Rafael Marquez returned to the ring for the first fight post Israel Vazquez moments ago in Mexico, winning a third round stoppage victory over Jose Francisco Mendoza. Marquez showed some rust in the opening round as he was hit often by the unheralded Mendoza, but he quickly shook it off and began landing his trade mark left hook to the body in Round 2. Marquez boxed well and mixed in a nice array of power punches to set up a stoppage in Round 3. Marquez closed in and landed a brilliant counter as Mendoza tried to fight off the ropes that caught him cold. The referee waived off the bout with Mendoza on unsteady legs, giving Marquez a win in his comeback fight. With the victory Marquez improved to 38-5 (34 KOs), and is now the WBC super bantamweight mandatory challenger which could see him face the winner of the Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Toshiaki Nishioka title fight which is moments away. Stay tuned to FightFan.com for the latest!
