RAFAEL MARQUEZ knew he had to do everything he could to avoid Israel Vazquez’s most dangerous weapon – the left hook – in their rematch.
On this day 18 years ago, the two Mexican super-bantamweights returned to the ring just five months after their captivating first encounter. In that bout, Marquez became a two-weight world champion by winning the WBC super-bantamweight title, after Vazquez retired due to a badly damaged nose.
A month later, Vazquez underwent surgery to remove cartilage and blood clots. His trainer at the time, Freddie Roach – who was replaced by Rudy Perez for the return – questioned his former fighter’s decision to jump straight back in against the man who had taken his title. Roach’s concerns were rooted in the brief time Vazquez spent out of the ring. Five months, in Roach’s view, wasn’t nearly enough. He felt Vazquez needed a full year to recover, and even feared that the ex-champion had begun to slur his words.
Another subplot added intrigue. Marquez was 3-0 in rematches and had stopped every opponent – Mark Johnson, Mauricio Pastrana, and Silence Mbuza – before the final bell.
Still, in their first encounter, it was Marquez who hit the canvas – dropped by a short left hook and hurt badly in round three. Despite that, he rallied and forced the stoppage. Heading into the rematch, with only three years separating them in age, the two premier 122-pounders were ready to rekindle their rivalry at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. The question was: would Vazquez have the power and durability to finish what he started?
In the opening round, Marquez tested the newly-repaired nose with a long right hand. Vazquez shimmied and dismissed it. But as the round closed, Marquez was tagged upstairs with a left hook – a ‘remember me’ reminder from the Vazquez arsenal.
That exclamation mark became a second in round two, punctuated again by a left hook at the bell. “You gotta watch out for his left hook,” Marquez’s trainer, Nacho Beristain, reminded him in the corner.
By round three, Beristain might’ve needed a prop instead of words, as the same shot once more found its target and had Marquez backing up. But in true Mexican fashion, Marquez responded like all great Mexican fighters do when facing adversity – he bit down and fought back. With heart and grit, he clawed his way back into the round. Vazquez was cut under his right eye, but in the final 45 seconds he delivered a vicious barrage that snapped Marquez’s head side to side. It was relentless. When the bell rang, the crowd rose to applaud what would later be named Round of the Year for 2007.
The action brimmed with will and skill. Power punches landed clean, but neither man budged. By the fifth round, both were bleeding, bruised, and pushing themselves through a ferocious tempo that seemed almost unsustainable. Marquez, increasingly pinned to the ropes, allowed Vazquez to dig to the body and head with authority.
Sitting on his stool, cut on both sides of his face, Vazquez could smell blood – not just his own.
Twenty seconds into the sixth, a borderline left to the body froze Marquez just long enough. In the blink between survival and collapse, Vazquez’s right hand landed clean, followed by a short left hook that dropped the champion.
Marquez beat the count. He wasn’t going out like that. But with over two minutes remaining, he had to either weather the storm or land something big to keep Vazquez off him. He tried ducking low to shrink the target, but Vazquez kept tagging him. Two clean rights had Marquez staring into space – a clear invitation. Vazquez obliged, pressing repeat until referee Guadalupe Garcia stepped in to stop the fight and close chapter two of a four-fight saga that only grows in stature with time.
“After the first knockdown I saw he was in bad shape,” Garcia said. “So, because of his career I decided to stop the fight.
“It was very dangerous to keep the fight going. In this kind of fight the interest of the fighter is the best thing.”
Revenge and redemption belonged to Vazquez. The new champion dropped to his knees in celebration.
“It was just a matter of time,” Vazquez said of his victory.
“If it wasn’t this round it would have been the next round. I knew he was in trouble. We’ve had two great fights, there will be a third.”
Marquez, however, didn’t agree with the stoppage.
“I was still throwing punches, I don’t know why he stopped the fight. I was still able to fight.”
The trilogy continued in March 2008. Vazquez retained his title with a split-decision win in another classic. Incredibly, they met a fourth time in 2010, but the series ended swiftly. A battle-worn Vazquez, suffering fresh cuts and unable to keep up, was stopped in just three rounds.
The series ended 2-2. A fitting score between two men who showed boxing at its absolute best.
