Bloodied but Unbowed Marquez Victorious
by Gabriel Montoya (Nov 26, 2006) Photo © German Villasenor
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For the past two years, featherweight titlist Juan Manuel “Dinamita “ Marquez has been looking to get back into position for a return match against Manny Pacquiao, the man he drew with in a hard fought war. With Saturday night’s crowd-pleasing victory over Jimrex Jaca (27-3-1, 12), Marquez (46-3-1, 35 KOs) has staked his claim as a top candidate in the “Who’s Going To Fight Manny Pacquiao “ Sweepstakes. Since their May 2004 fight, Marquez, formerly the WBA and IBF featherweight titlist, was stripped of his IBF belt for reasons that only make sense to the IBF and then lost his WBA belt in what many considered a hometown decision in Indonesia against Chris John. But with an impressive win against Terdsak Jandaeng in August and a bloody battle this past Saturday night against game but unheralded Jimrex Jaca, Marquez has shown that while he has been missing out on big fights with others in and around his weight class, he hasn’t diminished in skill nor heart.
From the outset, Philipino contender Jaca was very game and aggressive. Whether it was pressuring Marquez or leading with left hands or left right combos, Jaca appeared to be very much up to the moment in facing the Mexican technician. Marquez, with his textbook stance perfected through years of working with legendary trainer Nacho Beristain, was all fluidity and economy of movement. Marquez gauged Jaca with his jab and looked for an opening for his left hook to the head or body. Normally a slow starter, the feeling out process was a bit abbreviated as Jaca looked to press the action
and test Marquez early. The action in the second round was equally fast paced as Jaca, with a sneaky defense and quick hands seemed to be beating Marquez to the punch. Marquez, for his part, was matching the pace and measuring Jaca for a right hand lead through most of the early going. Towards the end of the round, Marquez landed a pair of rights as he strafed Jaca along the ropes with combinations.
Jaca began the third round going right at Marquez, who although he had already started fast, was starting to find his rhythm. Marquez landed a nice hook but Jaca took it well and used his quick feet and slippery defense to stay just out of reach and avoided getting hit with more than a couple shots at a time. At this point, both men had yet to fully find their range and as a result there was a lot of commitment to punches that didn’t land. Marquez would land a good right hook on the inside and follow up with a flurry to end the round but seemed only to effectively land an uppercut. In the next stanza, Marquez would again display unusual aggression and Jaca’s game approach would enable that to be effective. The bout was starting to look as if endurance and experience would ultimately be the difference down the stretch as both men tasted each other’s power and took it well. Marquez’ textbook right hand began to find a home as he out landed Jaca 2 punches to one according to Compubox numbers.
Round Five saw a significant turn of events as both men clashed heads resulting in referee Lawrence Cole halting the action and ruling an accidental head butt. Replays would confirm his judgment. “I can’t make them fight differently, “ said Cole, referring to the inevitable when a southpaw (Jaca) and an orthodox fighter (Marquez) meet in the ring. Accidental Head butts when these styles meet are as common as clinching in a John Ruiz fight.
The butt resulted in a nasty, gushing gash off center on Marquez’ forehead that extended a bit over his right eye. . In the case of an accidental head butt causing a cut after four rounds have been completed, should the stop be stopped the winner would be decided on the scorecards. Marquez, with blood rushing into his eye, went for broke opening up with combinations to the head and body of Jaca who was trapped in the corner. A right hook from Jaca backed Marquez off momentarily. A miss form Jaca was countered with a right uppercut from Marquez. There was terrific ebb and flow as both fighters sensed victory within their grasp.
With the fight seemingly on the table, both fighters fought with renewed urgency and determination. A hard left followed a good right inside from Marquez, as Jaca seemed confused as to how to attack effectively. Experience was beginning to show as was the wear and tear from Marquez well balanced attack to the head and body. A hard right lead from Marquez was answered by a wide looping right hook from Jaca and another left. Marquez, bleeding profusely from the gash over his eye, landed three hard rights and unleashed a combination as Jaca unwisely moved to the ropes. The lead right from Marquez couldn’t miss as he used it set up a brutal uppercut to finish the round.
Round eight had Marquez taking full control as Jaca’s punch output began to slow and the bodywork from Marquez was becoming evident in Jaca’s legs. A borderline lowblow was ignored by Ref Cole but complained about from Jaca. Both men landed good uppercuts but Marquez brought back memories of another Beristain trained fighter, the great Ricardo Lopez, as he unveiled yet another weapon: the right outside uppercut. A second accidental head butt would further open the cut on Marquez’ head but again it was ruled accidental. As the ringside came up the apron to examine the damage to Marquez’ eye, Referee Cole strangely informed Marquez that he was up on the scorecards , in essence letting him know it was safe to quit and go to the cards. Marquez being the warrior he is gave no quarter and instead once again went for broke as he opened up with blazing combinations, which were answered in earnest by Jaca. Both men threw caution and defense to the wind, firing combinations and looking to end things with one punch until the bell sounded. As they went to their corners, a doctor’s stoppage based on the cut to Marquez seemed very possible but Jaca’s demeanor seemed worse for wear.
In the final round, Marquez dialed in his jab and Jaca couldn’t dodge Marquez’ uppercuts. “Dinamita” seemed very much in control as Jaca was still pressuring but his jab was all but extinct at this point. A jab to the body from Marquez landed prompting Jaca to rush inside. As he did that, Marquez came back with a short lead right hand followed by a four punch left right combo to the body with a brutal left hook upstairs as the coup de grace. Jaca never saw the knockout blow coming and hit the deck hard. Jaca didn’t seem completely out of it but took referee Cole’s ten count without making a move to rise. The official time was 2:48 of the ninth round.