Israel Vazquez to have right eye removed after years of problems

Former world champion Israel Vazquez will lose his right eye after suffering several injuries during his boxing career.

The 38-year-old Mexican - nicknamed 'Magnifico' - was one of the sport's elite operators until his retirement in 2010 and is most famous for four brutal clashes with Rafael Marquez.

Vazquez, who held the WBC and IBF world super-bantamweight titles, said: "The problem obviously arose after the last fight [of my career, against Marquez] but I don't want to demonise the sport or the fight, because this was an oversight by my physician and myself.

"I had many surgeries and one of them was to put silicone into my eye. I assumed that the doctors knew what they were doing, and at that time I did not recover my vision 100 per cent, but I could live my life.

"What's happened is, I can't see with my right eye. I have made my life with my left eye and I have no problems."

Of the impending surgery, Vazquez added: "There is no set date, but we will see when we can do it. I know that physiologically it won't be easy but it is something that I will need to get used to."

Vazquez won two of his four bouts with Marquez and also beat the likes of Jhonny Gonzalez and Oscar Larios.