Welcome back, Israel. (Photo by Jacob de Golish/Getty Images)

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I have yet to see the fight myself, but all reports are that former 122-pound world champion Israel Vazquez got off to a shaky start in his boxing comeback, eventually beating journeyman Angel Priolo with a ninth round TKO.

The live updates we had during the Latin Fury 12 card painted it as Vazquez really struggling, getting cut, and seeming to understand that he needed to fight with urgency, which in turn led to the stoppage. The AP's Greg Beacham says much the same:

Vazquez (44-4, 30 KOs) looked shaky in long stretches of his first bout since concluding his phenomenal rivalry with Rafael Marquez early last year. The former 122-pound world champion developed swelling around both eyes, and a 2-inch cut opened over his left eye during the sixth round.

But Vazquez kept fighting and eventually caught up to Priolo (30-8), a Colombian former title contender who has lost seven straight fights. Vazquez knocked down Priolo three times in the ninth, finally forcing the stoppage in the last minute.

The bad news is that Izzy didn't look so good, and what makes that worse news is that Priolo isn't good. Priolo (30-8, 20 KO) had lost his last six fights, five by knockout, and he was fighting Vazquez near the featherweight limit tonight. Priolo was a flyweight when he started his losing streak, and making it worse yet is that the losing streak started five years ago. He's a part-time fighter at best and hasn't beaten anyone since 2004, and all but three of his wins came against bums in Colombia.

Vazquez (44-4, 32 KO) will need more tuning up, and it might simply be unrealistic to expect him to ever fight at his old level, or even particularly close to it. His body's gone through hell, not just from the Marquez fights, but many other vicious wars he's had in his spectacular career.

The good news? He's back, and hopefully he felt stronger as it went along, and he comes out of the fight with no injuries. I wouldn't suggest he goes right into the fourth fight with Rafael Marquez, which seems an inevitability now. Maybe revisited a fight with Al Seeger, which had been rumored before the Vazquez team plucked Priolo out of the grab-bag. Seeger is a lot better than Priolo, and if Izzy's really as beaten up as people are making it sound as though he appeared tonight, he might not get past Seeger. They might want to cash in the chips and make some money against Marquez as soon as possible.

Vazquez has bigger plans:

“I was a little rusty, but I wanted to knock him out,” Vazquez said. “I was really hungry for the win. I’m a warrior, and I’ve been showing that all along in my career, and now I want the big fights again. I was getting a little tired, and it took me a little bit of time to get my rhythm back, but my eye didn’t bother me at al.. It was just the cut. I had a good opponent tonight, but I was hungry.”

The fight was Vazquez's featherweight debut. He called for a fight with WBA featherwieght champion Chris John.

Time will tell. For now, welcome back to boxing, Israel Vazquez.

Israel Vazquez won't be facing Al Seeger as previously rumored. Instead, he'll take on Angel Antonio Priolo in his October 10 return. (Photo via www.boxnews.com.ua)

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Returning ex-junior featherweight world champion Israel Vazquez won't be facing Al Seeger, as previously believed by many (including yours truly), but instead will face a much softer touch in Angel Antonio Priolo.

Vazquez (43-4, 31 KO) hasn't fought since his March 1, 2008 classic against Rafael Marquez, which Vazquez unbelievably won with a last-minute knockdown of his great rival. He's undergone eye surgeries since then and simply let his war wounds heal after three straight grueling fights with Marquez, and though he's coming back heavier at 126 pounds, no one is really quite sure what exactly to expect of the great warrior. Will he ever really be the same?

Seeger (28-4, 22 KO) has lost to most of the best fighters he's been matched against, but he's a guy who can punch and it seemed a somewhat dangerous proposition for as unsure a return to action as Vazquez's is on paper.

On the other hand, the Colombian Priolo (30-7, 20 KO) has lost his last six fights and been knocked out in five of them, and he's been stopped six times overall. You also have to take into account the weight at which this fight will be fought, assumedly at 126 or perhaps a couple pounds higher. Priolo's highest fighting weight has been 118.

Look, you can't blame Izzy and his team for being cautious. Best-versus-best, I don't think there's any question that Vazquez beats Seeger, but it's impossible to tell where Vazquez is at as a fighter until he gets in there and does something. I do know that Priolo won't exactly be a test to see if Vazquez is ready for a fourth Marquez fight, which both of them want, so maybe Seeger could fight Vazquez after that. You never know.

Former junior featherweight world champion Israel Vazquez's return date is set. On October 10, he'll face Al Seeger in his featherweight debut after 19 months out of the ring. (Photo via www.notifight.com)

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While Israel Vazquez's return date of October 10 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles had been set for a while now, his opponent until now was unknown. The mystery is over: Vazquez will face journeyman Al Seeger in his featherweight debut.

Like BoxingScene's Mark Vester at the above link, I think this one has a chance to get ugly and fast. Seeger (28-4, 22 KO) has lost three of his last four fights, two of them by stoppage. His last loss game to Yuriorkis Gamboa in July 2008, a first round TKO stoppage in which Gamboa had no trouble whatsoever. Seeger, 29, fares better at junior featherweight, the division where Vazquez reigned as world champion.

Vazquez (43-4, 31 KO) turns 32 on Christmas day, and will be looking to shake off some rust, as well as find out exactly where his body is at after what will be 19 months out of action, mostly due to multiple surgeries on his eye. He hopes to use the fight against Seeger as a springboard to a fourth bout with rival Rafael Marquez, who won his May comeback bout, also at featherweight.

Granted, I'm a huge Izzy Vazquez fan, as pretty much every red-blooded boxing fan should be. But I think Seeger is a really odd pick. It's hard to talk about, but the fact is in Seeger's last fight, his opponent Benjamin Flores wound up dead following eight rounds of action. Most fighters simply cannot mentally come back from that sort of thing, and it'll be very, very hard for Seeger to have his head straight going back into the ring.

Still, if he's found peace with the tragedy, Seeger could also present Israel with some problems if Vazquez is not at his best, and he'll never be 100% again. Seeger can punch a little, and if Vazquez's resistance is blown (which isn't that big of a leap to take all things considered), the chance for an upset is definitely there.

Smart money is on Vazquez, quick and clean. But he didn't take a total chump in his comeback fight, either. Isn't that just like the Israel Vazquez we remember?

UPDATE: Al Seeger himself campaigned for the fight, so I'm going to guess he's ready for it. I'm glad he's getting his shot, glad he hasn't lost his fighting spirit, and do hope someone (Vs., perhaps) grabs this fight. The only thing scheduled for American TV on 10/10 is the Lopez and Gamboa Top Rank PPV.