San Francisco, California–
On Saturday November 3, from the Desert Diamond Casino, in Tucson, Arizona, WBC featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez will defend his title when he squares off with Rocky Juarez, with Showtime set to broadcast the title fight. On the undercard, IBF featherweight king Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero defends his belt against Martin Honorio.
WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez (47-3-1, 35 KO’s) Mexico City, Mexico. 34-years-old, 5’7″, 130-pounds, trained and managed by Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain. Style: Marquez is a counter puncher by choice and it usually takes him a few rounds to heat up. His willingness to trade early resulted in the toughest fight of his career, a brutal 12-round draw with Manny Pacquiao, in May 2004. In that bout Marquez was on the deck three times in the first round and he had to rally the rest of the evening to manage a draw. With the exception of the Pacquiao bout, he looks for his opponent to make the first move and then he will return fire with short left hooks on the inside and looping overhand rights to the head. He throws short crisp accurate combinations and despite looking to counter, spends most of the night moving forward.
Significant Bouts: This past St. Patrick’s Day in Las Vegas, Marquez stepped up in weight captured Marco Antonio Barrera’s WBC super featherweight crown by pounding out a 12 round unanimous decision that appeared closer than was reflected on the judges’ scorecards. In the 7th, Barrera appeared to have dropped the challenger with a riveting right cross, flush on the chin. With Marquez bent over at the waist and both of his gloves clearly on the deck, the WBC titleholder measured his opponent and drilled the challenger with another right hand to the side of the skull. Referee Jay Nady grabbed the champion around the shoulders and shoved him to the neutral corner, while Marquez tumbled to his backside. The veteran referee ruled that Marquez had slipped and took a point away from the champion for clearly hitting a man who was down on the canvas. Despite the three-point swing in the scoring, ultimately the blown call and the transgression did not effect the overall scoring. When the verdict was announced to the crowd, judge Patricia Morse Jarman scored the title fight 116-111, while Doug Tucker had it 118-109 and Paul Smith tallied 116-111, all for Marquez.
In November 2006 fighting in Hidalgo, Texas, there was enough carnage in this one to make the feint of heart and the squeamish at ringside turn away and cover their eyes. With blood streaming down his face from a brutal vertical two-inch cut in his forehead, Juan Manuel Marquez still had enough steam on his shots to knockout Filipino challenger Jimrex Jaca and retain his WBO interim featherweight belt. The victim of a number of accidental headbutts throughout the contest, the gory Mexican champion nicknamed “Dinamita” clocked the southpaw Jaca with a double left hook to the skull that the challenger never saw and dropped him on the seat of his trunks. Jaca remained on the deck in a sitting position and was counted out by referee Laurence Cole at 2:48 of the ninth round. In August 2006, in Stateline, Nevada, set against the backdrop of magnificent Lake Tahoe the Marquez brothers both proved to be unstoppable in registering technical knockout victories. The Lake Tahoe appearance marked the 11th time that the duo had fought on the same card and they both came up with very impressive wins over two exceptionally tough opponents.
The elder brother, Juan Manuel Marquez captured the WBO interim featherweight belt and became the mandatory challenger to WBO champion Scott Harrison with a seventh-round TKO over game Terdsak “Pit Bull” Jandaeng of Thailand. Rafael Marquez marked his seventh successful defense of his IBF bantamweight title with a ninth-round TKO over Silence Mabuza of South Africa. All four boxers ended up bloodied and bruised and the carnage in the ring juxtaposed to the tranquil setting of Lake Tahoe heightened the fireworks in both fights. Following his win over Jandaeng, Marquez’s right eye was almost swollen shut and there was little doubt that he had been in a very tough fight. In one of the poorest efforts of his entire career, Marquez was simply outhustled over 12 rounds, as he lost a unanimous decision to Chris John March 2006. Along with losing the fight, Marquez lost his WBA featherweight world championship. In May 2005, Marquez retained his WBA and IBF belts by recording a convincing 12-round unanimous decision over Colombian challenger Victor Polo. Working behind searing straight right hands and classic counter punches, Marquez dominated the scoring from the outset against the durable but outgunned Polo. The fight marked the fifth time that Polo had come up short in an attempt to capture a major world championship.
In September 2004, Marquez scored a 12 round unanimous decision over veteran featherweight Orlando Salido. Prior to that, however, was his historic and jaw rattling encounter with the Filipino sensation Pacquiao. Climbing off the deck to go the distance after being dropping three times in the first round is extraordinary. Somehow being able to salvage a draw after suffering a broken nose and swallowing enough blood to drop an ox borders on the miraculous. Pacquiao landed repeatedly in the first round with withering straight left hands to the chin. The hard hitting challenger floored Marquez three times in the opening stanza, busting him up in the process and breaking his nose while reducing the bottom one-third of his face to ground chuck. Nevertheless, Marquez rallied over the course of the fight to somehow come up with a majority draw. It didn’t hurt that there was confusion with the official scoring after twelve sensational rounds that left the 7,129 fight fans at the MGM Grand emotionally drained.
Marquez lost the very first fight of his pro career and then went on a 26-bout win streak until he challenged and lost via a 12 round unanimous decision to Freddie Norwood for the WBA featherweight belt, in September 1999. Marquez got right back on track and scored wins over Roque Cassiani (UD 12), Reynante Jamili (TKO 3), Baby Lorona Jr (TKO 2), Julio Gamboa (TKO 7) and Johnny Walker (TKO 1) before scoring a 10th round TKO over Robbie Peden, to capture the NABO 126-pound crown and also win an IBF title eliminator. In February 2003, Marquez captured the vacant IBF featherweight crown by scoring a seventh round TKO over Manuel Medina. Marquez dropped Medina early in the second round but the former four-time world champion rallied and continued trading leather despite a brutal right eye that continued to swell and eventually close before the end of the fight. Whistling left hooks and searing right crosses took their toll on raw boned Medina’s face and Marquez dropped him again in the seventh round. Medina regained his feet quickly but the referee on the advice of Dr. Margaret Goodman stopped the fight at 1:18 of the 7th round, awarding Marquez a TKO victory.
Strength: Despite being a counter puncher Marquez has very good power in both hands and he is always looking for you to make the first mistake. He can work off his jab or surprise you with looping lead overhand right hands. Accurate combinations are his trademark, and training at the 12,000 foot level in the Mexican mountains, has resulted in a fighter who always comes into a bout in outstanding physical condition. Look for withering left hooks to the body and then for Marquez to come back with hard clean right crosses. He is tough and durable and you almost need to put a silver bullet through this guy’s heart to stop him.
Weakness: Marquez takes his time to figure out opponents and he can get caught early. The one time he varied from that strategy Pacquiao put him on the deck three times in the first round. Just like any fighter at the age of 34, Marquez has been in a number of battles and he is more prone to cut and bleed than ever before.
——————————————————————————– Challenger Rocky Juarez (27-3, 19 KO’s) Houston, Texas. 27-years-old, 5’5″, 130 pounds, trainer of record Ray Ontiveros, managed by Shelly Finkel. Style: Juarez is a smooth boxer-puncher with a devastating left hook and a very underrated right hand that can shave your IQ. A former amateur star and Olympic Silver medal winner in the 2000 Athens Games, Juarez is a cool customer in the ring that remains focused and has the ability to walk down his opponent while landing scalding shots.
Significant Bouts: After dropping two high profile fights against the Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in 2006, Juarez got back on the winning track. In February, Rocky scored a 5th round TKO over the veteran Emmanuel Lucero and then Juarez came back to score a 12 round unanimous decision over Jose Andres Hernandez, this past May in Las Vegas.
The former Olympian first made a name for himself when he scored a ten round win over the talented veteran Hector Acero Sanchez, in October 2002. Juarez then registered a number of impressive victories with wins over Frankie Archuleta (TKO 6), Antonio Diaz (KO 10), Hector Velazquez (UD 10), and Joe Morales (UD 10). In July 2004, fighting in his hometown of Houston, Juarez recorded a rather dubious 12 round unanimous decision over another former Olympian Zahir Raheem. Raheem left town shaking his head and cursing his luck after the decision went to the local boxer Juarez in an IBF featherweight eliminator. Raheem felt he was a victim of Texas justice after referee Robert Gonzalez took points away from him on three different occasions for holding behind the head. Infractions not withstanding, Juarez also registered a fourth round knockdown when Raheem took a knee following a stunning left hook. When it was all said and done, Raheem was all ready down four points when they tallied the final ledger. Judge Lee McCowan scored it 115-109, while David Sutherland had it 113-11, and Hugh Echols had it 114-110, all in favor of Juarez.
Following the win over Raheem, Juarez scored a second round knockout over the veteran Guty Espadas Jr and then a first round TKO over Juan Carlos Ramirez, after flooring the Mexican veteran three times in the first heat. In August 2005, however, Juarez suffered the first defeat of his career. Humberto Armando Soto pounded out an impressive 12-round unanimous decision over heavily favored Juarez, to earn a shot against WBC featherweight king Injin Chi. Soto stepped into to replace Chi after the Korean champion suffered an Achilles tendon injury and he was forced to drop out of his title defense against the former Olympian. Soto had been fighting at the junior lightweight limit of 130-pounds for the previous two years and he was forced to squeeze down to make weight in the featherweight division. Nevertheless, he was the decidedly bigger man and at times he seemingly walked through Juarez’s punches to nail down the win. Twice, however, he was penalized and lost points for rabbit punching in the ninth and 10th rounds for drilling Juarez in the back of the head. After each deduction, however, Soto seemingly turned up the heat and he continued to blister Juarez with wicked combinations and hard shots to the skull. Both men went toe to toe several times over the course of the bout including a brutal volley in the last round, but when it was over it was the late replacement that had earned the win and the dubious distinction of being named the interim WBC featherweight king. Juarez regained his winning ways with a confidence builder by scoring a third round TKO over the Colombian veteran Reynaldo Hurtado, in December 2005.
Fighting Los Angeles in May 2006, apparently, some people needed to work on their math skills in LA. 10,617 paying customers, a number of officials and both WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera and hard luck challenger Rocky Juarez exited the ring on Saturday night with the notion that the two battlers had fought to a 12-round draw. At least that was the impression created when the verdict was announced to the crowd, after both men had relentlessly hammered away at each other for 12 high velocity and entertaining rounds. Boos and catcalls filled the air from the LA fight fans that thought that Juarez’s heavy staccato attack had not only left Barrera bloody and dazed but that the Houston, Texas, native also had captured the WBC super featherweight belt. If anything, there was a strong murmur along press row that Juarez might have landed enough of the proverbial harder and cleaner punches to steal a win over the Mexican legend.
However, when the decision was announced to crowd; Judge Duane Ford scored the contest 115-113 for Juarez, Anek Hongtogkham tallied 115-113 for Barrera, and Ken Morita scored the bout a draw 114-114. A little less than 15 minutes later, however, those mathematically challenged officials realized that Morita’s scores had been added incorrectly and that his correct score card was 115-114 for Barrera. That “hanging chad” error proved costly for the challenger Juarez and the champion Barrera was awarded a belated split decision victory. Compounding the confusion and the embarrassment for the WBC suits and the California State Athletic Commission members it also turned out that Ford’s card was also added incorrectly. Judge Ford’s score was actually 115-114 for Juarez instead of having him winning by two points. While the poor addition didn’t affect the outcome of the title fight, nonetheless, it didn’t help erase the image of a number of middle aged men with remedial math issues.
In September 2006, boxing, moving, jabbing and then jabbing some more, the three-time world champion the reigning WBC super feather weight king Marco Antonio Barrera throttled challenger Rocky Juarez in a rematch of their previous encounter from the previous May. In their first fight, Juarez rocked and bloodied Barrera and on a number of scorecards from press row he seemingly won the fight and the title. However, the California judges gave the razor thin nod to the legendary Mexican titleholder Barrera, after the fight was first ruled a draw when the scorecards were added incorrectly. There would be no problem with math skills in Nevada this time around. Four months later, the WBC champ made the necessary adjustments against a listless opponent and throttled Juarez for much of the evening closing his right eye with rapier-like jabs and a blistering left uppercut that landed with merciless accuracy and authority. Barrera dominated the contest from the outset in front of the 10,421 paying customers and Juarez never seemed to be able to find his rhythm and rarely the target. Judge Howard Minn scored the bout 117-111, while both Chuck Giampa and Dave Moretti had it 115-113, all for Barrera.
Strength: Juarez has a devastating trip hammer left hook that can rattle anyone’s molars in the division. The left hook is his best shot and you can look for him to double up with the hook to the body and the head in rapid-fire combinations. Juarez also has talent on the inside and he can deliver with short compact right hands and sharp left uppercuts. Juarez is also a diligent performer in the gym and he will come into this fight in the best shape of his career, simply because he knows he is squaring off with a Mexican legend.
Weakness: If anything, there is always the possibility that unless they have kept a sharp eye on Juarez, he could come in flat after having peaked too early in the gym. Juarez struggled at times against Soto and he was muscled around the ring by a bigger and larger man. Juarez is stepping up in weight and despite the fact it is only several pounds, Marquez can pose a problem if he elects to bang and work in close quarters.
Prediction: If Juarez hopes to do anything but better be ready to jump on Marquez early. All too often Rocky wastes several rounds before he starts to let his hands go. Sometimes a fight between two counterpunchers can turn into the proverbial stinker, or at best, a chess match between two guys waiting for their opponent to make a mistake. Marquez is as tough as they come as demonstrated in the Pacquiao fight when he climbed off the canvas. Juarez can land rapid-fire combinations and he has an excellent left hook, however, Marquez is almost as fast and always comes into title fights in great shape. We believe that the champion has the heavier hands and that Marquez will control the action in close quarters along with thundering left hooks to the body and right hands over the top to be the difference against a guy who never can seem to win the big one. Juan Manuel Marquez via a 12 round decision.
