve from snakebitten contender to crown holder when he clashes against WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza (26-0, 22 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in an ESPN co-main event fight on the Naoya Inoue-Ramon Cardenas undercard.

Mexico's Rafael Espinoza plans to steal the spotlight on Cinco de Mayo Weekend. The 31-year-old Espinoza defends his WBO crown against Edward Vazquez on Sunday, May 4, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Featherweight boxing has long been central to Mexico’s pugilistic tradition, and Rafael “El Divino” Espinoza is ready to honor that legacy on Cinco de Mayo Weekend.