I think it was during the hellacious ninth round of the first encounter between Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti in 2002 that Larry Merchant, calling the action for HBO, would say that he was ‘humbled’ by what was taking place in front of him.
Well, after what I witnessed Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, now it’s my turn. These two Mexican warriors more than cleaned up the mess that was left by the passion-less heavyweights we were subjected to the week before. In what was a heart-stopping, razor-thin split decision, Vazquez and Marquez did the impossible – they topped their first two fights.
Folks, this fight is going into my special archive section, right alongside Castillo-Corrales I, Hagler-Hearns, the 1989 Miami-Notre Dame game, ‘Caddyshack’ and ‘Lost Tapes’ from Nas. Yeah, it’s a keeper all right.
Pundits always talk about ways to rehabilitate the boxing business. Folks, it’s pretty simple – more fights like these. And more fighters like Vazquez and Marquez.
I know we’re barely into March, but as of now, this is the one to beat for ‘Fight of the Year’ honors. And quite frankly, I don’t know if there are two other fighters who have the guts to go through what they just did (Unless of course, we see a fourth installment of Vazquez-Marquez. But more on that later).
If this rivalry was a movie, it would be ‘There Will Be Blood’, because as you saw both combatants at the post-fight press conference, their faces were a canvas to the artistic damage they inflicted on each other. Both fighters were heavily bruised, cut and battered. Vazquez, with his lingering scar tissue, was a mosaic of blood and scarring. As the post-fight gathering took place, his trainer, Rudy Perez, would still have to attend to the various lacerations that were seeping fluid. It’s one of the rare occasions that a fighter would need a cutman during a press conference.
There’s a brutally beautiful ebb-and-flow when these two meet up. Marquez, the fundamentally sound boxer-puncher controlling things with his jab and right-cross from the outside, versus the steady, hard-charging, heavy-handed attack of Vazquez. Throughout the night there was a certain tense feeling and intensity to the action because of it’s competitive and taut nature. Just when you think one fighter had seized the physical and tactical advantage, the other would strike back and regain momentum just as quickly.
After a brisk start to the fight, where both men would have their moments, Marquez would send Vazquez to the canvas with a combination that was punctuated by a right hand. But Vazquez would dust himself off and actually hurt Marquez with his own right as they fought tooth-and-nail till the bell sounded. This is the first candidate for Round of the Year’. The back-and-forth nature of this rivalry has never waned throughout its 25 rounds. Amazingly enough, it has actually increased steadily. And this fight was even more taxing because unlike the first two, this one was – to the surprise of many observers – going the full route.
For all the scintillating action that took place, what will forever define this fight – and perhaps this rivalry – was the 12th round exhibition of Vazquez, who, with the physical exhorting of his trainer (“He hit me,” said Vazquez afterwards when asked what Perez had told him prior to the final round), went out there and put on a display of heart and determination that is rare. He didn’t just empty the bucket, he even kicked the bucket away and threw caution to the wind, fighting with the sense of urgency of a man knowing he had to close hard. And in what was a close contest, he would batter a game Marquez around the ring with a series of right hands that visibly stung him and had Marquez clinching for dear life. With just seconds to go, a flurry of violent punches would send Marquez staggering into the corner, held up by only the ropes. Referee Pat Russell would correctly rule that a knockdown, as the ropes were the only thing holding Marquez upright. As badly as they say Hillary Clinton needs to take Ohio and Texas, Vazquez needed the 11th and 12th rounds just as much. It was a landslide for ‘El Magnifico’.
As the bell rang, a wobbly Marquez would make it out of the round. He had survived the shelling, but just barely. Watching ringside, the greatest of all Mexican pugilists, Julio Cesar Chavez, must have been proud. He knows a thing or two about late 12th round heroics. Edwin Moses, Secretariat, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Mariano Rivera or James Bond couldn’t have closed any better.
There was pandemonium at ringside, and everyone knew they had just attended something historic and special. All of the 8,014 patrons (some of whom told me they came in from as far away as Boston, New York, Atlanta and even the UK) at the Home Depot Center were on their feet in appreciation. A palpable buzz was felt throughout the venue on this cool Southern California night. It took awhile for everyone to catch their breath. I haven’t had that feeling since the first bout between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo in 2005. I know now that when you feel like that, it must’ve been a good one.
The only thing remaining was the reading of the scorecards. It may have been one of those fights where the clich?’ of ‘there really is no loser’ rings true. But when fighters go through such a meat grinder, winning matters. Fighters like these don’t make the ultimate sacrifices to earn moral victories.
Max De Luca would score the bout 114-111 for Vazquez. Tommy Kaczmarek would see it 114-111 the other way. And the deciding vote would come down to Dr. James Jen Kin, whose scorecard would read 113-112….for Vazquez. It turns out his knockdown in the 12th and the point that was taken away from Marquez for low blows provided the slim margin of victory. It was a hard-earned win (which is a vast understatement) for Vazquez, who just a few years ago was another relatively nameless, faceless, anonymous belt-holder. Now, he’s one of boxing bright lights. Whatever he lacks in pure technical precision and skill, he more than makes up for with his indomitable will. From his wars against Oscar Larios, Jhonny Gonzalez and this three-part passion play with Marquez, he has become must-see TV.
So do we make this a best-of-five?
Or should we not ask anymore of these two?
When is enough enough?
Gary Shaw joked at the presser about wanting to take these two on a world tour. Not a bad idea if you think about it, but these guys could probably use a break from each other. It’ll be months before you see either Vazquez or Marquez back in the ring. But on the other hand, a fourth affair would most likely be the most lucrative bout either one could participate in. And this time around, you wouldn’t be at the Home Depot Center, but the Staples Center. And these guys wouldn’t be making high six figures, but seven.
And if there’s two guys who deserve a break – and then millions. It’s them.
PROTEST
I really don’t want to get into the protest that is being filed by Marquez and his team regarding the point deduction in the tenth for low blows and then the 12th round knockdown that they feel was an unnecessary ‘standing 8-count’ given by referee Pat Russell.
I’ll just personally chalk it up to an emotional fighter lashing out in a great time of disappointment. That’s perfectly understandable.
But let’s make this clear, while I didn’t completely agree with Russell’s call on the shots that strayed low (I thought the majority of the offending punches were borderline), after repeated warnings he almost had no choice but to penalize Marquez by that point in time. As for the knockdown call, it was absolutely spot on. Jim Gray and everyone else should now realize that there is no such thing as a ‘standing 8-count’ in most jurisdictions and for championship contests. And when the ropes are the sole reason you are standing upright after a clean punch (think Evander Holyfield-Bert Cooper), it is a knockdown, plain and simple.
What I found interesting is that all three judges scored the final round 10-8 for Vazquez. Based on the way he buzzed Marquez several times in that final frame, you could’ve made a case for that being a 10-8 round before the knockdown. And with the knockdown, perhaps a 10-7 round.
Overall though, I thought Russell, who is one of our very best refs, did an outstanding job in there.
GHOST BUSTIN’
IBF featherweight champion Robert Guerrero is on a pretty strong run of fights. Most recently he took care of Jason Litzau in eight rounds, putting an end to things with a highlight reel KO.
I was told that there was a pretty good crowd in Lemoore, California and that people were turned away at the door. The crowd was an enthusiastic throng of 2,000, and while that might not seem like much, it’s a start. Media coverage was strong and Guerrero did his part by putting on an entertaining performance. He’s a bright, personable young man with an interesting personal story. He is promotable.
Now, let’s see if his handlers will work at actually building an attraction in the Gilroy/San Jose/Bay Area and keep him active. Or will they just relegate him to small casinos and wait for television dates and fight him twice a year?
I see too much of the latter going on in today’s boxing business. Instead of building a true attraction I see too many promoters just becoming booking agents and television packagers for the networks. Or they just scream from the top of their lungs about who’s ducking them, and then groveling for fights with the marquee names in their particular division. Everything, it seems, but actually keeping their fighters busy and building their own brand.
There’s no reason why a young fighter like ‘The Ghost’, who still needs seasoning, shouldn’t be out there four times this year.
It’ll be up to Dan Goossen to make sure he doesn’t have another Paul Williams-like scenario. And it’s the job of co-managers Bob Santos and Shelly Finkel to force the issue with their promoter.
If not, they will have all failed Guerrero.
TEXTIN’
Here are two text messages I received on Saturday night just after the conclusion of Vazquez-Marquez III:
?That was one heck of ****in fight”
“Fight of the year!”
That pretty much summed things up.
FINAL FLURRIES
Sechew Powell’s blowout of Kevin Finley is about as bad a mismatch as you can have. Shouldn’t a guy who’s been on HBO more than once be expected to face someone a bit better, even on ESPN2?….Is it just me, or does bantamweight prospect Raul Martinez look a bit stiff and muscle-bound?….The crowd at the Home Depot Center was the largest they have had for boxing thus far. But it says a lot about how the first two fights were (under) promoted that they had more people this weekend than the first two bouts combined….It’s pretty clear that without Andrew Kid-Bynum-ite, the Lakers are very, very soft in the interior. I can’t see them coming out of the West without him. In certain respects he’s every bit as valuable as Kobe….Say what you will about Litzau, but he’s usually in pretty good scraps. But I worry about the manner in which he gets stopped and his body language….OK, at what point is Shaq supposed to shore up the Suns D?….Hey, you know it’s a big fight when Jack Nicholson is there. He knows a good fight when it happens……
