Rafael Marquez: Time again to get into sibling rivalry
Posted May. 24, 2009 at 11:21pm
By William Dettloff
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On Saturday night in Monterrey, Mexico, former two-division belt holder Rafael Marquez stopped Colombian Francisco Mendoza in the third round. Don’t feel badly if this went under your radar; Marquez-Mendoza shared top billing with Toshiaki Nishioka’s third-round knockout of Jhonny Gonzalez for the WBC super bantamweight title.
It was Marquez’s first fight in roughly 18 months, or in the time that has passed since the third fight of his historic series with Israel Vazquez, which remains to anyone who saw it one of the sport’s great trilogies. Never mind that Marquez lost the rubber match. It’s almost irrelevant.
Published reports indicate Marquez started slowly against Mendoza but soon began uncorking the left hooks and right hand bombs that make him one of the more dangerous punchers among the game’s better little guys. Once he started landing it was over for the Colombian.
It’s been rumored that Marquez’s win puts him in line for a shot at Nishioka and then, we can hope, a fourth match with Vazquez.
You can be certain it’s on the mind of Marquez that at the same time that he’s forging this comeback under a relatively small tent, his older brother, Juan Manuel, is readying for the biggest fight of his career, his match against Floyd Mayweather on July 18. The two are immensely competitive with one another, which has been a help to both of them.
“I’ve been around the Marquez brothers a bunch,” Showtime’s Al Bernstein told RingTV.com. Bernstein called all three Marquez-Vazquez fights and several involving the elder Marquez. “I think they have one of the healthiest brother-relationships I have seen in boxing.
“They compete with one another but they use it to motivate themselves in healthy ways. They are truly happy for one another when they win and they let the other brother shine. Each one has had to take a back seat when one was hotter, for the moment, than the other. And they both used it for motivation.”
It is little wonder, then, that Rafael is eager indeed for a rematch with Vazquez, even though Vazquez stopped him in their second fight and very nearly did it again in the rubber match.
The main impediment to a fourth match appears to be Vazquez. He has not yet been medically cleared to fight following surgery on his right eye. The truth is he may never fight again. Also, he has said if he returns it will likely be at 126 pounds, which would likely rule out a fourth fight with Marquez.
If they never fight one another again and never accomplish much more than they already have -- a distinct possibility, given the damage they did to one another -- whose legacy will be stronger?
“That’s a tough one but it’s possible that Marquez got a little more done before he went into that trilogy than Vazquez did,” said Bernstein. “He might be just a smidge ahead.”
Indeed, Marquez defended the IBF bantamweight title seven times and won the world junior featherweight title in his first meeting with Vazquez. Vazquez made two defenses of the IBF super bantam title, won the world junior featherweight title, defended it twice and lost it to Marquez in their first fight. He then regained and defended it in the subsequent fights.
Don’t be moved by the fact Vazquez won the series. Sandy Saddler beat Willie Pep three times out of four but no one rates Saddler -- a great in his own right -- over Pep.
Either way, we know for sure that Marquez’s career isn’t over yet. He doesn’t have his brother’s speed or his chin; the latter would have come in very handy against Vazquez.
But he’s a better puncher and he has a real fighter’s heart, as does Juan Manuel. If big brother can pull off the upset in July, Rafael will want to keep up. He will have his work cut out for him.
“He will be motivated to have this later part of his career be the best it can be,” Bernstein said.
With Vazquez, or without him.
Some random observations from last week:
My thanks to everyone who emailed in response to last week’s column concerning a Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson rematch. As you may have read elsewhere by now, negotiations apparently have begun for Dawson-Johnson II, which is just the outcome the overwhelming majority of you favor. ……
Guillermo Rigondeaux: That’s it? From all the hype, I expected to see Juan Noriega’s internal organs in a steaming heap on the canvas. I still think Erislandy Lara is the best of the current crop of Cuban prospects…
So Enzo Macarinelli has split with Enzo Calzaghe. The good news: Calzaghe’s gigantic ego takes a hit. The bad: there isn’t a trainer in the world who can give a fighter a chin if he doesn’t have one. ……
The hostility between ESPN’s Brian Kenny and Floyd Mayweather seems a little contrived, but it’s fun anyway. Regarding Mayweather’s assertion that Shane Mosley isn’t a pay-per-view attraction, um, hello, neither is Mayweather, unless he has Oscar De La Hoya or Ricky Hatton in the other corner. …
In a first for a major prizefight, promoters of the Ruslan Chagaev-Nicolai Valuev rematch claim to have sold several dozen tickets to Bigfoot creatures, who, one imagines, will be there to cheer on one of their own. …
I like Tim Bradley as much as anyone, but if I’m his handlers I stay away from Joan Guzman, who, if he can lay off the Pop Tarts, could give Bradley fits. ……
The recent brouhaha about Manny Ramirez made me wonder: What ever happened to Evan Fields? And why does no one care? …
Before you get all tingly about Chris Arreola’s hiring of a strength and conditioning coach, remember the tragic results borne of the brief union of James Toney and Billy Blanks. Arreola already knows how to get in shape. He has to want to. …
What a shame James Kirkland appears to be joining Tony Ayala and Ike Ibeabuchi as the best boxers in their respective cell blocks. …
Floyd Mayweather Sr. sure is quiet these days, isn’t he?
Bill Dettloff can be contacted at Dettloff@ptd.net
It was Marquez’s first fight in roughly 18 months, or in the time that has passed since the third fight of his historic series with Israel Vazquez, which remains to anyone who saw it one of the sport’s great trilogies. Never mind that Marquez lost the rubber match. It’s almost irrelevant.
Published reports indicate Marquez started slowly against Mendoza but soon began uncorking the left hooks and right hand bombs that make him one of the more dangerous punchers among the game’s better little guys. Once he started landing it was over for the Colombian.
It’s been rumored that Marquez’s win puts him in line for a shot at Nishioka and then, we can hope, a fourth match with Vazquez.
You can be certain it’s on the mind of Marquez that at the same time that he’s forging this comeback under a relatively small tent, his older brother, Juan Manuel, is readying for the biggest fight of his career, his match against Floyd Mayweather on July 18. The two are immensely competitive with one another, which has been a help to both of them.
“I’ve been around the Marquez brothers a bunch,” Showtime’s Al Bernstein told RingTV.com. Bernstein called all three Marquez-Vazquez fights and several involving the elder Marquez. “I think they have one of the healthiest brother-relationships I have seen in boxing.
“They compete with one another but they use it to motivate themselves in healthy ways. They are truly happy for one another when they win and they let the other brother shine. Each one has had to take a back seat when one was hotter, for the moment, than the other. And they both used it for motivation.”
It is little wonder, then, that Rafael is eager indeed for a rematch with Vazquez, even though Vazquez stopped him in their second fight and very nearly did it again in the rubber match.
The main impediment to a fourth match appears to be Vazquez. He has not yet been medically cleared to fight following surgery on his right eye. The truth is he may never fight again. Also, he has said if he returns it will likely be at 126 pounds, which would likely rule out a fourth fight with Marquez.
If they never fight one another again and never accomplish much more than they already have -- a distinct possibility, given the damage they did to one another -- whose legacy will be stronger?
“That’s a tough one but it’s possible that Marquez got a little more done before he went into that trilogy than Vazquez did,” said Bernstein. “He might be just a smidge ahead.”
Indeed, Marquez defended the IBF bantamweight title seven times and won the world junior featherweight title in his first meeting with Vazquez. Vazquez made two defenses of the IBF super bantam title, won the world junior featherweight title, defended it twice and lost it to Marquez in their first fight. He then regained and defended it in the subsequent fights.
Don’t be moved by the fact Vazquez won the series. Sandy Saddler beat Willie Pep three times out of four but no one rates Saddler -- a great in his own right -- over Pep.
Either way, we know for sure that Marquez’s career isn’t over yet. He doesn’t have his brother’s speed or his chin; the latter would have come in very handy against Vazquez.
But he’s a better puncher and he has a real fighter’s heart, as does Juan Manuel. If big brother can pull off the upset in July, Rafael will want to keep up. He will have his work cut out for him.
“He will be motivated to have this later part of his career be the best it can be,” Bernstein said.
With Vazquez, or without him.
Some random observations from last week:
My thanks to everyone who emailed in response to last week’s column concerning a Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson rematch. As you may have read elsewhere by now, negotiations apparently have begun for Dawson-Johnson II, which is just the outcome the overwhelming majority of you favor. ……
Guillermo Rigondeaux: That’s it? From all the hype, I expected to see Juan Noriega’s internal organs in a steaming heap on the canvas. I still think Erislandy Lara is the best of the current crop of Cuban prospects…
So Enzo Macarinelli has split with Enzo Calzaghe. The good news: Calzaghe’s gigantic ego takes a hit. The bad: there isn’t a trainer in the world who can give a fighter a chin if he doesn’t have one. ……
The hostility between ESPN’s Brian Kenny and Floyd Mayweather seems a little contrived, but it’s fun anyway. Regarding Mayweather’s assertion that Shane Mosley isn’t a pay-per-view attraction, um, hello, neither is Mayweather, unless he has Oscar De La Hoya or Ricky Hatton in the other corner. …
In a first for a major prizefight, promoters of the Ruslan Chagaev-Nicolai Valuev rematch claim to have sold several dozen tickets to Bigfoot creatures, who, one imagines, will be there to cheer on one of their own. …
I like Tim Bradley as much as anyone, but if I’m his handlers I stay away from Joan Guzman, who, if he can lay off the Pop Tarts, could give Bradley fits. ……
The recent brouhaha about Manny Ramirez made me wonder: What ever happened to Evan Fields? And why does no one care? …
Before you get all tingly about Chris Arreola’s hiring of a strength and conditioning coach, remember the tragic results borne of the brief union of James Toney and Billy Blanks. Arreola already knows how to get in shape. He has to want to. …
What a shame James Kirkland appears to be joining Tony Ayala and Ike Ibeabuchi as the best boxers in their respective cell blocks. …
Floyd Mayweather Sr. sure is quiet these days, isn’t he?
Bill Dettloff can be contacted at Dettloff@ptd.net
