Promoter Gary Shaw perhaps said it best on Wednesday, at the final press conference for this Saturday night?s third encounter between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, that last week’s dreadfully dull heavyweight debacle between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov is what’s wrong with boxing. But the rivalry between these two Mexican warriors was the reason why boxing can still be relevant.
“They never did any trash talking, they came in like two fighters, fought the fights of their lives and just left like two fighters. That’s what boxing should be all about,” he would say.
And if the third battle is anything like the first two, then Vazquez-Marquez will join the pantheon of great trilogies alongside the likes of Barrera-Morales, Gatti-Ward, Bowe-Holyfield and Zale-Graziano. Perhaps no three fight series will ever have the historical standing of Ali-Frazier, but what has separated this rivalry is that unlike the others mentioned above (save perhaps Zale-Graziano), the action and intensity did not wane from the first fight to the rematch; in fact, the action was ratcheted up a notch or two. Both Vazquez-Marquez I and II were candidates for 2007’s fight of the year, with the rematch earning that distinction from a myriad of publications.
It’s not so much they have fought two separate fights, one taking seven rounds last March at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California (won by Marquez) and then in Hidalgo, Texas in August (with Vazquez stopping Marquez in six). But it’s more like a continuum of 13 pulsating rounds, where each fighter has seized the momentum and turned the tide. On Saturday as they square off once again, it’s not so much that they’ll be starting off from round one of the rubber match, but more like round 14 of what has been a special ride for boxing fans.
Let’s take a look back at what has made this Saturday night?s final confrontation so anticipated.
MARCH 3RD, 2007, HOME DEPOT CENTER, CARSON, CA
ROUND 1: First minute of the round, both men work off the jab as they try and set the tempo. Vazquez comes forward while Marquez boxes from the outside. The bout is kept at the center of the ring, with Marquez landing the first clean blow of the night, a left hook to Vazquez’s head. Undeterred, Vazquez marches forward behind his jab.
In the last 30 seconds of the round, Marquez begins to find his rhythm, landing several hard jabs and a left hook that backs up Vazquez. Then just a few seconds before the end of the round, a booming right hand buckles the legs of Vazquez, bringing the crowd to it’s feet. A big finish to the round for Marquez.
ROUND 2: Vazquez continues to come forward but is neutralized by Marquez’s hard jab. About a minute into the round, Marquez lands a clean left hook, right cross combo. At this moment, Marquez’s superior ring generalship and technique has things going his way. And more importantly, he’s keeping things on the outside.
Through two rounds, Marquez is clearly winning the battle of jabs and keeping the action in the center of the ring.
ROUND 3: Vazquez comes out with a sense of urgency, attempting to press Marquez, but it’s Marquez’s hard, accurate jab that keeps him at bay. With about 1:40 left in the round, Marquez lands a three punch combination on the inside that backs up Vazquez, but as he attempts to follow up and take advantage, he gets clipped by a ripping left uppercut on the inside that sends him sprawling to the canvas. Vazquez, now seizing the momentum, comes on hard, and Marquez gamely tries to hold his ground and punch with Vazquez.
Marquez survives the stanza, but Vazquez has gotten himself into the fight.
ROUND 4: Vazquez comes out again and tries to apply the pressure; he has started to bridge the gap between he and Marquez. Marquez is still pumping out a hard, consistent jab, but Vazquez is now starting to get closer.
Good solid back and forth action in a close round; both men let their hands go and touch each other consistently. Marquez lands some beautiful 1-2’s and double left hooks on the inside, while outworking Vazquez, who attempts to bang away downstairs. Marquez ends the round by landing a pair of right hands.
ROUND 5: Within the first thirty seconds of the frame, both men land hard blows, first a crisp right hand from Vazquez to Marquez’s head, which was countered by a combination that stopped Vazquez in his tracks. Marquez continues to have an advantage from the outside, but Vazquez continues to push forward, paying a price as he runs into Marquez’s two-fisted salvos. But when Vazquez does get close, his body blows are clearly effective.
With about 15 seconds left in the round, a pair of jabs to Vazquez’s nose have him turning his back in what is a highly unusual reaction from a fighter who has taken so many other harder punches throughout the night. As Marquez has Vazquez pinned up along the ropes, the action heats up as Vazquez instinctively throws punches almost out of desperation. His nose has begun to show the damage of the night?s arduous task.
ROUND 6: Vazquez tries to establish himself immediately in the round by coming out quick and getting inside of Marquez’s jab. By this point in time the action is fast and furious. As the crowd starts chanting for Marquez, both men go to work on the inside, and it looks like a war of attrition will be taking place. What will win out – the technical precision of Marquez or the natural strength and power of Vazquez?
In the last minute of the round, for the first time in the bout, Marquez seems to slow down just a tad; his punches seem a bit slower and Vazquez attacks the body with his left hook.
ROUND 7: Vazquez starts the round with a sense of urgency; he smothers Marquez and bangs away on Marquez’s body and punctuates things with a ripping left hook that snaps back Marquez’s head. As the round goes on, it’s Vazquez who’s the more effective fighter. Between the sixth and seventh rounds, his trainer, Freddie Roach would call for more work to the body and that’s precisely what Vazquez gave him.
Vazquez would finish the round with a sharp left hook, right cross combo that would back up Marquez. Both men would fight furiously to the bell, going toe-to-toe. He might be behind in the fight, but it seems Vazquez has turned the tide, and it should be a fantastic finish.
But instead, before the beginning of the eighth round, Vazquez, complaining of a damaged nose that didn’t allow him to breathe properly, would tell Roach that he simply could not continue. The sudden and surprising ending was as stunning as the action was exciting. Al Bernstein would say, “It put an abrupt end to what over seven rounds was as good a boxing match as you’ll ever see,” as he called the action from ringside for Showtime.
It would be an anticlimactic finish to what was an action-packed affair that had the chance to turn into a classic.
THE REMATCH- AUGUST 4TH, 2007, HIDALGO, TX
ROUND ONE: Immediately, Vazquez marches forward and tries to close the gap between he and Marquez, who’s boxing off his back foot. About a minute in, Marquez lands a short right hand to the forehead of Vazquez, who proceeds to shake his shoulders, taunting Marquez. A short time later, a jab sends Marquez off balance. It’s clear, just halfway through the round, that neither guy will have problems finding each other.
Both Marquez and Vazquez keep up a steady and consistent work rate and land hard punches. Vazquez’s face is already showing the effects of Marquez’s heavy handed attack.
ROUND TWO: Vazquez does a better job early on of doubling up his jab and closing space, enabling him to bang away inside on Marquez, who’s in retreat. Vazquez seems to have his way from in close as he does good work to Marquez’s ribs. Unlike their first battle, Marquez is not having much success landing his right hand bombs from long range.
The round is punctuated by a left hook that seems to shake Marquez near the end of the round. A very good stanza for Vazquez, who seems to have established the geography he needs to win this fight. Even with that, there is a small cut on the bridge of his nose.
ROUND THREE: About thirty seconds into the round, a left hook wobbles Marquez, who is forced to hold on. Vazquez tries to press the advantage, Marquez fights back gamely. Marquez lands his own big shots off the ropes, but Vazquez is undeterred. Al Bernstein would say at this point, “Can you say Castillo-Corrales? This is an amazing round of boxing.” And it was only halfway through the third.
Vazquez would stagger Marquez with a series of uppercuts. Yet it is Vazquez with a cut over his right eye that is bleeding profusely. Both men land big shots, but its Vazquez consistently coming forward. But neither man can fully seize control as they take turns hurting each other with blistering flurries. As Vazquez’s face turns into a mask of crimson, he would hit Marquez with a three punch combination that would hurt him badly up along the ropes. As the bell rings, referee Lupe Garcia would have to step in between the two warriors.
The crowd is on its feet, cheering deliriously. They have just seen the round of the year. It’s rare to see a round with this much action. It was even rarer to see one where this many clean shots were landed with no knockdown being scored by either fighter.
ROUND FOUR: As the round begins, you see that Marquez now has a cut underneath his left eye. Vazquez is cut over both eyes and bleeding. Blood and guts indeed. Vazquez lands the first hard blow of the round 25 seconds in, with a crashing right cross that backs up Marquez. And as he gets inside, he digs to the body. Marquez’s legs look very unsteady. Yet he’s still able to hurt Vazquez with his own punches. But more and more, it’s Vazquez’s strength and power taking over.
They continued to trade throughout the middle of the round and neither man wants to give an inch. Marquez finishes with a flourish with a wad of power punches that stuns Vazquez at the end of the round.
ROUND FIVE: Early in the round, Marquez backs up into the ropes, allowing Vazquez to lean into him and work his body and head. Vazquez is bleeding profusely around his right eye. The action doesn’t let up and both men work hard, not wanting to give an inch.
With less than a minute to go in the frame, Vazquez would connect on a five punch combination but then was sent to the canvas. But the referee Lupe Garcia, would correctly rule it a slip as Vazquez would lose his footing as a result of their feet getting tangled up. As he gets up, he continues his attack and they go toe-to-toe. The crowd is once again on its feet. But while it’s Vazquez who seems to be in danger of losing on cuts, it’s Marquez who wears the jaded look of a fighter who’s getting worn down.
At the round?s end, both men show the battle scars and weariness of men who have gone 15 rounds.
ROUND SIX: The round starts with Vazquez on Marquez’s chest banging away. Suddenly, he lands a left hook to the jaw of Marquez that has him on the seat of his pants. He gets up quickly, but it?s clear this is no flash knockdown. He has over two minutes to overcome but he seems to be going up against a determined fighter who will not be denied on this night.
Marquez now can’t keep Vazquez off him, and from one side of the ring to another, his back is on the ropes, facing Vazquez’s onslaught. With about 1:50 left in the round, Marquez, who’s taken a multitude of power punches, seems to slide across the ropes, almost melting away, out on his feet, barely able to keep himself upright. As he crouches over at the waist, Garcia would halt the fight.
There were some complaints afterwards over the stoppage, but Marquez had lost control of his faculties. Stopping the fight was the merciful thing to do. As the fight is waved off, Marquez is grabbed by Garcia. Vazquez collapses to his knees in triumph and then just as quickly jumps into the arms of his handlers, who swarm the ring in jubilation. “REVENGE, REDEMPTION FOR ISRAEL VASQUEZ!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!” are the words of Steve Albert as he describes the scene taking place.
As blood streaks down his face, pandemonium breaks out around Vazquez. It’s the most emotional scene that takes place after a fight in a long while. Vazquez fought like a man looking to repair his reputation, which is exactly what he did.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you see a hurt and damaged Marquez being attended to by his handlers, not quite believing the result of the fight. He would sit on his stool, looking like a fighter who couldn’t grasp what had just taken place.
As both fighters posed together in the aftermath of this memorable matchup, they each placed three fingers in the air. The message was simple: there must be a third encounter.
Which is what we’re getting this Saturday night.
CBS GOES ELITE
It was announced on Thursday that CBS would be joining forces with Elite XC to bring live Saturday night MMA contests. So what does it say that MMA is on one of the major over-the-air networks, but not boxing?
“It just tells people in boxing that you can’t do Klitschko and Ibragimov, that you gotta do Vazquez-Marquez, you can’t announce fights like Pavlik and Duddy unless you absolutely want to destroy the sport,” said Gary Shaw, who has an interest in Elite XC. “That’s what it tells you. CBS came to me to do a deal with me and Elite XC, but they didn’t come to me to do a boxing deal, or with another promoter or even with a group of promoters. That should scare everybody.”
Perhaps the skids were greased for this transaction, given that Showtime, which has an interest in Elite XC, is under the same corporate umbrella as CBS with Viacom. But nonetheless, this is a significant move for the company.
I wonder what Dana White’s reaction is?
NOT GONNA BE GREEN DAY
Allan Green was scheduled to face the badly faded Antwun Echols as the main event on this week?s edition of ‘Friday Night Fights’ on ESPN2, but rumor spread quickly that he had not hopped on his plane and would not be showing up.
Maxboxing reached Green on Wednesday night, where he confirmed he would not be fighting but he declined to comment any further.
All of this has left his promoter, Tony Holden, stunned and disappointed.
“I haven’t talked to Allan in about a week-and-a-half. I think people are in his ear, promising him everything. I could be wrong – but I’m not. I’m just confused; he never called me, never called anybody. He just didn’t show up. It’s totally unlike him.”
Is Green unhappy with Holden?
“I don’t think you’re going to hear Allan being disgruntled because nothing?s ever been done wrong to Allan and it would blow me away if Allan acts disgruntled on how we handled his career,” said Holden, who has kept Green busy throughout his development and gotten him plenty of television exposure.
“What more could we have done for him?” he asks rhetorically. “I mean, he lost last March (to Edison Miranda on HBO), he fought on national television in January, he was fighting on national television in February. I was doing a full-court press on his career. So I don’t think he’s disgruntled. I just sense there could be guys promising things that don’t exist.”
GOOSSEN
Meanwhile, Dan Goossen is busy ironing out details for his fighters after Paul Williams’ stunning loss to Carlos Quintana for the WBO welterweight title. Goossen would tell Maxboxing on Thursday afternoon, “We’re moving forward with the rematch.”
He is also looking to get a fight for his young heavyweight, Chris Arreola, who was rumored to be on the May 17th ‘Boxing After Dark’ telecast.
?We?re working on that right now. We tried to make David Tua, Tua was unavailable for May, which is the date we’re targeting. We looked at Chazz Witherspoon, it doesn’t appear that’s going to happen,” said Goossen. Finding a heavyweight that is appropriate for that slot and for the type of money available might be tricky. Goossen would add, “I want to see what happens Friday night with Travis Walker and TJ Wilson.” That rematch will be opening up tonight’s Shobox telecast, which features IBF featherweight titlist Robert Guerrero taking on Jason Litzau.
As for his old heavyweight, James Toney, Goossen says, “Nothing concrete. We’ve had discussions with representatives of Danny Williams, I know it’s been out there. But we’ve also had discussions about bringing him to Russia and South Africa, also there’s an opportunity out here in California that I’m following up on. Hopefully I can get something done for James by next week.”
Goossen is working on a television deal for Toney’s fight and hopes to stage it in the month of May.
FINAL FLURRIES
Sergio ‘Seven Seas’ Diaz tells me that the March 28th Telefutura show he is running with Top Rank – featuring Vanes Martirosyan and Juanito Garcia ? has finally found a home at the Expo Center in the City of Industry Hills in Southern California….The names being mentioned for Kelly Pavlik’s next bout on June 7th are Randy Griffin, Gary Lockett, Marco Antonio Rubio and Giovanni Lorenzo. But I hear it’s really down to Rubio and Lorenzo. Whoever he fights, it looks like it will end up in Atlantic City….And if you want to see why John Duddy was knocked out of that slot, you can see his bout against Walid Smichet on the MSG Network on Sunday March 2nd at 8:00 pm….The episode of South Park where Stan Marsh and Bono of U2 fame slug it out over a certain world record, is the most disgustingly funny thing I have seen in a long while. I’m almost (but only that) ashamed to admit I couldn’t stop laughing hysterically as I viewed it….Good to see ‘Back to You’ is back on….For the folks going on Saturday to the Home Depot Center, a friendly reminder, there will be only one televised bout from Showtime, so expect Vazquez-Marquez III to go off around 6:20 pm……
