Move over Joe and Dom DiMaggio. Step aside Bruce and Clay Mathews. The Wayans clan, all of you, step back. The Baldwins, you too. And make way for Juan Manuel and Rafael Marquez, the most prolific set of siblings you’ll ever see perform. That claim would be cemented with Juan Manuel’s clear-cut victory over Marco Antonio Barrera last Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It’s been established for a while that the Mexico City duo had become boxing’s best set of brothers, surpassing the likes of the Spinkses, the Currys, the Fullmers , the Canizaleses and the Klitschkos (HBO, don’t even try to go there, because we know you will.) But with the March that they’ve had, they’ve become something transcendent.
A few years ago they were highly respected titlists that were spoken of in reverential tones by the sport’s hardcore enthusiasts, but who were largely hidden underneath the Top Rank banner. In the past two weeks though, they have become household names – well, at least in those homes that still talk about boxing.
“I want to congratulate my brother, he won his WBC title two weeks ago,” said Marquez through his co-promoter Jaime Quintana, of his hermano, who lifted the 122-pound title in an exciting bout against Israel Vazquez on March 3rd. “History is repeating itself; it happened in 2003 with a difference of two weeks when we became champions.”
On February 1st of 2003, Marquez would win the IBF featherweight title by stopping the respected Manuel Medina in seven rounds. Two weeks later, Rafa would capture the IBF 118-pound crown by belting out the long-reigning champion, Tim Austin, in eight. From there both brothers would go on to long title runs, but the notoriety that was heaped upon their countrymen, like Barrera and Erik Morales, would elude them.
That’s no longer the case.
“Now we can show our fans what we can do and we are doing it,” said Marquez.
Even the hard-to-please Nacho Beristain, the brilliant trainer of the two, believes that they are brothers like no other.
“With this win, yes. They’re both WBC champions, they both have held titles and they haven’t lost it in their first defense. They made various defenses and this fight makes it obvious that they’re the best brother combination. I’m just proud to train both of them,” he would say to Maxboxing (through the translation of Armando Alvarez) at the post-fight press conference.
Any pound-for-pound listing today better have Marquez X 2. In moving up in weight to grab titles, both Marquez brothers took on the division’s elite and bested them.
Marquez would win by the scores of 118-109, 116-111 and 116-111, which seemed to rankle Barrera, who felt the bout was much closer.
“As a good sport, I’m happy for Juan Manuel Marquez, he gave a great fight,” he would say through his advisor Roberto Diaz. “But as a boxer, as a fighter that I am, I can’t fight with the judges, I can’t fight with the referee.” Adding later, “I know in my heart I won tonight.”
He would say of the judges – who seemed to have a very strange night throughout – “I thought they were ingrates. What can you do?”
But while Barrera was his usual courageous self, fighting with great pride, dignity and valor, he was the second best man in the ring on this night. Don’t let the Golden Boy housemen of HBO fool you, Marquez was the clearly superior fighter, he possessed faster hands, came forward with effective aggression, threw some exquisite combinations and controlled the flow of the fight. The overwhelming majority of the ringside press had Marquez winning – and by a sizable margin.
But it was still a great fight, one that had the fans on their feet throughout the night. Nobody would be leaving the arena early for this one. Even in defeat, Barrera gave us another one we won’t forget soon.
“That’s how I want to be remembered,” he would say. “As a great fighter that gave you great fights.”
Marquez would hurt and stagger Barrera in the seventh frame with a right-hand over the top, followed by a series of ripping combinations that had Barrera wobbly and covering up. But just when it seemed that the end was near, in the final seconds of the round, Marquez would walk into a right-hand on the button which sent Marquez to the canvas in a crouching position. Referee Jay Nady, who missed the knockdown – he would rule it a Slip – was slow to get to a prone Marquez, who was then flagrantly fouled by Barrera, bringing about a one-point deduction.
Marquez would admit: “I was hurt.” But this sequence showed that the safe, calculating, counter-punching Marquez is a thing of the past. Since his dubious decision loss to Chris John last year in Indonesia, Marquez has been more willing to come forward and roll the dice by letting the leather fly. In years past, he doesn’t try to finish Barrera late in the seventh round.
“He did get a little impatient,” said Beristain of that sequence. “He hurt him and he wanted to take him out. He wanted to knock him down and win a little easier. But he happened to get caught and he slipped also at the same time. But there’s no doubt he was hurt by that punch.”
That’s the price of being a fan-friendly fighter. His face showed the battle scars of his night’s work. And he has no doubt he won the fight clearly.
“I was making the fight happen, I was pressuring every round and I was throwing punches,” he would say.
“I was dominating the fight and that’s why I got the decision.”
Oh, brother.
BEING JUDGMENTAL
I don’t know how you folks had it, but I thought Stevie Forbes got absolutely jobbed against Demetrius Hopkins. I had him winning 116-112, while judges Robert Hoyle and Glenn Towbridge tabbed Hopkins 118-110 and Dalby Shirley, 117-111.
I guess it helps when you’re the nephew of one of the Golden Boy ‘partners’.
And I had Gerry Penalosa decisioning Daniel Ponce de Leon by a score of 116-112, while the scorecards of Nelson Vasquez and Chuck Giampa had Ponce de Leon up by 119-109 and Dave Moretti had it a shutout at 120-108.
As for Marquez-Barrera, I agreed with the judges. I thought he landed the sharper, cleaner punches all night, while Barrera tried to steal a lot of rounds.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I heard that the rematch between O’Neil Bell and Jean-Marc Mormeck (won by the Frenchman on his turf) was marred by open scoring as Mormeck did Dean Smith proud by going into the ‘Four Corners’ offense late in the fight with a lead.
Again, we need better – and new – judges, not a new system of scoring, open or otherwise.
REMATCH?
It was announced at the end of the post-fight presser that a rematch between Marquez and Barrera was already being discussed for September 16th, which of course being the third Saturday of that month, means another pay-per-view show thrown at the Latin fanbase.
Saturday night, despite whatever you think of the officiating and judging, was a pretty good night for boxing. It would’ve have been even better if a much larger audience could have witnessed the fine craftsmanship of Marquez and Barrera instead of just the remaining loyalists of boxing.
Again, is this industry helping to expand its fanbase or just squeezing every penny out of it’s remaining fans?
A little over 8,000 fans were in attendance on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, which honestly is a disappointment. About a decade ago, while being promoted by Forum Boxing, Barrera’s fights against Kennedy McKinney and Jesse Magana did well over 10,000 at the Great Western Forum. Under the Golden Boy Promotions banner, Barrera has actually gone backwards as an attraction.
A fight like Marquez-Barrera should’ve been in Los Angeles/Southern California. Not in Las Vegas during ‘March Madness’ on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s very difficult – and close to impossible – to cultivate new fans if every one of your events is at a casino and not at local venues that would have an interest in a particular fight.
That’s the danger of the corporatization of boxing that many see. Boxing should be a long term business, with decisions based on growing your consumer base over the long haul, not just making a series of situational transactions based on the bottom line, time and time again.
There should be more to promoting than just getting a license fee from a network and picking up a site fee from a casino.
GOLDEN GOOSE
Having been paid just $10,000 of the $120,000 due for training Diego Corrales for his October bout against Joel Casamayor, it looks like Joe Goossen will be taking ‘Chico’ to court get his money.
For the past several months, Goossen had attempted in vain to work something out with his former fighter, who faces Joshua Clottey on April 7th.
More to come on this story.
FINAL FLURRIES
Well, Manny Pacquiao finally arrived in Los Angeles to a throng of adoring fans at LAX on Saturday night. I wonder if any of them met him with suitcases filled with money. I doubt it, as I have a feeling Bob Arum arranged for him to get a ride….I read about the fight after the fight between Mormeck and Bell at their post-fight press conference. Were any hatchets thrown?….Hey, I admit, I’m an ardent viewer of ‘the Real Housewives of the O.C.’ I’m saddened that season two is over already….In the aftermath of some of the scorecards that were read on Saturday night in Vegas, Marc Ratner, who was in attendance, looked like the happiest guy in the arena……
