By Jake Donovan
Giovani Segura added yet another memorable knockout to his ledger, stopping Hernan 'Tyson' Marquez in the 12th and final round of their flyweight war Saturday evening in Hermosillo, Mexico.
The bout was the savage war that was expected industry-wide, if not exceeding expectations. Neither fighter had it in them to take a backwards step and dare attempt to box. The strategy ultimately backfired on Marquez, though enjoying a large amount of success right up until the knockout blow - a sweeping left hook that put him down and out.
The official time was 1:57 of round twelve.
Segura (31-3-1, 27KO) picks up his third win of the year, with his lone loss actually strengthening the case for longshot Fighter of the Year candidate Edgar Sosa. Saturday's win puts the former 108 lb. king in line to face unified titlist Juan Estrada.
Marquez dips to 36-4 (26KO) suffering his second brutal knockout loss in the span of 50 weeks, this one ending with his being carried out on a stretcher. A pair of wins were squeezed in, coming against a pair of faded, fringe contenders. The past three years have seen Marquez in Fight of the Year candidates, surviving a wild war to stop Luis Concepcion in a wild war two years ago, setting up a rematch in which he flattened his rival inside of a round later that year.
The pair of wins were part of a seven-fight win streak leading into last November's title unification bout with Brian Viloria, who bumped off Segura some 11 months prior. Marquez was in the fight every step of the way, but couldn't keep off the canvas or ultimately on his feet as he was stopped in the 10th round of their thriller.
Unlike his rival on Saturday, Segura knew better than to race back to the ring following his own loss to Viloria. An 8th round stoppage to the Hawaiian puncher was enough to convince Segura - a former 108 lb. king - to take a long break from the sport. He returned earlier this year, with two knockout wins sandwiching a close loss to Sosa as he headed into Saturday's affair.
The win brings Segura back full circle, an unlikely run that was ignited by his brutal 4th round knockout of previously unbeaten Jonathan Gonzalez this past August.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
