Rafael Márquez (boxer) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Rafael Márquez Méndez is a Mexican

Mexican people

Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....

professional boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

. He is a former world champion at the IBF / IBO Bantamweight

Bantamweight

Bantamweight is usually a class in boxing for boxers who weigh above 115 pounds and up to 118 pounds . However, in Mixed Martial Arts it is 134-136 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight...

(118 lb) and WBC Super Bantamweight

Super Bantamweight

Super bantamweight is a weight division in professional boxing. The maximum weight for this division is 122 pounds, or roughly 55.34 kilograms....

(122 lb) divisions.

Márquez comes from a strong boxing pedigree. His older brother, Juan Manuel Márquez

Juan Manuel Márquez

Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez , is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the fourth Mexican-born boxer to become a three-division world champion, where he won eight world titles in three different boxing weight classes.Currently, Marquez is the WBA Super, WBO and The Ring lightweight champion...

, was the former WBA

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

and IBF

International Boxing Federation

The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...

Featherweight

Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...

World Champion, former WBC

World Boxing Council

The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

Jr. Lightweight

Super Featherweight

Super featherweight is a weight division in professional boxing. The maximum weight for this division is 130 pounds or 59 kilograms....

World Champion, and current WBA

World Boxing Association

, WBO

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

, and Ring Magazine Lineal Lightweight

Lightweight

Light-weight is a class of athletes in a particular sport, based on their weight.-Professional boxing:The lightweight division is over 130 pounds and up to 135 pounds weight class in the sport of boxing....

World Champion.

Professional career

Márquez began his professional boxing career with an eighth round knockout loss to former WBC Bantamweight champion Victor Rabanales.

He gained recognition by defeating two division world champion Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson (boxer)

Marcellus Joseph Johnson, better known as Mark Johnson is a boxer in the Super Flyweight division. Johnson a fast and skilled southpaw from Washington, D.C., won titles at flyweight and junior bantamweight twice. He also was a pound-for-pound ranked stalwart during the prime of his career, which...

(40-1-0) by a split decision. In a rematch, Márquez knocked out Johnson in the eighth round in an IBF bantamweight title eliminator bout.

Bantamweight

On February 15, 2003, he came from behind to knock out Tim Austin

Tim Austin

Timothy Austin is a professional boxer from the United States. He was nicknamed the "Cincinnati Kid".- Amateur accomplishments :*1990 National Golden Gloves flyweight champion...

(25-0-1) to claim the IBF Bantamweight title, in what was considered to be a big upset. Márquez went on to successfully defend his title seven times. His notable title defenses were two victories over former light flyweight champion Mauricio Pastrana

Mauricio Pastrana

Mauricio Antonio Pastrana Tapi, more commonly known as Mauricio Pastrana, is a Colombian professional boxer who fights in the super bantamweight division.-Professional career:...

, a decision win over Ricardo Vargas and two knockout victories over former as well as future IBO Bantamweight champion Silence Mabuza

Silence Mabuza

Silence Mabuza is a professional boxer in the bantamweight division, and as of Jan. 6, 2008, is a former two time holder of the International Boxing Organization's world Bantamweight title....

, whom he defeated for the second time on August 5, 2006 in his final defense.

Super Bantamweight

See also; Israel Vázquez-Rafael Márquez rivalry
Israel Vázquez-Rafael Márquez rivalry
The rivalry between Israel Vázquez and Rafael Márquez was a series of four boxing matches that took placebetween 2007 and 2010, which has been described as "the most entertaining fight series in recent boxing history", and has been compared with two other notable series of fights in the decade:...

Márquez moved up a weight division to challenge and defeat WBC Superbantamweight champion Israel Vázquez

Israel Vázquez

Israel Vázquez Castañeda is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a former Super Bantamweight world champion, having held titles at this weight from 2004 to 2008...

in seven rounds. However, in a rematch in July 2007, Márquez lost his title after being defeated by Vázquez in the sixth round when the referee stopped the fight. The rematch was named the 2007 fight of the year. In the rubber match of their trilogy, Rafael lost a split decision, with scores of 113-112 and 114-111 to Vázquez, with one judge seeing it 114-111 for Márquez. Márquez may not have lost this bout if not for a point deduction for a low blow in the tenth round. Marquez and promoter Gary Shaw claimed that this hit was on the belt line and should not have elicited any deductions. Márquez was able to knock Vázquez down for the first time in the trilogy in this third fight, but Vázquez in turn put Márquez down in the final seconds of the 12th round, securing the victory and giving Márquez his fifth defeat.

Márquez was ranked number three in The Ring magazine's pound-for-pound rankings

Ring Magazine pound for pound

The Ring Magazine Pound for Pound is the official list of the current pound for pound professional boxing rankings distributed by The Ring.-Top 10 rankings:-See also:* List of current world boxing champions* List of boxing weight classes...

. and ranked as the Ring Magazine's

The Ring (magazine)

The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...

number one Bantamweight boxer. He later became the top ranked boxer in the Super Bantamweight division before his loss to Vázquez.

Featherweight

Márquez was inactive for over a year as he recuperated from the trilogy with Vázquez. On May 23, 2009, he returned to the ring by scoring a 3rd round TKO over José Francisco Mendoza (21-2-2) in the featherweight division.

In the first week of May 2010, Márquez announced his 4th and final match with Israel Vásquez. After three epic battles, Vázquez and Márquez fought for a fourth time on May 22, 2010 at the Staples Center

Staples Center

Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...

in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The bout was appropriately titled "Once and Four All" and carried live by Showtime. Márquez scored a third round TKO victory over Vázquez to even their series at two wins each.
Afterwards, Márquez stated; "The fifth one could be a possibility if the fans vote for it. That is what I live for. Israel Vásquez is a great fighter." http://www.fighthubtv.com/2010/08/rafael-marquez-pee/

In his next fight, he was scheduled to challenge undefeated WBO Featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez on September 18, 2010, however, the fight had to be postponed by several weeks when Márquez suffered a thumb injury which prevented him from training. Márquez would ultimately lose the bout by 8th round TKO after he was unable to continue due to a shoulder injury. After the fight, Márquez said that he had chosen to proceed with the bout despite a right shoulder injury suffered before the contest because he did not wish to cause a second delay. According to Márquez, he re-aggravated that injury in the third round during a flurry of punches. He also expressed his eagerness to face Lopez in a rematch. It was later revealed that Márquez had suffered a hairline fracture in his right shoulder blade during the fight and would require 6 months to recover from the injury.

Return to Super Bantamweight

On 16 July 2011, Márquez made his comeback in Cancún

Cancún

Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...

on the same card as his brother, Juan Manuel, against Eduardo Becerril. Both fights were tune-ups and the younger Márquez brother comfortably dealed with his opponent, knocking him down once on the way to a 6th round TKO.

Márquez fought against WBC Super Bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka

Toshiaki Nishioka

is a Japanese professional boxer who is the current WBC super bantamweight champion. Nishioka is currently ranked as the #1 super bantamweight in the world by The Ring and ESPN. Unlike most other Japan's world champions, Nishioka has been willing to fight outside of his own country.- 1976 to 1990s...

on 1 October at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Marquez lost by unanimous decision.

Professional record

|- style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;"
|align="center" colspan=8|40 Wins (36 knockouts), 7 Losses, 0 Draw
|- style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;"
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Venue and Location
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Loss || 40-7 ||align=left|

Toshiaki Nishioka

|UD || 12 || October 1, 2011 || align=left|

MGM Grand

MGM Grand Las Vegas

The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the third largest hotel in the world and largest hotel resort complex in the United States in front of The Venetian. The MGM Grand was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in...

, Las Vegas

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

Professional career

Bantamweight

Super Bantamweight

Featherweight

Return to Super Bantamweight

Professional record

Outside the ring

See also

External links