Living legend Juan Manuel Marquez cruised to a clear but competitive twelve round unanimous decision victory over durable European light welterweight champion Serhiy Fedchenko earlier this evening at the beautiful newly built New Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Mexico as seen live on HBO. The bout served as a productive stay-busy fight for Marquez as Fedchenko was just good enough to provide a steady challenge without pushing the envelope too much. Marquez dictated the majority of the action but Fedchenko?s jab and ring savvy allowed him to stay competitive in the bout. Marquez counter-punched well and landed the more significant blows but the once-beaten Fedchenko hung in tough. The all-action hometown Mexican hero picked it up in the championship rounds and really started to touch Fedchenko up but the Ukrainian charge hung in there and survived to the final bell. After twelve rounds were complete Marquez was ahead by scores of 119-109 and 118-110(x2) to improve his career mark to 54-6-1 (39 KOs) while adding the interim WBO light welterweight title to his fold. It is expected Marquez may return to action as early as July with a proposed date at Cowboys Stadium in Texas.
