Sammy Vasquez's climb to the top: Conquer the welterweight division, then the mightiest mountain

With all that Sammy Vasquez Jr. has been through in his life - being bullied as a kid, which led him to the boxing gym in the first place; twice being deployed to Iraq; having his Olympic dream dashed then becoming a professional boxer and climbing the welterweight ladder - it shouldn't be a surprise to hear him unveil a plan for the next stage of his life.

"To be honest, I'd like to climb Mount Everest," Vasquez, 30, said by phone recently.

Uh, OK, yeah, well that's kind of a shocker, Sammy.

Boxers punch, they run, they jump-rope. They don't usually climb, and never, ever that high. Yet, with so much to accomplish in the ring, including winning a world title, before conquering the highest and most intimidating peak on the planet, Everest is still a pipe dream in Vasquez's grand plan.<EP>

"I don't know of another world champion who, after they got the belt, ever climbed Mount Everest. That's something I've always been wanting to do," Vasquez says. "I'm an extremist. I thrive on adversity and the chances of survival. I've always thought it would be pretty cool. After you win a world title, what are you going to do next?"

Not going to Disney World, that's for sure.

"I want to climb Mount Everest, take a picture … and run down the mountain as fast as I can," Vasquez says, matter-of-factly.

If you think that sounds like a man who might not understand the dangers involved in scaling the 29,000-foot peak, think again. Vasquez, who grew up in the Pittsburgh area, knows full well what it entails. He prepares on the Rocky Mountain peaks that surround his Colorado Springs home.

"I do a lot of fourteeners (14,000-foot-plus peaks). Colorado has, I think, 52 fourteeners (53, but who's counting?). I've trained up for it," Vasquez says. "Everest is definitely something you have to train up for, so it's nothing that I can't handle, and it's for my kids, too. It's like, 'what does your dad do?' 'Oh, he went to Iraq twice, he became a welterweight world champion, and he climbed Mount Everest. What about your dad?' "

First things first, however. Vasquez (21-0, 15 KOs) is training up for his next fight, a welterweight battle on Saturday against former Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz in the co-feature of Deontay Wilder's heavyweight title defense against challenger Chris Arreola in Birmingham, Ala. It's a Premier Boxing Champions card on Fox TV (8 p.m. ET), and Fox Deportes.

Diaz is a late change. Vasquez's original opponent was veteran Luis Collazo, 35, a former welterweight champion, but Collazo was derailed by an injury a few weeks ago. Enter the southpaw Diaz, 32, who won gold for the Dominican Republic in 2008 in Beijing. Diaz (17-1, 8 KOs) was training to fight another Vasquez, Miguel, who pulled out with an injury. Diaz's only loss came in his last fight against Lamont Peterson in a close majority decision in Peterson's back yard.

"That's boxing, you always got to prepare, no matter what," says Vasquez, also a southpaw. "The only difference between them, really, is the size. He's 5-5, compared to Collazo who's 5-9 or 5-10. So you want to box a little bit more. (Diaz) is a counterpuncher. He's a good fighter, and he's definitely somebody who's hungry, and young in his boxing career. The same with me.

Sammy Vasquez throws a punch at Aron Martinez in his most recent fight in January, a stoppage. (Photo by Mark J. Terrill, AP)

"Regardless of the age - and age ain't nothing but a number for me - it's a great replacement, if not even a better replacement. I had a veteran with great experience, but now I have someone young and hungry just like me. He has Olympic gold, so it's going to make for a hell of a fight."

Vasquez dreamed of Olympic gold once, too, but never made it past the U.S. Olympic trials in 2012.

"Of course (I wanted to fight for my country), but at the same time we're bred for adversity," he says. "Stuff happens and you need to learn to adapt and overcome. We decided to turn pro after that instead of taking a spot as an Olympic alternate."

Sounds like the soldier that Sergeant Sammy was and still is in many respects. Adversity will be ever-present on the road to a welterweight title, too. Vasquez is prepared. He also knows that his life experiences separate him from the rest of the pack chasing a title.

"The objective is to keep winning," he says. "You don't make it to the top and you don't get to fight for a title unless you make yourself known. There are some guys who get a world title just because of the type of fighter they are. They're tough fighters, gritty, even if they take a loss it's a tough loss and they're just somebody who they know is going to give a great championship fight, so they get opportunities.

"At the same time, I think about the opportunities I've been presented with and I'm grateful that, regardless of if it's a title fight or not, for me to go through everything I've been through in my life, and still be ranked in the top 10 in the world. It's huge. It speaks volumes."

Like many soldiers who have been to Iraq or Afghanistan, or any war for that matter, Vasquez was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He understands that PTSD will never leave him, and that boxing is his antidote.

"It lingers with you for the rest of your life. You don't have to be in a war to get PTSD. It can be a traumatic event. Like if somebody is in a (fatal) car wreck and they survive, they get survivor's guilt. . . . it's something a lot of us go through," he says. "It's a constant battle but boxing helps me relieve a lot of it, and I just work with it day in and day out. My wife helps with a lot of it, and I go to see counselors.

"Boxing helps me relieve stress and it's a great opportunity for me to showcase my skills and still be totally there mentally and physically."

Being in the ring, like being in an active firefight in wartime, is more like a high than being stressed out. At least that's how Vasquez sees it.

A bloodied Sammy Vasquez, battles Wale Omotoso in June 2015. (Photo by John Gurzinski, AP)

"Your blood's flowing, you're zeroed in and focused on what you're supposed to do. I get the same feeling from boxing. It's like my high," he says. "When I fight in front of thousands of people, I'm excited and I get that rush. It helps me get that high every once in a while to where I'm not paranoid or anxious, to take off the edge.

"If I didn't box, I would be paranoid because I'm always waiting for something to happen."

Once he gets a title, if it happens, Vasquez feels like his boxing career will be validated. He wants to be in it long enough to support his family comfortably.

You don't make the big money in winning the title for the first time, he says. "You get the money when you defend a title. So I'll defend it a couple times and do what I need to do. Boxing doesn't last forever. You can't just (continue to) beat your body up. I'm a very outspoken person, very friendly, I can do other things. Boxing isn't my limit. But I enjoy boxing and it's very therapeutic for me."

His ideal title fight would be a Penn-centric showdown.

"Me and Danny Garcia," he says. "I'm from Pittsburgh, he's from Philadelphia, it'd be the battle of Pennsylvania. It would probably sell out no matter where we fight. He's the world champion, I'm at the top of the WBC bracket (and both are undefeated, for now). That's someone I'm shooting for. He's a great competitor, and I'm coming up. These guys sit on these titles for awhile, and it's time for some new blood."

The native Pennsylvanian now living in Colorado counts Alabama as sort of an adopted home. He hopes that connection will make him a crowd favorite Saturday in Birmingham.

"My head coach (Charles Leverette) is actually from Alabama. He has a lot of family and he knows Deontay Wilder personally," Vasquez says. "I became a Crimson Tide fan myself because of him because he pushes Alabama so hard. Even on my shirts now, I've got 'Roll Tide' on the back.

"I'm feel like I'm part of the family, too. Alabama is like a home away from home for me."

(Photo of Sammy Vasquez during a recent media workout, by Ryan Greene, PBC)