Featherweight Champ to Face Victor Polo on May 7

 

By David P. Greisman

 

Boxing observers occasionally ponder if a pugilist has left a piece of himself in the ring, especially after the kind of war that takes its toll on a man, leaving him weary both physically and mentally.

 

For Juan Manuel Marquez, the IBF and WBA featherweight champion, that question remains in the air nearly a year after his grueling twelve-round draw with Filipino prodigy Manny Pacquiao.

 

In that fight, Marquez was sent to the canvass three times in the second half of the first round, leaving his nose gushing crimson.  Pacquiao had promptly jumped to a sizable advantage on the scorecards, and the audience was unsure of just how much longer the bout would continue.

 

What followed that first stanza, however, was just as noteworthy as the early demonstration of Pacquiao’s punching prowess.  Over the next eleven rounds, Marquez would box intelligently, adjusting brilliantly by using subtle head movements to dodge Pacquiao’s left hand and counterpunching with right hooks and uppercuts.

 

By the time the final bell had sounded, the Mexico City native had willed his way back into contention, staging an impressive comeback that made the fight an early candidate for 2004 Fight of the Year.

 

“I was disoriented after the first round, but you do not win the fight in one round,” Marquez asserted in a recent press release.  “He did win the round big, but I thought I controlled the rest of the fight.  The most important thing was avoiding his left hand.  After I did that, I was able to counterpunch him.  I feel good because I thought I won.”

 

So did judge Guy Jutras, who had Marquez ahead 115-110, while John Stewart scored the bout 115-110 in favor of Pacquiao.  That left the deciding vote to Burt Clements, who controversially scored the first round 10-7 (compared to the 10-6 turned in by his compatriots), making his final tally 113-113 and causing a draw.

 

Since then, Marquez’s lone fight was a lackluster defense last September against Orlando Salido.  A rematch with Pacquiao had been scheduled for earlier this year, but Marquez priced himself out of the negotiations, paving the way for Erik Morales’s bout with the Filipino Firebomber last week.

 

On May 7, though, Marquez, 43-2-1 (33) will be looking to step back into the spotlight when he faces Colombian Victor Polo at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.  The fight will be the Showtime co-feature under the highly anticipated lightweight unification bout between Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales.

 

Both fighters have spent the majority of their careers at or around 126 pounds, working towards the day when they could flourish with title belts around their waists.

 

With Morales, Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera abandoning the 126 pound ranks for bigger and better opportunities, Marquez is left in the enviable position of top dog, leaving behind the days in which he was seemingly avoided by the division’s nobility.

 

His opponent, Polo (34-4-3 with 24 knockouts), will also be seeking to capitalize on the opportunities provided him on the first Saturday in May, when he shall make his fifth attempt to capture a world featherweight championship.  The thirty-four year old southpaw from Bolivar has gone 0-3-1 in his four previous tries, losing via technical decision to Manuel Medina in 1999, and splitting decisions with Derrick Gainer and Julio Pablo Chacon in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

 

The draw came in January in Glasgow, Scotland, where Polo went in as an underdog against hometown hero Scott Harrison and left, once again, with little to show as the fruits of his labor.

 

“I never get the benefit of the doubt,” Polo laments.  “I should have been a world champion years ago.”

 

Whether Polo finally achieves his goals depends largely on the intensity that Marquez can bring to the squared circle. 

 

For Polo, May 7 may be his final opportunity to become a champion before he drifts into the waning stages of his sixteen year career.

 

As for Marquez, who won the IBF title by defeating Manuel Medina in February 2003 and picked up the WBA version nine months later, this will be his chance to flex his muscles and emphasize his position as featherweight king.