WBC super-bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez concluded their incredible trilogy with another unforgettable fight on Saturday night in front of a sell-out crowd of 8,014 at Home Depot Center.
Both fighters tasted the canvas in a fight that featured non-stop action from the first bell on. Vazquez made an incredible rally in the 12th round, dropping Marquez in the closing seconds to pull out a 12-round split decision.
It was the third time the two 122-pound warriors had faced each other in less than a year. Their first fight was a fight of the year candidate, the rematch was 2007’s fight of the year and the rubber match looks like an early candidate for 2008’s fight of the year. Vazquez won the final two fights of the trilogy.
On a night when both Vazquez and Marquez should be celebrated for their valiant performances, Marquez’s promoter Gary Shaw chose to inform the media at the post-fight news conference that he would be filing a formal protest with the WBC to have Vazquez’s victory erased.
Shaw cited the point that was taken away from Marquez in the 10th round for a low blow and he questioned the knockdown Vazquez scored in the 12th round.
I find it unbelievable that Shaw would try and take away from what was a great night for boxing. There is a way to win and lose with honor. Shaw shouldn’t resort to whining and complaining.
First, referee Pat Russell warned Marquez about the low blows in the third and sixth rounds before he deducted a point for a low blow in the 10th round. What was Russell supposed to do? It doesn’t matter that the low blows were probably unintentional. They were still low blows.
Second, the judges probably could have scored the 12th round 10-8 for Vazquez without the knockdown. Vazquez gave Marquez a vicious beating for the entire 3 minutes of the last round. Marquez fell into the corner under a barrage of punches in the final seconds. It looked like Marquez’s left glove touched the canvas, which is considered a knockdown. Even if the glove didn’t touch, the ropes were the only thing holding Marquez up, which also counts as a knockdown.
My pal, Will Trillo of BoxingExclusive.com and Pound4Pound.com, caught up with WBC president Jose Sulaiman. Sulaiman believes Russell acted properly in deducting the point for the low blow and on the call of the 12th-round knockdown, so it doesn’t look like Shaw’s protest is going anywhere. To check out Sulaiman’s comments in Trillo’s article, click here.
CARLOS ARIAS/The Register
