PREFIGHT
Finally, the rubbermatch for one of the best boxing trilogies in recent memory is on hand. Celebrities in attendance include Marco Antonio Barrera, Julio Cesar Chavez, Tracey Ullman, Sylvester Stallone and Jack Nicholson. The challenger, Rafael Marquez, comes out first. He looks calm, focused and ready for war. The champion, Israel Vazquez, comes out next. He looks confident and ready for war as well as he smiles and waves to the crowd. "IIIIIIIIIT'S SHOWTIIIIIME!" A chorus of cheers for both fighters as they're announced, although the cheers for Marquez were much louder.
ROUND 1
Both fighters come out firing the jab. Vazquez lands a quick left hook. Marquez answers with one of his own. HARD jab lands for Marquez. Vazquez lands an uppercut and a right hand. Marquez circling and landing his jab. HARD left hook lands for Marquez. They trade hard body shots, Marquez landing the harder one. Jab lands for Marquez, but he eats a right hand from Vazquez. Vazquez digs two hard shots to the body. Right hand lands upstairs for Marquez followed by a left hook. HARD left hook from Vazquez lands and Marquez looks wobbled. Two uppercuts land for Vazquez and Marquez is on the retreat. 1-2 lands for Marquez. Left hook and right hand lands for Marquez. HARD right and a left to the body lands for Marquez to end the round. Great round...great back and fourth action. Round to Marquez.
Marquez 10 Vazquez 9
ROUND 2
Marquez continues to fire the jab and circle while Vazquez walks him down. They trade on the inside. Vazquez backs him to the ropes and lands a quick combo. Two jabs land for Marquez. Vazquez lands a right that backs Marquez up. Left hook to the body and an uppercut lands for Vazquez. Marquez retreats, but continues to land his jab. They trade jabs. Nice four-punch combo lands for Vazquez. Marquez fires the jab. Right hand down the pipe lands for Vazquez. HARD uppercut lands for Marquez followed by a left hook. Short, chopping right hand lands for Vazquez. Jab lands for Marquez. HARD left hook lands for Vazquez and Marquez looks wobbled again. Marquez lands a jab and Vazquez eats it and keeps coming forward. Big right hand at the bell lands for Vazquez. Another good and close round. Round to Vazquez for landing the better shots.
Marquez 19 Vazquez 19
ROUND 3
Marquez doubling and tripling up on his jab, landing upstairs and downstairs. Left hook and a jab lands for Marquez. They trade on the inside with Marquez landing the better shots. Uppercut lands for Vazquez, but he eats a left hook in return. Right hand upstairs lands for Vazquez. Marquez still circling and jabbing. Vazquez lands his jab and a right hand. Non-stop action from both men. Right hand lands for Marquez. Vazquez lands a three-punch combo. HARD right hand over the top lands for Vazquez. They trade jabs. HARD left hook to the body lands for Marquez and he gets a warning for it being a little too low...I thought it was right on the beltline. Round to Marquez.
Marquez 29 Vazquez 28
ROUND 4
Quick 1-2 lands for Vazquez. Vazquez tripling up on his jab now. STIFF jab lands for Vazquez. Marquez on the retreat. Vazquez digs two shots to the body. HARD right hand lands for Marquez. Vazquez lands a left. Marquez digs a 1-2 to the body. Right hand upstairs lands for Vazquez. Marquez lands a left hook. Jab and a right hand lands for Marquez. They clash heads. Both men trade jabs. HARD right hand lands for Marquez that rocks Vazquez backwards. Marquez presses forward and lands an uppercut. Another uppercut followed by a right hand sends Vazquez crashing to the canvas. Wow. He's up immediately. He takes the count. He looks okay. The action resumes. Marquez lands a right. WOOOOOO....HUGE right hand lands for Vazquez...and another...now Marquez looks wobbled. They trade on the inside. Another right hand and a left hook lands for Vazquez. Marquez retreats. They trade again, this time Vazquez landing the better shots. More trading on the inside. Now Marquez lands a crushing right and a left hook. Vazquez buckles. He fires back and lands a left hook. Marquez lands an upperct. Wow. Incredible round. Round to Marquez.
Marquez 39 Vazquez 36
ROUND 5
Both men resume the action from the last round. WOOOOOOO...incredible HARD combination lands for Marquez. Vazquez eats it and comes forward. Right hand lands for Vazquez. Chopping right and an uppercut lands for Vazquez. Marquez lands a left hook. Vazquez continues to stalk behind his jab. They trade hard jabs. Vazquez digs a combo to the body. Leaping left hook lands for Vazquez. Marquez continues to land his jab. 1-2 lands for Vazquez. Marquez lands a body shot. Three-punch combo lands for Vazquez, who's doing a much better job of getting inside. WOOOOOO...HARD right hand lands for Marquez. Vazquez continues to press forward. HARD 1-2 from Vazquez momentarily wobbles Marquez at the end of the round. Round to Vazquez.
Marquez 48 Vazquez 46
ROUND 6
Left hook lands for Marquez. right hand down the pipe lands for Vazquez. Vazquez lands a four-punch combo on the inside. Marquez digs a left to the body. Vazquez lands a right hand. They trade jabs again. HARD left to the body lands for Vazquez. Marquez continues to circle behind his jab. Vazquez digs a 1-2 to the body. Right hand lands for Vazquez. Marquez lands a couple of uppercuts. HUGE right hand lands for Vazquez. Marquez works the body and lands an uppercut. Right hand lands for Vazquez...another...and a left from Vazquez backs Marquez up to the ropes. Some more lefts and rights land for Vazquez. Marquez fading a bit. Marquez lands a low blow and gets another warning. They trade at the end of the round. Round to Vazquez.
Marquez 57 Vazquez 56
ROUND 7
Right hand lands for Vazquez. Marquez fires back. Uppercut lands for Vazquez and a right hand. HARD uppercut lands for Marquez. They trade jabs. BIG right hand lands for Vazquez....another. Marquez lands a right. Vazquez works him on the inside. Another right hand from Vazquez is partially blocked. Marquez on the retreat and throwing less. Now he lands a right hand upstairs. Vazquez lands a right down the middle. They trade jabs. The right eye of Vazquez is showing the wear and tear from the jab of Marquez. Vazquez works Marquez in the corner. Marquez lands a jab and a left hook to to the body. HARD right and a left upstairs lands for Marquez. STIFF left hook upstairs lands for Marquez and Vazquez wobbles. HARD uppercut lands for MArquez. Beautiful four-punch combo lands for Marquez. Wow...very, very close round with Vazquez winning the early part and Marquez dominating the end. This round could make the difference in the scorecards. I give it to Marquez for landing the more telling and damaging shots in that last minute of the round.
Marquez 67 Vazquez 65
ROUND 8
Marquez fires his jab and circles away. Vazquez tries to dig to the body. They trade hard right hands upstairs. Marquez continues to stick his jab in the face of Vazquez. Vazquez digs a four-punch combo to the body. Another 1-2 to the body lands for Vazquez. HARD right hand lands for Vazquez. Left hook upstairs lands for Marquez and Vazquez backs up. Uppercut lands for Vazquez. Marquez lands another left hook. BIG right hand lands for Vazquez. STIFF uppercut lands for Vazquez. Vazquez backs Marquez up to the ropes and works the body. Right hand lands upstairs for Vazquez. Marquez works the body. Another right hand...and another lands for Vazquez. Round to Vazquez.
Marquez 76 Vazquez 75
ROUND 9
Marquez lands a left hook. Vazquez lands a right. They trade left hooks. They trade on the inside. Vazquez lands two right hands upstiars. Marquez circles and retreats behind the jab. HARD left hook lands for Vazquez. 1-2 lands for Marquez. Right hand lands for Vazquez. They trade jabs. Left hand lands for Marquez. Vazquez works the body on the inside. Uppercut lands for Marquez. Marquez showing a lot more movement in this round as he cirlces from corner to corner, but Vazquez is walking him down and getting some work to the body. Right hand lands for Vazquez. HARD three-punch combo lands for Marquez that momentarily rocks Vazquez right at the end of the round. Great combo, but not enough to steal it. Round to Vazquez.
Marquez 85 Vazquez 85
ROUND 10
Vazquez rushes in and lands a 1-2 on the inside. Right hand lands for Vazquez. Marquez retreats to the ropes. Jab lands for Marquez. They trade body shots. Left hand lands for Marquez. Uppercut lands for Vazquez. They trade jabs. Two left hooks to the body land for Vazquez. HARD 1-2 lands for Marquez. Vazquez lands a right hand. WOOOOO...HARD right hand lands for Marquez and Vazquez freezes in his tracks. Noooooo....a low blow for Marquez and the ref takes a point, as he should. Wow...critical. Uppercut lands for Marquez. Vazquez lands a right. HARD right hand and an uppercut lands for Marquez and Vazquez wobbles at the end of the round. Wow. Round to Marquez, but he loses a point for the low blow.
Marquez 94 Vazquez 94
ROUND 11
BIG right hand lands upstairs for Vazquez to start the round. Marquez retreats behind his jab. Another right hand lands for Vazquez. More jabs from Marquez. Another right for Vazquez lands. HARD left hook lands for Vazquez. Marquez lands his jab. Uppercut and a right lands for Vazquez. They trade jabs. Marquez lands a left hook. Vazquez works him on the inside. 1-2 lands for Vazquez. Right hand lands for Vazquez. They trade uppercuts on the inside. HARD right hand lands for Marquez. Two jabs lands for Marquez. Chopping right hand lands for Vazquez. Both men flurry and trade at the end of the round. Round to Vazquez.
Marquez 103 Vazquez 104
ROUND 12
The crowd is on their feet to start the final round. Vazquez comes out quick. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...HUGE right hand lands for Vazquez. Marquez eats it and retreats behind his jab. HARD left hook to the body lands for Vazquez. Marquez lands a right. Left hook lands for Vazquez. Right hand lands for Vazquez. Marquez holds on. Vazquez works him to the body along the ropes. Right hand lands for Vazquez. Vazquez all over Marquez. Right hand lands for Marquez. Vazquez lands a right and Marquez holds on. Uppercut and a right lands for Vazquez...another right...and antoher. Wow. Vazquez lands a left hook. Vazquez eats it and just comes forward. Wow....three shots in a row land for Vazquez. Marquez looks ready to go. Vazquez looking for the knockout. 1-2 lands for Vazquez. Big right lands for Vazquez...Marquez on the retreat. WOOOOOOO....two right hands land for Vazquez...a left and a right lands again and Marquez holds on to the ropes as he nearly hits the canvas. The ref counts it as a knockdown saying the ropes held him up...I agree. Marquez takes the count with his mouthpiece hanging out of his mouth. The bell rings to end the fight. Wow...incredible fight...HUGE round for Vazquez.
Marquez 111 Vazquez 114
THE WINNER BY SPLIT DECISION...AND STILL WBC SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD...ISRAEL VAZQUEZ
Official judges scorecards...
Max DeLuca: 114-111 (Vazquez)
Tom Kaczmarek: 114-111 (Marquez)
Dr. James Jen Kin: 113-112 (Vazquez)
POSTFIGHT
Marquez feels as though he won the fight by at least 1 or 2 rounds. "I wasn't down," he stated as he talked about the knockdown in the final round. "This cannot be happening," an upset Marquez continued. "It was on the belt...right on the belt," he commented regarding the point deduction for the low blow. Vazquez says he was concerned that he might lose the decision because Marquez was using his jab a lot. "I won, there's no excuses...I came out here to fight and I won the fight," he stated. When asked whether or not there would be a fourth fight, both fighters welcomed it.
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