By Cliff Rold

The sequel is never better than the original?

Whoever said that never saw Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez II (or III), never saw the World Jr. Featherweight title traded twice as this pair of warriors pounded their way into likely Hall of Fame enshrinement. 

It’s one of the rare trilogies in fistic history, the only one which pops to mind in recent vintage, which managed to improve with each successive contest.  If all they’d ever had was the first bout, a Marquez stoppage win where he came off the floor, these two men would be well remembered together.

Three times made the hyphen between “Vazquez-Marquez” a fitting symbol of the marriage of violence they secured.  Now, they’re doing it again.

Should they be?

It’s a fight which can’t avoid the question.  Two men who couldn’t miss each other when they were younger, when they hadn’t beaten the hell out of each other three times already, facing off for a fourth time seems a prescription for long term damage.  Younger foes would bring a snap to their shots Vazquez and Marquez won’t bring to each other.  That increases the chances for enduring punishment. 

Younger men didn’t bring more money though and so here we are.  The affects of tomorrow will wait, and so will the guilt of seeing them from the masses.  For now, we can expect another fantastic fight.

And, whether it lives up to or fails to meet the hype, Vazquez-Marquez IV shares the bill with a Bantamweight battle which might steal the show.   

Let’s go the report cards. 

The Ledgers

Israel Vazquez
Age: 32
Title: None
Previous Titles: IBF Jr. Featherweight (2004-05, 2 Defenses); Lineal/Ring/WBC Jr. Featherweight (2005-07, 2 Defenses; 07-09, 1 Defense)
Height: 5’4 ½
Weight: 125 ½ lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 122.45 lbs.
Hails from: Huntington Park, California (Born in Mexico)
Record: 44-2, 32 KO
BoxingScene Rank: Unrated
Record in Major Title Fights: 8-1, 6 KO, 1 KOBY
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 5 (Oscar Larios, Jorge Eliecer Julio, Ivan Hernandez, Jhonny Gonzalez, Rafael Marquez)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 2 (Oscar Larios, Rafael Marquez)

Vs.

Rafael Marquez
Age: 35
Title: None
Previous Titles: IBF Bantamweight (2003-07, 7 Defenses); Lineal/Ring/WBC Jr. Featherweight (2007)
Height: 5’5
Weight: 125.5 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 121.6 lbs.
Hails from: Mexico City, Mexico
Record: 38-5, 34 KO
BoxingScene Rank: Unrated
9 Record in Major Title Fights: 9-2, 7 KO, 1 KOBY
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 4 (Mark Johnson, Tim Austin, Mauricio Pastrana, Israel Vazquez)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat or Draw: 2 (Victor Rabanales, Israel Vazquez)

Grades
 Pre-Fight: Speed – Vazquez B; Marquez B
Pre-Fight: Power – Vazquez A; Marquez A
Pre-Fight: Defense – Vazquez B; Marquez B-
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Vazquez A; Marquez A

For those concerned with the health of the fighters, the dulled reflexes and slower hands both exhibited in their lone fights since March 2008 are the place to start.  They might both be graded too high for speed, given the benefit of the doubt based on memories rather than most recent outings alone.  Those outings can’t be discounted and if they’re slowed, stylistically the pressure of Vazquez should give him the edge over a Marquez who, on form, is the superior boxer.  If his jab isn’t well timed, it will be hard for Marquez to hold Vazquez off.

That puts them squarely back in the trenches, a place where each will be vulnerable.  Marquez was down in all three fights, the last of them a ‘corner held him up’ call in the dramatic (and only) twelfth round so far.  Vazquez hit the deck in the second fight but has been there other times, notably in the second Larios fight in 2002 and three times against Jhonny Gonzalez.

Given the amount of leather each has taken, defense might seem not worth exploring but both do enough to mitigate harm to keep in fights, rolling, tucking their chins, and using their arms and shoulders to block where they can.  The intangibles outrank the defenses, both men proven as warriors and champions at their peaks.  No matter what is left, it can be presumed they’ll share the remainder with the world.

Ultimately, it should add up to a good fight.  Great will be determined in the ring.  It may well be the night ends up feeling like a before and after collage with a pair of fresher, hungry Bantamweights opening the show in a style clash which might just provide the sort of action prime versions of Vazquez and Marquez did. 

Yonnhy Perez
Age: 31
Title: IBF Bantamweight (2009-Present, 1st Defense)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’5½"
Weight: 125½ lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 117.5 lbs.
Hails from: Santa Fe Springs, California (Born in Colombia)
Record: 20-0, 14 KO
BoxingScene Rank: #3 at Bantamweight
Record in Major Title Fights: 1-0
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 1 (Joseph Agbeko)

Vs.

Abner Mares
Age: 24
Title/Previous Titles: 1st Title Fight
Height: 5’5
Weight: 116.75 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 118.6 lbs.
Hails from: Montebello, California (Born in Mexico)
Record: 20-0, 13 KO
BoxingScene Rank: #7 at Bantamweight
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 1 (Isidro Garcia)

Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Perez A-; Mares A-
Pre-Fight: Power – Perez B; Mares B
Pre-Fight: Defense – Perez B; Mares B
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Perez A; Mares B

As has been detailed in the press this week, Mares and Perez know each other well to include a rivalry in the headgear ranks.  Mares won two of three unpaid contests but will have to deal with more than four two minute frames on Saturday.

Perez has proven to have a twelve round approach after all.  Complimenting notable hand speed, Perez throws a bevy of blows from multiple angles, able to land with accuracy and with a beard to back his play.  He took big shots from Agbeko for the title and Silence Mabuza one fight prior.  To his credit, he doesn’t often take two of them in a row, managing to be slippery between volleys.

Mares is the more classic boxer of the two, working in off the jab and mixing in hard left hooks to the body.  His head movement has improved in recent outings but he can still be tagged by right hands at range.  Perez will have to work hard to keep Mares off balance, going inside when it is to the champion’s advantage and not before.  Neither man is likely to end the fight early, both supplying good but not crippling power.  It’s going to be a long night.

In terms of intangibles, the edge goes to Perez off his wins over Agbeko and Mabuza, for now at least.  He’s been seen against the real world class, and he’s been seen winning.  Mares hasn’t but no one has until they do.  He’s seeing that level in Perez and should be ready for the step up.

The Picks

Given their identical number of fights, and developed amateur backgrounds, the slight advantage in professional experience for Perez shouldn’t be any sort of deciding factor.  Almost 24 full rounds with Silence Mabuza (who was stopped in 12) and Joseph Agbeko can’t hurt, but Mares presents a different puzzle.  The tilt at 118 will come down, simply, to the better man.  In this evenly matched outing, Mares’s more accurate, more deliberate punching should be enough to overcome the sheer volume of blows Perez will throw.  The young Mexican is perfectly positioned to be a serious star of the future for his homeland at a time when it needs one.  That should start Saturday with a narrow, bruising decision win.

The main event, and this is not an original take this week, could come down to who has more left.  It could also come down to the man who has always been just a little more sturdy.  That’s Vazquez.  While he, like Marquez, has been stopped in the past, he’s been hurt less often by single shots and has three years of youth on his side.  In a fight where both men are going to get hammered at some point, the man with more legs wins.  That will be Vazquez sometime between rounds six and eight in a fight less thrilling than any of their first three but still worth the price of a ticket.       

Report Card Picks 2010: 14-8

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com