Giovanni Marquez is learning at a young age that fighting a disciplined fight and sticking to a game plan will go a long way in the sport.

Marquez defeated an unwilling opponent Saturday night, outboxing Bryan Springs over six rounds to win a one-sided decision at Summer Creek High School in his hometown of Houston, Texas. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Marquez, who improves to 5-0, 3 knockouts.

The win over Springs was a homecoming for Marquez as the fight took place at the high school he graduated from in 2019. Aside from family and friends, faculty and student body also were in attendance to watch the fight card after Marquez visited the campus during fight week to promote the fight. 

From the opening bell, the 22-year-old outboxed Springs. Marquez was the more-polished fighter, dictating the action and landing combinations. 

As the bout progressed, Springs did little to want to engage with Marquez. Springs would keep his distance, or when both were in the center of the ring, Springs would tie up rather than stand in the pocket to trade with Marquez. Springs’ tactics frustrated Marquez, who utilized his ring generalship to contain Springs and force him to fight, but that was few and far between. 

Marquez continued to press on, but Shields continued utilizing the same tactics until the final bell sounded to end the fight.

“It was a tough fight, not just on the scorecards, but just a tough boxer to fight,” Raul Marquez, Giovanni’s trainer and former world junior middleweight titleholder, told The Ring late Saturday night. “(Shields) ran and held. Giovanni hurt him badly in the fourth round, but couldn’t get him out of there. Springs (was) more on survival mode from the beginning.

“(These were) great rounds of experience for Giovanni. He kept calm and was composed. He didn’t lose it. He could’ve easily lost his composure against a fighter that was in there to survive. Giovanni was too skilled and dominant.”

Marquez said, “Springs was auditioning for Creed 4. He didn’t come to fight.”

Springs, who resides in San Antonio, Texas, falls to 3-8-2, 1 KO. The 32-year-old is now winless in his last five bouts.

In the co-feature, hard-hitting junior middleweight Andreas Katzourakis, who is originally from Athens, Greece and now resides in Los Angeles, improved to 9-0, 7 KOs, stopping San Diego’s Rodrigo Gonzalez (5-2-2, 2 KOs) in the sixth round.

The card was promoted by Forris Washington’s ‘Next Fight Up’ Promotions.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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