A few things: 1) Great offensive fight. Both guys threw tremendously tight and accurate punches, mixing up angles and changing speeds as well. And Vazquez used just enough head movement to thwart some of Marquez's early attack, which helped him break Marquez down. 2) Both guys should be in the PfP top 15, in my opinion. Marquez doesn't lose much ground as a result of this close defeat. 3) The stoppage. I re-watched the fight and can understand both perspectives. I think 30 more seconds would have settled it cleanly, but you never know how a fight can turn with one punch. Especially in a bout of that magnitude. On the other hand, what we see on TV is not what the referee sees. It was pretty clear that Marquez had no legs, and upon taking that last right hand and falling backward, his brain obviously was in the process of shutting down. Marquez wasn't able to move his body at all to make Vazquez miss, and his mouth was totally slack. You'll also notice that Bernstein is fine with the stoppage during live action, and it isn't until he watches the replay on the monitor that he starts to huff about it. The ref doesn't have that luxury, and the fighter's well-being has to rank first. I'd have been fine with him letting it continue, but again, he has a much better perspective on it than we do, so I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Marquez's corner didn't seem too upset; it was obvious their man was fading fast. 4) One key difference between Rafael and Juan Manuel is their balance. Rafael is much more flat-footed and on his heels, so his balance naturally just isn't very good. I think this factors into his poorer recovery rate (which we discussed the other night), because he has difficulty steadying the ship. 5) Great, great fight. Just wanted to write that again.
