by David P. Greisman
Photo © Chris Cozzone/Fightwireimages.com
Rafael Marquez went to war with Israel, bombs away and with no ceasefires, no shelter and no retreat. Seven rounds later, he came out as a de facto leader, a warrior with an impressive arsenal delivered via heavy hands and a fan-friendly style.
He is the man who could bring the junior featherweight division back to the Promised Land.
The war between Marquez and Israel Vazquez was inevitable, a buzz-worthy brawl based on the history of the division and the personalities of the fighters.
Each man’s steel was forged under fire. Vazquez’ trilogy with Oscar Larios had three fights with no judges’ decisions. And in his previous outing, Vazquez was knocked down twice by Jhonny Gonzalez before he roared back and gave Gonzalez two mat-tastings of his own, ultimately forcing Gonzalez’ corner to call for a mercy stoppage.
Rafael Marquez, meanwhile, had always been the banger to brother Juan Manuel’s boxer-puncher, a bantamweight titlist regarded by some as pound-for-pound the sport’s hardest hitter. Only four fighters had ever gone the distance with Rafael Marquez, losing with pride but prolonging the punishment.
Sparks had to fly.
The action was delightful from the outset. Marquez’ left hand set the tone in the opening heat, with jabs and hooks in addition to the uppercut that bloodied Vazquez’ nose and set the stage for the fight’s conclusion. Yet it was a Marquez straight right that was most memorable, buckling Vazquez’ knees as the round wound down.
Marquez’ superior hand speed and combination work continued through the second, and in the third a straight right once again pushed Vazquez backward. Vazquez, however, retaliated with a left uppercut that sent Marquez to his tail and somewhat unsteady legs.
Undeterred, Marquez made the jab his best friend in the fourth round, piercing through Vazquez’ gloves with a tattooing thump. These same jabs doubled together at a crucial moment in round five, sending enough pain coursing through Vazquez’ nose that the champion turned his back completely and moved to the ropes.
Between rounds, Vazquez complained about his nose to trainer Freddie Roach. Roach asked Vazquez if he wanted to quit, but Vazquez wanted to continue.
In the seventh, however, Vazquez – whose bloody and possibly broken beak had made breathing difficult – dug deep and threw his patented left hook upstairs, but Marquez took it and kept coming, jabbing for much of the round and trading at the bell.
In the corner, Vazquez told Roach that he couldn’t breathe, answering affirmatively when Roach asked again if he wanted the fight stopped. For Vazquez, the opposition was tough enough when all of his faculties were intact, but his worsening nose and diminishing air lessened the possibility of a comeback. Defeated physically and mentally, the longtime warrior was blamelessly unable to summon strength and go out on his shield.
Rafael had made his Marquez.
A career bantamweight, Marquez waited for more than a decade to add on four pounds. That his power didn’t remain behind makes Marquez a wrecking ball to be reckoned with at 122, a boon for a division that has seen most of its biggest stars leave.
The junior featherweight division has been home to two Fights of the Year: Erik Morales’ 2000 clash with Marco Antonio Barrera, and last year’s throwdown between Mahyar Monshipour and Somsak Sithchatchawal. Of the four, only Sithchatchawal remains. Monshipour retired, while Barrera and Morales led the exodus north, with Manny Pacquiao, Oscar Larios and Joan Guzman moving up in weight for bigger fights and bigger paydays.
Marquez may be the final piece needed to bring the spotlight back.
With a murderer’s row that also includes Vazquez, Daniel Ponce De Leon, Celestino Caballero and (potentially) Jhonny Gonzalez, there exists enough firepower and name recognition for high-profile bouts between any of the five. Marquez can make his mark at junior featherweight – and make some money in the process.
The 10 Count
1. On the televised undercard of Vazquez-Marquez, Vic Darchinyan retained his flyweight title with a twelfth-round stoppage of former 108-pound beltholder Victor Burgos. Any celebration over Darchinyan’s sixth straight successful defense had to be tempered by concern over Burgos’ health.
In the final stanza, a Darchinyan push forced Burgos to kneel on the canvas, exhausted and beaten down by his opponent’s relentless attack and hard punches. As Burgos got up, his legs wobbled, and thankfully referee Jon Schorle made the stoppage before Darchinyan could dish out much more damage.
Unfortunately, plenty of damage had already been done.
Burgos sat disoriented in his corner as ringside physicians checked on him, and he was soon taken out of the ring for further treatment – in a chilling scene, he was placed limply on a stretcher and transported via ambulance to nearby Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Just before this column went to press, a release was sent out reporting that Burgos had survived surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain and to reduce swelling. Burgos remains in a medically induced coma. One hopes he has a full and speedy recovery.
2. Meanwhile on HBO, Miguel Cotto held onto his welterweight title when Oktay Urkal’s corner threw in the towel – partially in protest of the officiating and partially in acknowledgement of the eventual outcome.
Urkal’s trainers waved the surrender as referee Luis Pabon took a second point from their charge for head butts. Urkal led with his cranium for much of the night, and intentional or otherwise it created a cut over Cotto’s left eye.
If the wound doesn’t shelve Cotto for a bit, his June fight against Zab Judah just became more interesting. Urkal showed that someone with good hand speed could land combinations on Cotto. Judah is fast, and his power adds another variable to the equation.
3. Cotto came into the Urkal fight as the overwhelming favorite, an undefeated two-division titlist against an opponent many thought of as a mis-mandatory who had done little to nothing at welterweight. Yet in a manner, Cotto was ripe for an upset.
The night before his fight, Cotto signed a three-year contract extension with promoter Bob Arum, keeping the Puerto Rican star with Top Rank through 2009 and potentially into 2010, according to ESPN.com scribe Dan Rafael.
In 2003, Vernon Forrest signed a six-bout contract with HBO and promptly found himself knocked out. Oktay Urkal, however, is no Ricardo Mayorga.
4. Re: The Edison Miranda-Allan Green bout on the undercard of Cotto-Urkal. It started with my keeping track of how many times Lennox Lewis said “definitely,” “absolutely” and “great.” That soon became less fascinating than the number of times that Green looked down at his feet. Against a puncher like Miranda, the chin should’ve been Green’s concern. Then again, Green’s minimal offensive effort for most of the fight showed that perhaps the chin was.
5. I started shaking my head in the eighth round when HBO commentator Jim Lampley said, “Top fighter in the world at 122 pounds recently has been a terrific puncher named Israel Vazquez, who is matched tonight in a terrific fight against Rafael Marquez.” HBO had been criticized in the past (and rightly so) for revealing the results of competing Showtime fights. Thankfully, the spoiler never came.
6. Randy Couture thoroughly dominated Tim Sylvia to recapture the UFC heavyweight championship just a year after he retired from mixed martial arts competition. Some call Couture’s victory a feel-good story involving a 43-year-old legend defeating a man who held distinct advantages in youth and size, I, however, think that it’s terrible news, because now Evander Holyfield will never retire.
7. Sticking with the aforementioned Holyfield, the 44-year-old heavyweight was implicated last week in a federal investigation into an illegal steroid distribution network.
According to Sports Illustrated reporters Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim – who accompanied agents on two raids in Florida – Holyfield’s name does not actually appear in the law enforcement documents they were provided. But within this ring of allegedly fraudulent prescriptions for steroids, human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs, there is a patient with the name of “Evan Fields.”
“Evan Fields” has the same birth date as Holyfield (Oct. 19, 1962), and his listed address (794 Evander, Fairfield, Ga. 30213) is quite similar to Holyfield’s – a quick public records search shows addresses for Holyfield at 794 and 795 Evander Holyfield Highway in Fairburn, Ga. with the same zip code.
Oh, and when Llosa and Wertheim called the phone number associated with the “Fields” prescription, Holyfield answered.
Authorities told the reporters that “Fields” allegedly picked up vials of testosterone, Glukor and a brand of human growth hormone from the offices of a private Georgia urologist that were also raided as part of the investigation. The drugs came from Applied Pharmacy in Mobile, Ala., a compound pharmacy raided last year.
Also of note, Dr. Margaret Goodman – the famed ringside physician who serves as chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s medical advisory board – told Llosa and Wertheim that Holyfield’s mid-nineties heart abnormalities “could have been consistent with growth hormone use.”
Holyfield issued a statement through a Feb. 28 press release from promoter Main Events:
“I do not use steroids. I have never used steroids. I resent that my name has been linked to known steroid users by sources who refuse to be identified in order to generate publicity for their investigation.
“I’m disappointed that certain members of the media fell for this ploy and chose to use my name in headlines and publish my photo alongside stories in today’s newspaper about an investigation into a practice that has nothing to do with me or what I stand for.”
8. In overseas action, featherweight beltholder Chris John floored Jose Rojas twice en route to a comfortable twelve-round victory.
Juan Manuel Marquez has jumped to junior lightweight for this month’s pay-per-view against Marco Antonio Barrera, thus leaving John as the best remaining 126-pounder based on his dubious and highly-controversial decision win over Marquez last year.
Although Rojas hadn’t done much lately to merit a title shot – a knockout last year of 0-6-2 Darwin Padron, and in 2005 he had two stoppages and an eight-round points win over opposition with a combined record of 22-26-3 – he couldn’t be completely written off either. In 2003, Rojas knocked out current 122-pound titlist Celestino Caballero, and his next fight was a technical draw against John that ended after an accidental clash of heads.
9. Over in Germany, Alejandro Berrio exacted revenge upon Robert Stieglitz and earned a super middleweight title belt in the process.
Stieglitz stopped Berrio in the eleventh round of their Dec. 2005 go-around, a title eliminator that earned Stieglitz a shot at then IBF king Jeff Lacy. But Lacy lost his belt in a unification bout with Joe Calzaghe, and Calzaghe chose to vacate instead of facing Stieglitz.
Berrio sent Stieglitz to the mat twice in the third round, eventually forcing the referee to step in. With the win, expect Berrio to sit back and wait for the results of the upcoming Joe Calzaghe-Peter Manfredo and Mikkel Kessler-Librado Andrade bouts.
10. Laila Ali is on the new season of Dancing With the Stars, but Danny Williams looked like he must’ve just come off of The Biggest Loser.
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