VAZQUEZ - MARQUEZ 3 is the FOTY ~ but the 4th fight is coming up in February 2009!

You know the fight is so close that I can feel it in the air and still no dozens of topics on the forums… well at least we can have an official one After March 3 I strongly believe that we can add a trilogy to the 10 best rivalries ever, and I mean EVER in the history of prizefighting.

Why’s that?

For that kind of ‘ATG’ status you need absolutely mesmerizing battles, very good, possibly ATG fighters fighting in their prime, and of course fame, charisma and hype.



Let’s see what we have:

We already have two ATG fights between two absolutely elite blood and guts warriors, a The Ring FOTY award, a The Ring round of the year award and a hell lot of other awards. We just need a final chapter just a half as good as the first two and we’ll have a new immortal trilogy for the books. So two battles are already there, and does anyone think that the 3rd will be a boring battle? The worst thing can happen is a quick win for one of the combatants. The fights are already there.

What about the fighters? Well, Marquez is already one of the best in BW history as he really dominated in a category knocking people out like Mark Johnson or Tim Austin and of course he added up p4p-er Israel Vazquez in his first SBW battle to his record. That’s impressive. For years, he was considered as the best puncher of the game but it seems he lost a little pop in the SBW division. I think Rafael has already done enough to be an ATG but his brother has to defeat Manny Pacquiao for that IMO. ATG brothers? Sounds fun! And after 1-1 against each other, I think that for Israel’s ATG status he needs to win the 3rd one and he's in. But his resume pre-Marquez is not a bad one either. Some wins over reigning or former champions, his trilogy with Oscar Larios, his almost heart-braking win in the Gonzalez fight and of course now a win over the great Marquez. When the two first met, World BW Champion faced The Ring SBW champion, both guys were on the The Ring P4P list and they still there. And they were and are considered as the best punchers in the game – and they proved that against each other.

Of course both are in their prime. Rafael jumped up in a good time, at the age of 31 after brutally dominating the BW category and Vazquez with his wins over World SBW Champion Larios and Gonzalez really stepped up to the P4P level.

And what about fame, charisma and the hype? Well that’s the weakest point of this great trilogy and I blame the promoters, the boxing world and the whole sport-loving community for that. You just can’t make those guys more famous if they were ALREADY p4p-ers and The Ring champs when they first met. And you know just a few thousand fans paid a ticket to see them. I think that’s because the bad work of the promoters. And of course if you’ve ever seen SBWs fighting live, you have to know that they are REALLY little guys and of course watching them from a stadium is almost impossible. But in the age of TV that can’t be an argument. And both guys are very sympathetic, they have the charisma, they have the style, they have the heart. Of course they lack a perfect English language and that’s a big defect. But the Spanish language community is HUGE! I see the less-than-deserved hype as a responsibility of Showtime as well. Imagine how good pre-fight show HBO could've put up and after two fights, maybe a 24/7 would’ve been a lead-up to the final battle. But it seems that the biggest superfight of the last decade is the superfight for the hardcore fans, the historians and the experts only. Imagine the hype if a Pavlik-Calzaghe, Pacquiao-Diaz or Mayweather-Cotto trilogy would’ve been made with 3 Corrales-Castillo type of fights!

But the rest is there, so don’t forget to tune in on March 1st or if you can, go for the event as you’ll see history making in front of your eyes.




Soooooooooo after this loooong lead-up… it’s time to pick a winner!

I’d pick Vazquez as I’ve picked him before the first two fights. It appears he has the better chin. At SBW he looks the stronger of the two both in punching power and physically. They both have SUPERB boxing skills, especially offensive, and they lack a little in defense but that’s the greatest thing for the fans. Both have a good jab but I think even if Rafael’s a little bit more accurate and straight, Israel is a little bit faster and puts his combinations better together. Of course it seems that he can take the punches better. The stamina is a question, the heart is not. It’s really hard to predict a winner ‘cuz you never what will happen, who will land the decisive shots and if God forbid it will go to the scorecards WHO THE HELL WILL BE AHEAD? Predict that one bro! But I have to go with Vazquez based on the two previous fights.



And there’s the poll so you can pick your winner and/or let us know in a few words what do you expect in the 3rd fight and about the historical value of this great rivalry.

The line ‘Immoratality! Take it! It’s yours!’ is from Hollywood movie Troy. But Vazquez-Marquez is ain’t no Hollywood movie. In the ring you can get hurt and you can make a REAL war making the Trojan horse look like a pinkie pink pony under the hysterical Spears sisters a**! :tong

 

There will be blood

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Okay, let's see the odds from BWin:

Vazquez 1.53 or -188
Draw 24.00 or +2200
Marquez 2.50 or +150

 

You gotta be kidding me... just 2 weeks until the very best trilogy in the 21st century... and the boxing media and community is silent as it was midnight on the dark side of the Moon.




...anyway: pick your winner!