The Third Time's The Charm: Vasquez-Marquez III

This was a beautiful fight. There was a lot of cautionary talk going into Vasquez-Marquez III about how third fights were usually more tactical and less all-action and we shouldn't necessarily expect to see a knockout. They were right that there was no knockout and the fight was a little more tactical than the first two battles, but it was certainly all action. The first clinches didn't come until late in the fight, all in the last three rounds, when a tired Marquez grabbed onto Vazquez when he began to need frequent breaks from the defending champion's relentless power punching.

I saw the early rounds of the fight a bit different from Al Bernstein, who said he had Marquez pitching a shutout going into the 4th round where Marquez cracked Vasquez with a good straight right and then floored the champion with a combination. I called the first round even, I thought Marquez' job and movement were excellent but that both men were punching well and that Vasquez was doing enough body work to hold his own and that the hard left hook-right cross combo he used to stun Marquez into the last stretch of the round otherwise even would have won it for him had Marquez not managed to land a combination before the bell. As it was, I scored round one 10-10. I gave round two to Vasquez, he landed the harder shots throughout and began the fight-long investment in really good bodywork that would ultimately win the fight for him.

As a result, following Marquez's great boxing round in round three, I had the fight even going into the fourth round; I didn't have Marquez ahead by a commanding lead the way Bernstein did. The knockdown in the fourth, rather than establish the momentum of the fight clearly in Marquez's favor, woke Vasquez up. He fought hard for the remainder of the fourth, convincing Marquez he was not on his way out, and then solidly won the fifth and sixth rounds by jabbing his way in, throwing the short straight right, and going to the body and coming back upstairs with both fists. He was the cleaner, more effective puncher through both rounds and evened up the score cards again. Then Marquez punched back when he most needed to in the seventh, always answering back in every exchange. I had the round even when Marquez won it with his closing flurry.

On my card, however, that was Marquez's last gasp. From the eigth on, Vasquez used the pattern of the fifth and sixth rounds again. He jabbed into right hand range, threw a tight right hand, and went to the body on the inside. His investments in such bodywork in the earlier rounds began to pay dividends in the late rounds. Marquez was there for him to hit. Marquez had great moments in every one of these rounds, but was always put back in his place by Vasquez's hard punches and steady attack. Marquez came close to punching himself into an even round in the tenth, but a point deduction for low blows (none of which were flagrant, but happened often enough over the course of the fight to justify the docking at this point) made it a 10-9 round for Vasquez on my card instead. Going into the championship rounds, Vasquez dominated the eleventh round and scored a knockdown into the twelfth when the ropes held Marquez up.

The judges were divided in the end. Max De Luca had it 114-111 for Vasquez, the most reasonable score of the batch. James Jen Kin scored it 113-112 for Vasquez, enough to give him the split decision win, but the fight honestly didn't look that close to me. Vasquez dominated the late rounds clearly. The real boner, however, was Tom Kaczmarek's ridiculous score of 114-111 for Marquez. If one were to give Marquez every round that was difficult to score, I could see him eking out something razor thin, but he didn't win by three points. At all. I scored the fight 116-111 Vasquez, off Showtime, the two extra points over De Luca's card likely from the rounds I called even.

This was a great fight. Vasquez won it solidly. I had it even after the first six. Of the last six, I gave Marquez the seventh and he was competitive enough in round 10 that I only gave it to Vasquez because of the point deduction. I don't see any way or reason to give the eighth, ninth, or eleventh round to Marquez. Marquez hands on the rope were the only thing keeping him from tasting canvas in the twelfth, and two more punches Vasquez landed while he was holding himself up would have sent him to the deck if they hadn't sent him to the turnbuckle. So I don't see any reason to call the knockdown anything but legitimate.

The shame is that voices are sure to be raised calling this decision controversial. Marquez insisted, in his post-fight interview, that he was not knocked down and that he won the fight by at least two points. No great fighter thinks he lost a fight in which he finished on his feet and fought his best fight, but Marquez was wrong. He lost this fight by at least the three points Max De Luca gave to Vasquez, possibly by as many as the five I gave to Vasquez. The cries of controversy sounded will only be believed by hardcore Marquez partisans and by those with a financial interest in his next fight.

However, if the mistaken outcry of controversy brings about a fourth fight between these guys then I won't complain. I'd love to see that again.