Originally Published: March 3, 2008
Scorecard: Vazquez-Marquez rates with the all-time best trilogies
Who cares about the outcome; Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez put on another sensational fight and let all hang out for 12 pulsating rounds. Why not do it again?
Tom Casino/Showtime The sharp-shooting Marquez, right, built an early lead behind a busy jab and heavy right hand.
A roundup of last week's notable boxing results from around the world:
|
Israel Vazquez W12 Rafael Marquez Retains world junior featherweight title Scores: 114-111, 113-112 Vazquez, 114-111 Marquez |
|
Records: Vazquez, 43-4, 32 KOs; Marquez, 37-5, 33 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Their first fight last March, won by Marquez via seventh-round TKO, was sensational. The August rematch, won by Vazquez via sixth-round TKO, was an all-time slugfest that turned out to be the 2007 fight of the year. So when they signed for the rubber match, expectations were sky-high for another epic confrontation. Well, guess what? It was exactly that -- an extraordinary nip-and-tuck battle that is the clear fight to beat for 2008 fight of the year honors. The Vazquez-Marquez rivalry now takes its place among the greatest trilogies in boxing history. Their three bouts, all 25 rounds, may be the greatest trilogy in boxing history for pure warfare. No, you are not crazy if you rate it ahead of the other classic Mexican trilogy between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. What puts Vazquez-Marquez ahead of Barrera-Morales is that all three fights were incredible. In Barrera-Morales, the first and third fights were outstanding. The second fight, while also tremendous, did not reach the level of the other two. The same can't be said for Vazquez-Marquez; they did their damage to each other in successive fights over one year. This fight had all the drama and blood of the other two, not to mention Vazquez rallying from a knockdown in the fiery fourth round (the leader for round of the year) to score his own victory-sealing knockdown during a 12th round in which he thrashed Marquez and came close to stopping him. Vazquez, 30, didn't knock Marquez all the way to the mat, but he hurt him and sent him staggering back, and the ropes held him up, so referee Pat Russell, who did a terrific job, rightfully ruled a knockdown. Marquez, 32, had dominated the early rounds to build a lead on the scorecards, but Vazquez came storming back. In the 10th round, Marquez, who had been warned multiple times by Russell for low blows, went south again and had a point deducted. It turned out to be the difference in the fight. Without the point deduction, Marquez would have gotten a draw, and he was very upset about the ruling after the fight. But let's not hold his emotional, heat-of-the-moment reaction after a brutal fight against him. Both men were bloody and swollen afterward; Vazquez needed 30 stitches to close three different cuts. The fight in front of a lively, sold-out crowd of 8,014 could have gone either way, really. But however you scored it, the outcome almost didn't matter. That's how great of a fight it was. There is already talk of an eventual fourth fight after both men take a long rest. Why not do it again? It remains the biggest money fight for both of them, although there has been some discussion about Vazquez moving up to junior lightweight to face Barrera, who intends to come out of retirement. If you missed this classic, shame on you. But you still have a chance to see it. Showtime will air several replays, including on Wednesday night (11 ET/PT). Do not miss it. And even if you saw it, you're strongly advised to burn it to DVD, make a tape or save it to your DVR. And next time we get a stinker like Wladimir Klitschko-Sultan Ibragimov, you will have this one at your fingertips to wash away the bad taste. Vazquez-Marquez III was a sensational fight and a great night for boxing. We all owe them a big thank you for doing themselves and boxing proud. |
|
Yutaka Niida KO6 Jose Luis Varela Retains a strawweight title |
|
Records: Niida, 23-1-3, 9 KOs; Varela, 15-4, 7 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: For the first time in seven title defenses, Japan's Niida, 29, scored a knockout, dropping Venezuela's Varela, 29, for the count with a body attack at 2:16 of the sixth round. Niida had earlier knocked the 2000 Olympian down with a left hook in the third round. Varela fell to 2-3 with a no contest in his last six fights, including a lopsided loss in October 2006 when he challenged Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon for another version of the 105-pound title. |
|
Robert Guerrero KO8 Jason Litzau Retains a featherweight title |
|
Records: Guerrero, 22-1-1, 15 KOs; Litzau, 23-2, 19 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: This one went pretty much as expected with the more talented, more seasoned Guerrero laying a beating on the limited, but game, Litzau before stopping him in a battle of 24-year-olds. However, for a one-sided drubbing, this was a very entertaining fight and it was nice to see Showtime's prospect-oriented series "ShoBox" pick up a fight featuring Guerrero, one of its most accomplished alumni. The southpaw from nearby Gilroy, Calif., made the second defense of his second reign in dominant fashion, finally finishing Litzau with a pair of knockdowns in the eighth, the second of which was a spectacular three-punch combination and rivaled the one-punch first-round knockout he scored against Martin Honorio in his first defense last fall. For that fight with Honorio, Guerrero did not have his wife, Casey, at ringside like he normally does because she had been diagnosed with leukemia just days before the bout. With her illness now in remission, she took her usual place at ringside with their daughter to watch Guerrero win in style. Litzau, who was in his first 12-rounder, suffered his only other loss in December 2006 to Jose Hernandez on HBO -- also in the eighth round. Guerrero has a wealth of options as one of the most exciting young titleholders in the sport. A unification bout with Steven Luevano or Jorge Linares would be attractive. He could also invite junior featherweight champ Israel Vazquez up to featherweight to challenge him if there is no Vazquez-Rafael Marquez IV. Or Guerrero could move up and pursue a wealth of potential opponents at junior lightweight. |
|
Travis Walker TKO2 T.J. Wilson |
|
Records: Walker, 27-1-1, 21 KOs; Wilson, 12-2, 8 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: When Walker and Wilson first met in October on "ShoBox," it was over in the blink of an eye as Wilson stunned Walker immediately and had him badly hurt when the fight was called off after just 15 seconds. In the rematch, also on "ShoBox," Walker, who always maintained that their first fight shouldn't have been stopped, gained revenge in an all-action slugfest. Neither man has the look of a serious contender, but this one was fun while it lasted. Walker connected with an uppercut early in the second round and never let up. He was battering Wilson with combinations and Wilson had no clue how to hold. He was out on his feet and falling into the ropes when the referee stepped in at 1:50 to end it. There was more action in less than two complete rounds of this bout than in all 12 of last week's awful Wladimir Klitschko-Sultan Ibragimov heavyweight unification bout. |
|
Antwun Echols D10 Mike Walker Scores: 98-92 Echols, 95-95 (twice) |
|
Records: Echols, 31-7-4, 27 KOs; Walker, 18-0-2, 12 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Considering that this wasn't close to the original fight promoters and ESPN2 intended to put on, the "Friday Night Fights" main event turned out to be pretty entertaining. Originally, super middleweight contender Allan Green was to face Samuel Miller, but Miller withdrew a couple of weeks ago with an injury. Echols, who is long past his prime but still has excellent power, an exciting style and had three times challenged for a world title, was brought in as the late replacement. But then, two days before the fight, Green, without explanation, withdrew from the fight. He didn't even bother to notify his promoter, Tony Holden, showing an utter lack of character. Many in the industry believe he pulled out because another promoter is trying to steal him away from Holden. Whatever the reason for Green's poor decision, Walker was signed as a last-minute replacement. And you know what? He and Echols put on as good of a fight as you could expect under the odd circumstances. In the end, two of the judges had it even, which seemed like an appropriate score. Echols is now 0-2-3 in his last five and hasn't won a fight since 2004, but he's always in good fights. How about seeing this one again somewhere down the road? |
|
Sechew Powell TKO1 Kevin Finley |
|
Records: Powell, 23-1, 14 KOs; Finley, 12-1-1, 9 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: "Friday Night Fights" analyst Teddy Atlas was dead on in his assessment of this one -- it was over when they signed the contracts. It was a horrific mismatch despite Finley's glossy record. He'd fought almost exclusively in Missouri club fights. Powell, 28, on the other hand, is a world-class fighter and legitimate contender. He won his third in a row since suffering a decision loss to former titleholder Kassim Ouma in August 2006. Powell's handlers at Seminole Warriors Boxing were just keeping Powell busy because nobody wanted to jeopardize his No. 1 ranking in one of the sanctioning organizations, which will eventually make him a mandatory challenger for titlist Cory Spinks. Finley, 28, never stood a chance as Powell, a southpaw, obliterated him in 2:23, knocking him down twice and smashing up his nose. |
|
Raul Martinez W10 Benji Garcia Scores: 100-87, 99-88, 98-89 |
|
Records: Martinez, 22-0, 13 KOs; Garcia, 12-10-3, 1 KO |
| Rafael's remark: San Antonio native Martinez, 26, who was in his first main event on Telefutura and back in action only six weeks after outpointing Alex Baba in a Telefutura co-feature, rolled past journeyman Garcia. Martinez notched two knockdowns in the third round, one in the fifth and won easily. It was his second consecutive win since signing with Top Rank after parting ways with Main Events last year. |
|
Raul Garcia W12 Ronald Barrera Title eliminator Scores: 118-109, 117-110, 116-111 |
|
Records: Garcia, 22-0-1, 15 KOs; Barrera, 22-4-1, 14 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Garcia, 23, fighting in his hometown, outpointed Colombia's Barrera, also 23, to become the mandatory challenger for 108-pound titlist and Mexican countryman Ulises Solis. Barrera was bidding for a third world title shot. He previously lost to Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon and Yutaka Niida in strawweight title fights. |
|
Lucian Bute TKO10 William Joppy Retains a super middleweight title |
|
Records: Bute, 22-0, 18 KOs; Joppy, 39-5-1, 30 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: In front of a hometown crowd at the Bell Centre, Bute, a Romanian who has adopted Montreal as home, got his gimme in his first title defense. The 28-year-old southpaw won the belt in October with a nasty 11th-round TKO of Alejandro Berrio and, like many new titleholders, took an easy first defense. This one came in the form of Joppy, 37, a long-faded former titleholder who stood virtually no shot. Sure enough, Bute -- after a ridiculously long but rock show-like ring entrance -- got down to business. He dominated the fight and dropped Joppy to his knees with body shots in the ninth round and dumped him twice more in the 10th round before it was stopped. Entering the fight, Joppy had won seven in a row against very weak opposition since back-to-back losses to Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins. Although a Bute victory was pre-ordained, give him a little credit for stopping Joppy. He'd been stopped only once before, in a 2001 middleweight word title fight against prime Felix Trinidad. Following the latest loss, Joppy, who won a version of the middleweight title three times, said he was retiring. |
|
Roman Gonzalez W10 Javier Maravilla Murillo Scores: 100-84 (twice), 99-85 |
|
Records: Gonzalez, 18-0, 16 KOs; Murillo, 7-8-1, 3 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Gonzalez, the 20-year-old phenom and protégé of the great Alexis Arguello, was taken the distance for the second consecutive bout after beginning his pro career with 16 consecutive knockouts. However, Gonzalez did score seven knockdowns -- yes, seven -- in the one-sided performance that moved him a step closer to a mandatory title shot against Japan's Yutaka Niida. Murillo was down twice in the third, in the sixth, seventh, eighth and twice more in the 10th. |
|
Dimitri Kirilov D12 Cecilio Santos Retains a junior bantamweight title Scores: 116-112 Kirilov, 114-114 (twice) |
|
Records: Kirilov, 29-3-1, 9 KOs; Santos, 22-8-3, 12 KOs |
|
Rafael's remark: Kirilov, 29, won a vacant 115-pound belt in his native Russia when he outpointed American Jose Navarro in October and escaped with a majority draw in his first defense. The draw with Mexico's Santos, 29, keeps alive the possibility of a May unification fight with titlist Cristian Mijares of Mexico, with whom Kirilov's camp has been talking. Kirilov opened cuts over both of Santos' eyes. Santos dropped to 0-2-1 in title bouts, having previously lost a junior bantamweight shot against Fernando Montiel in July 2007 and a bantamweight shot against Veeraphol Sahaprom in 2004.
|
|
Anthony Mundine W12 Nader Hamdan Retains a super middleweight title Scores: 120-108, 119-109, 117-111 |
|
Records: Mundine, 31-3, 23 KOs; Hamdan, 40-6, 18 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Mundine made the third defense of one of the sport's most bogus titles, the WBA's "regular" belt. Anyone who follows boxing knows that Joe Calzaghe is the real super middleweight champion as well as the WBA's "super" champion. And yet again, Mundine, 32, fought a massively undeserving opponent in a so-called title fight. In this case it was against his buddy Hamdan, 34, who is a close friend from their hometown of Sydney. Mundine cut the durable Hamdan (who ate a lot of right hands) midway through the fight and handed him his second loss in a row and third defeat in five bouts. |
Dan Rafael is the senior boxing writer for ESPN.com.
