Rafael Marquez Survives Knockdown, Snatches Crown from Israel Vasquez!
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 04 Mar 2007
Carson, California:-Rafael Marquez of Mexico went one notch up in weight to super bantamweight and challenged WBC Super bantamweight champion Israel Vasquez of Los Angeles for the latter?s title. The fight was held at the beautiful Home Depot Center in Carson, California before a crowd of more than 5000 made up mostly of Latinos.
Right at the get go, Marquez appeared determined to grab Vasquez? crown. In the middle of the first round, he landed a straight right on the face of Vasquez and unknowingly broke his nose. In the third round however, he was caught by a huge left hook from Vasquez and was knocked down for an eight count.
At the end of round 7, with most people in the crowd unaware of Vasquez? broken nose, the referee all of a sudden stopped the fight. Many in the crowd were surprised by the stoppage and were not expecting something like that to happen particularly after Marquez was dropped in the 3rd round.
During an interview, Vasquez revealed that indeed he broke his nose on the first round and was having great difficulty in breathing. However, Freddie Roach asked him to continue as he felt Marquez was beginning to show signs of being tired. True enough, Vasquez knocked down Marquez on the 3rd round.
As the fight progressed, Marquez seemed to have recovered from the knockdown and was standing toe to toe with Vasquez, much to the delight of the crowd. Thus, the sudden stoppage was really a downer.
Vasquez later revealed that it was he who finally said to stop the fight as he can no longer continue owing to his great difficulty in breathing.
With the defeat, Vasquez dropped to 41-4, with 31KO's. Marquez on the other hand improved to 31-3, 33KO's.
One particular item of interest worth mentioning at this point is if Marquez would be a good match with Boomboom Bautista sometime in the future. I addressed the question to Edito Villamor who was with me and ALA boy Robert Allanic watching the fight from ring side. ? Yes doc,? Villamor said, ?but not in the immediate future. At this point and time Marquez is still better than BoomBoom. However, in a couple of years, I am positive BoomBoom can give Marquez a good run for his money?.
In the main undercard, Vic Darchinyan of Australia TKO?d his Mexican opponent, former world champion, Victor Burgos. Darchinyan who enjoyed a clear height and reach advantage, knocked down Burgos in round 2 and relentlessly beat him up during the duration of the fight. At 1:27 of round 12, the referee finally stepped in and stopped the fight. Burgos was said to have been taken to the hospital after the fight.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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