Saturday’s match-up between Mexican rivals Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez was touted by their promoters as another chapter in a rivalry that produced three of the most intense and action-packed fights of the last ten years, if not boxing history. I, like many boxing fans, felt that the third fight’s 12 back-and-forth rounds, which were decided by a one-point margin due to Vazquez’ incredible 12th round rally, was a perfect cap to their incredible trilogy.
The pair seemed made for each other; two lower-weight fighters with incredible athleticism, heart, high punch output and leaky defense. Marquez had a slight edge skillwise, with one punch power that could change the direction of a fight in an instant. Vazquez had an incredible chin, bottomless reserves of heart and a high-pressure style that would grind opponents down to a fine powder. The slight difference in styles led to great chemistry in the ring, so it was natural that their respective promotions teams would try to milk the pair for all they were worth.
The result was Saturday’s fight, which unfortunately, lived up to most knowledgeable fans’ expectations. Marquez blew out Vazquez in three rounds after opening up two horrific cuts above Vazquez’ surgically repaired eyes. Both of his eyes already had a grotesque amount of scar tissue built up around them from years of ring wars, and it looked like a wet wipe could have opened up a cut on his eyes before he entered the ring the ring Saturday night. At 32-years-old, Israel Vazquez simply had nothing left to give the sport after a career filled with hard fights.
“He had nothing left” seems to be the biggest story of boxing in 2010. Thus far we’ve seen Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones struggle through a foul-filled rematch that only proved that both needed to retire. Whether they choose to bow out gracefully remains to be seen, but fans of both called for retirement. Shane Mosley’s fight with Floyd Mayweather on May 1st similarly exposed the 38-year-old vet as a spent fighter who could no longer deal with the sport’s elite.
Old pound-for-pound kings weren’t the only one’s to see their careers wheeze to a halt this year as younger stars seemed to become old overnight as well. Kelly Pavlik suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Sergio Martinez that showed him to be a one dimensional fighter, unable to deal with slick and crafty fighters and middleweight, which led many to question the 29-year-old’s future in the game. Similar stories can be told about Joel Julio’s loss to Alfredo Angulo, Jermain Taylor bowing out of the Super Six and considering retirement, and Paulie Malignaggi’s knockout loss to Amir Khan. Journeymen/champions John Ruiz, Edison Miranda and Nate Campbell also saw their careers brought to abrupt ends this year. Even the ageless Emmanuel Augustus had his ticket punched out on what will probably be his last appearance on Friday Night Fights this past weekend.
Obviously, boxing is a brutal sport, and careers end every day. What is alarming is that promoters continue to market fights featuring spent fighters with little chance of putting on competitive fights, while failing to put together the fights that fans want to see.
Looking toward the future, I sincerely hope that the Miguel Cotto reverses the trend when he faces Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium June 5th, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he might not have that much left after the beatings he took from Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, and as a fan I have no desire to see him lose to a lesser fighter. Juan Manuel Maquez and Juan Diaz are set to have a rematch of their Marzuez-Vazquez-like fight from last year, which, considering Marquez’ performance against Mayweather, and Diaz’ loss to Malignaggi, may fall short of expectations as well. It’s unfortunate that we as fans have to endure an era where the biggest fights are far from the best, and the best fighters are too proud to know when enough is enough.
