Tonight Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez meet for the third time in less than a year at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The fight will be broadcast on Showtime Championship Boxing at 9 p.m. ET/PT, (delayed on the West Coast). Their first two fights were classics, both Fight of the Year candidates, all out bloody mayhem covering a combined 13 rounds.
This series is Gatti-Ward with a pedigree.
The two talented Mexicans split the first two encounters. Marquez, 37-4 (33), won the first one last March with a seventh round TKO and Vazquez, 42-4 (31), took revenge in the August rematch with a sixth round TKO to regain his WBC/ Ring Magazine jr. featherweight titles. And picking the winner of the rubber match is subject to considerable debate.
Ironically, although both fights were delicious, they left us unsatisfied, each in their own way.
In the first fight, which was also held at the Home Depot Center, Vazquez’ nose was broken in the first round, and he had difficulty breathing throughout the fight. Before the fight he was quoted as saying that he was prepared to die to win the fight. Yet, in actual combat he told his then trainer, Freddie Roach, that he was unable to continue beginning a couple of rounds before the end. Roach told him to suck it up and get back out there and is no longer training Vazquez, for whatever reason.
Vazquez is now trained by Rudy Perez, who formerly prepared Marco Antonio Barrera.
Roach’s thinking is understandable because Vazquez had scored a knockdown with a left uppercut in round three and was competing at a high skill level. The two exchanged thrillingly for seven rounds. Two judges saw it 67-65 Marquez after seven and a third had it 66-66. Izzy had fought well in the seventh, probably winning the round despite a brilliant last second exchange at the end of the seventh with Marquez getting the better of it.
Then Vazquez did the unthinkable. Instead of going out on his shield, Izzy provided us with the ultimate anti-climax when he finally convinced Roach to close up shop after seven.
It was like returning from the dance floor to find that they had removed your sherbet.
No one but Vazquez knows the full extent of his impairment, but given the magnitude and competitiveness of the fight, he was left open for criticism.
It was a savage give and take thriller, definitely worthy of a rematch although a mere 5,155 fans attended the contest.
The second fight in August, if anything, was even better, called by many as the Fight of the Year, and the glorious third round was the pick for Round of the Year.
And again, the crowd was disappointing. The Hidalgo, Texas crowd in Dodge Arena saw a memorable encounter with two great Mexican fighters who again went to war on the South Texas border with an almost disrespectful lack of support.
It’s difficult to assess if the increased motivation found by Vazquez in the rematch was an effort to erase the memory of his quitting in the first fight. But in Fight II, he was able to demonstrate his physical superiority and weathered Marquez’ Sunday best two handed shots without hardly a backward step.
In Fight II, the drama began early as the Marquez camp accused the Vazquez people of glove skinning. The TSAC ruled the gloves legal and that was the end of that.
In the fight Marquez seemed to abandon the sharp jab that he used to great effect in their first fight, making it possible for Vasquez to get inside where the combatants went horn to horn, trading power shots.
After two rounds, Marquez already had swelling on both eyes and Vazquez had a small cut on the top of his nose. About 30 seconds into round three, Marquez was wobbled by a left hook. Marquez came back and the two exchanged furiously with hard shots.
Midway through the round, Rafael was staggered to the ropes by a right uppercut. Marquez came back to bloody both of Izzy’s eyes and seemed to get the best of the last minute of the round as both refused to give an inch. Vazquez landed a strong right in the final seconds to regain the edge. At the end of the round there was blood under the right eye of Marquez as well as the cuts to both of Vazquez’ eyes.
In a fight in which every round was superb, round three was special.
By the sixth round, Vazquez’ cuts were deep and becoming a concern in the fight. Vazquez launched a big left hook that dropped Marquez. Rafael rose and managed to counter Vazquez’ flurries as he slid along the ropes to move away, slipping slightly on the logo on the canvas. Vazquez landed a good right and Marquez threw some punches as referee Guadalupe Garcia jumped in to stop the fight at the 1:16 mark.
Was it premature? You bet it was. Marquez was still throwing punches and Vazquez was working with the eyes that could have prompted a stoppage at any time, with blood flowing from both sides of his face. Given Marquez’ history of absorbing punishment and coming back and the significance of the fight, Garcia’s actions appeared to be hasty. Such a warrior deserved the opportunity for at least another 30 seconds.
So, we enter Fight III following two great fights that were not supported by the fans. There’s really no excuse in this one. The top ticket price is $350 and the low is $25.
This week Marquez’ promoter, Gary Shaw, was quite outspoken in his criticism that Golden Boy, which co-promotes Vazquez with Sycuan Ringside Promotions, took Tuesday to announce the Oscar De La Hoya-Steve Forbes fight instead of concentrating on Vazquez-Marquez III.
The greater question to me is why, with the history of two great fights behind them, would these two great warriors practically have to take out a tin cup to attract boxing fans? It would seem that if there was any justice in the world, they should be able to stand on their record. Shaw said that it would be a sellout anyway and I certainly hope he’s right.
But it should be said that this is not a casino fight, in which the casino does much of the marketing and “detail” work inside the arena that a promoter would normally do himself. It truly must be frustrating to all of the promoters to see Wladimir Klitschko put 14,000 fans in the seats in Madison Square Garden to perform like a human sleeping pill, while guys like Vazquez and Marquez lay it all out in the ring before a “crowd” of two buses and a mini-van.
What make these two fighters perfect for each other is their offensive brilliance, and defensive lapses. The hand speed and combinations of the more technically polished Marquez against the powerful hooks of the stronger Vazquez coupled with the threat of either catching a bomb at any time is great boxing entertainment.
There is one intangible left unanswered. Vazquez is 30; Marquez is 32. How much did the first two fights take out of them? How much do they have left?
Vazquez is a slight betting favorite. Although I’m on the fence, I won’t take the easy way out. I’m picking Marquez to win with an eighth round TKO.
And, if Rafael brings his jab and works on Izzy’s nose and eyes, which are likely to be vulnerable, the end might just come by cuts.