Marquez dethrones Barrera in classic battle!
Marquez cements legacy with biggest win of career

Ringside by Albert Howell
Photos by Chris Cozzone
- FightWireImages.com

In the main event Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort Casino in Las Vegas, Juan Manuel Marquez (47-3-1, 35 KOs) became the new WBC Super Featherweight World Champion by winning a 12-round unanimous decision victory over defending champion Marco Antonio Barrera (63-5, 42 KOs).

Marquez moved up in weight from 126 pounds, where he is recognized as the WBO World Champion, to challenge Barrera for his title. This was a highly anticipated match-up between two of Mexico's greats, both hailing Mexico City.

The fight started cautiously with both men displaying solid technical skill. In round one a Marquez right hook landed upstairs. In round two it was two left hooks by Barrera that landed to the head of his foe. By the third round both men began to loosen up their defenses a bit and exchange power shots in the middle of the ring. An overhand right by Marquez landed on the head of Barrera who answered with a left hook to the head.

In the first half of the fight it was Barrera's stiff left jab that was his competitive advantage. Nevertheless, the early rounds were close, prompting the combatants to flurry at the end of each round to try and steal the close ones. These end-of-round flurries became more brutal as the fight wore on. The flurry to end round four evoked memories of the classic exchanges between Barrera and Morales, which set apart their epic trilogy.

In the fifth round a sweeping right by Marquez connected upstairs. By round six it was clear that Marquez was not as cautious as he was at the beginning of the fight. Marquez was much more comfortable neglecting his defense in the middle rounds so as to engage Barrera and exchange power shots.

The seventh round proved to be the most memorable round of the fight. A right cross by Marquez rocked Barrera and had him in trouble. Marquez seized the moment and began to unleash his power shots. But Barrera hung on, and suddenly a perfectly timed Barrera right hand caught Marquez coming in and dropped him to the canvas. Shockingly, Barrera then walked over to the fallen Marquez and hit him with a right hand while he was down. Referee Jay Nady did not credit Barrera with a knockdown, rather ruling it a slip. Nady did, however, deduct a point from Barrera for the foul, making it a 10-8 seventh round for Marquez.

Although Barrera showed well in the eighth and ninth rounds, down the stretch it was Marquez beating Barrera to the punch and pulling away from his opponent on the scorecards. Marquez punctuated a hard-fought tenth round with a sweeping left hook upstairs followed by a lunging straight right to the head. Marquez was in clear command in the eleventh round, mixing up his shots upstairs and downstairs landing solid left hooks and strong right hands. Marquez continued to beat Barrera to the punch in the twelfth and final round, getting his licks in and moving out of harm's way before absorbing punishment.

At the end of the fight Marquez was visibly bleeding from the corner of his right eye. Barrera tried to target the damaged eye of Marquez with his jab. However, Marquez did well to protect his eye and counter Barrera's jab. Marquez ended the round and fight by nailing Barrera with a clean left hook.

Marquez won the unanimous decision victory by scores of 118-109, 116-111 and 116-111.

Click here for Post-fight report

Ponce De Leon retains junior featherweight title

In the co-main event, Daniel Ponce De Leon (31-1, 28 KOs) retained his WBO and IBA Junior Featherweight World Championship belts by defeating former super flyweight titlist Gerry Penalosa (51-6-2, 35 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision.

De Leon emerged from his corner in round one as the stalker. From the outset the southpaw De Leon set out to size up his opponent for the big left.

In the first round a right hand by Penalosa landed flush on the face of his combatant. De Leon answered by digging a right hook to the body of his foe. In round two Penalosa worked his jab while De Leon looked to go to the body A Penalosa right hook to the head caught De Leon coming in causing De Leon to lose his balance for a bit before regaining his proper footing.

By round three De Leon had found his grove and continued to outwork Penalosa, round after round. While Penalosa seemed to land the bigger, cleaner shots, De Leon landed more total shots, thanks to a busy jab. Penalosa's decision to lay back and wait to counter afforded De Leon the opportunity to win rounds by assuming the role of the aggressor and simply outworking his foe.

Round six saw De Leon throwing punches in bunches. The defending champion continued to bring the fight to the challenger in the middle rounds. In round seven Penalosa scored a right hook-straight left combination that stopped De Leon in his tracks. De Leon answered by throwing a series of left hooks to the body.

In the ninth round an overhand right by De Leon landed on top of Penalosa's head. By the tenth round it was clear that De Leon was pulling away from his opponent. The ring general De Leon was content in the later rounds to box from the outside, where he continued to land his jab and give shots without absorbing much punishment. De Leon demonstrated his movement and defensive technique in the later rounds by avoiding many of Penalosa's counter shots.

Hopkins retains USBA belt

Demetrius Hopkins (26-0-1, 10 KOs), the nephew of active ring legend Bernard Hopkins, retained his USBA Junior Welterweight title by defeating former 130 pound titlist and “Contender Season Two” finalist Steve Forbes (32-5, 9 KOs) by 12-round unanimous decision.

Although Hopkins was the bigger guy in this bout, Forbes was not intimidated by the size differential. As a matter of fact, it was Forbes that pressed the action through much of the bout, preferring to work on the inside of Hopkins' jab.

Through much of the bout, Hopkins was able to neutralize Forbes' aggression by keeping his opponent at bay with his long jab. But, when Forbes did get inside his opponent's jab he outworked his adversary.

The second round may have been the most exciting round of the fight, as both combatants were content to open up the action and exchange blows in the middle of the ring. In round three Forbes forced Hopkins to the ropes and landed an overhand right followed by a straight left. Forbes continued his relentless pursuit of Hopkins in round four. Not intimidated by Hopkins' power, Forbes showed he was willing to take a shot to give one against his bigger opponent.

Hopkins continued to land his left jab. But Forbes outworked Hopkins on the inside with power shots. In round four Forbes landed a two-hook combination to the body of his foe, followed-up by an uppercut inside. Forbes punctuated a strong fourth round by landing a straight right to the nose of Hopkins.

The middle rounds were close as Forbes' work rate seemed to slow a bit, allowing Hopkins to establish his jab.

In the later rounds the action became a bit sloppy, as Hopkins began to hold more and both men became accustomed to leaning in on each other, slowing down the pace of the fight.

In the championship rounds the two combatants fought in close quarters, but neither man landed many clean shots, instead many of their power shots either missed the mark or were clearly blocked. In round twelve plenty of punches were thrown, but few landed.

Gabi wins by 2nd round TKO

Diosdado Gabi (29-3-1, 21 KOs) earned a second-round TKO victory over his opponent, Antonio Maria Cochero (17-5-1, 13 KOs), in their bantamweight bout.

In round one Gabi outclassed his opponent by mixing up his punches landing solid shots upstairs and downstairs. Cochero did not possess the speed to match Gabi, and was constantly beaten to the punch. Cochero spent much of the first round trying to land the lead right but to no avail.

In round two a Gabi right stunned his foe. A one-two combination upstairs connected for Gabi who then pounded his opponent with a right hook that landed flush on the side of the head. Still in the second round another Gabi one-two combination, this time followed by a right hook, floored his adversary. Cochero rose from the deck to barely beat the ten count but on unsteady legs.

Espinoza scores upset victory

Sergio Espinoza (14-2-1, 5 KOs) scored an upset unanimous decision victory over Juan Alberto Rosas (25-2, 22 KOs) in their 10-round junior bantamweight bout.

Rosas landed a double left hook upstairs to begin the action. There was plenty of give-and-take action in round one between these two warriors. In the second round the boxers were content to turn this boxing match into a brawl. A compact left hook by Espinoza landed upstairs. Rosas continued to come forward, pressing the action in this fight. Nonetheless, it was Espinoza that took advantage of Rosas' desire to press the action by landing clean counter punches and displaying superior footwork.

By the fourth round the brawlers took to fighting in a phone booth, as each was content to trade power shots and lean into one another.

In round six Espinoza landed a right hand upstairs followed up by a one-two combination that landed flush on the head of his adversary. Rosas answered by connecting with three uppercuts to the chin. Rosas followed up with a looping right that landed on top of the head of his opponent. Espinoza demonstrated a phenomenal work rate in the middle rounds as he began to land his punches in bunches. In round eight referee Tony Weeks deducted two points from Rosas for fouls.

Espinoza was clearly in control of the fight the last two rounds. Espinoza kept his opponent frustrated in rounds nine and ten with his superior movement and defense. Rosas fought the last rounds flat-footed plodding forward trying to land the big punch but to no avail. Espinoza leveraged his ring generalship to pull away from Rosas at the end of the bout.

Escobedo earns KO

Featherweight Eduardo Escobedo (19-2, 13 KOs) was awarded a knockout victory over his opponent Edel Ruiz (28-17-4, 19 KOs).

In round one a looping left hook by Ruiz landed upstairs. Escobedo responded with a left hook downstairs. Ruiz dug a left hook into the midsection of his adversary. Escobedo doubled up on the right cross, landing the punch twice to the face.

In the second round Escobedo landed more punches, thanks to his jab. Nevertheless, Ruiz got in his share of power punches in round two.

At the beginning of the third round a right uppercut by Escobedo landed on the inside and snapped back the head of his foe. Escobedo followed up with a right cross before landing a monstrous body shot that sent his opponent crumbling to the floor. Referee Toby Gibson reached the ten count with Ruiz still doubled over on the canvas. Escobedo's body shot appeared to be questionably low. Nevertheless, it was counted as a fair shot.

Martinez wins welter war

Fighting in his hometown of Las Vegas, Anthony Martinez (3-0, 3 KOs) dispensed of his foe Jesus Villareal (1-1-1) inside of two rounds in their welterweight duel.

Round one began with good give-and-take action. Near the end of round one Martinez dropped Villareal with an overhand right to score a knockdown.

In round two another overhand right by Martinez stunned Villareal. Martinez unloaded a flurry of punches, forcing Villareal to grab and hold just to keep his feet under him. A Martinez one-two combination wobbled Villareal. Martinez followed-up the combination with a compact left hook that landed flush on the chin, forcing Villareal to the canvas. Referee Tony Weeks immediately called a halt to the bout.

Jordan wins debut in KO

In the opening bout of the evening, between two heavyweights both making their professional debuts, Ashanti Jordan (1-0, 1 KO) scored a first-round knockout victory over Eric Molina (0-1).

Jordan connected early on with a sweeping left hook to Molina's head. Then, Jordan dropped Molina with a one-two combination. Molina could not beat the ten count by referee Toby Gibson.

Jordan was declared the winner by knockout at 1:45.

Bonus photos