Marquez looks to make another imprint on the Mexican national holiday.
On September 13 in Las Vegas, Juan Manuel Marquez will take a huge step toward cementing his status as one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all-time when he challenges Joel “Cepillo” Casamayor, who reigns as The Ring Magazine World Lightweight Champion.
For Marquez, a victory over the Cuban southpaw would be monumental. With a victory, Marquez, who has held world titles at featherweight and junior lightweight, would become a three-division world champion. It is the symbolic significance of the bout, however, that separates this fight from Marquez’s previous 53 fights. That’s because Casamayor-Marquez will take place on the weekend of El Grito de Independencia (Mexican Independence Day), which celebrates Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1810.
The weekend has historically been reserved for only the brightest of Mexican and Mexican-American boxing heroes and legends.
“It is an honor and privilege to fight on a date that is so special for all Mexicans. All Mexicans, Mexican Americans and boxing fans in general are eagerly awaiting this fight and I look forward to fighting with pride for all of them,” said Juan Manuel Marquez who fought once before on the celebratory weekend scoring a victory over Orlando Salido on September 18, 2004.
Reflecting on great moments in the history of Mexican Independence Day fights, we begin with Julio Cesar Chavez, a Mexican legend and perhaps the most important figure in the history of Mexican boxing. “J.C. Superstar,” who fought from 1980-2005, was arguably both the greatest and most popular Mexican boxers of all time. No matter how brightly Chavez’s star shined, he never lost his connection to his people. It is fitting then, that so many of his most important bouts took place on Independence Day weekend.
In 1984, Chavez won first world championship on such a weekend, stopping countryman Mario Martinez to capture the vacant WBC super featherweight title. That began a joyous tradition that peaked in the early-90s, when Chavez fought on Independence Day for five consecutive years. Among his opponents in those fights were Hector Camacho, Pernell Whitaker and Meldrick Taylor.
To place the magnitude of those fights in perspective, consider that in 1993, Chavez-Whitaker drew a crowd of 57,000 to the Alamodome in San Antonio and not 100 of them were rooting for the American.
