Juan Manuel Márquez

Juan Manuel Márquez

Statistics
Real name	Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez
Nickname(s)	Dinamita
Rated at	Lightweight
Height	5 ft 6.75 in (1.70 m)
Nationality
Birth date	August 23, 1973 (1973-08-23) (age 36)
Birth place	Mexico City, Mexico
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	56
Wins	50
Wins by KO	37
Losses	5
Draws	1

Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez Méndez (born August 23, 1973 in Mexico City), is a mexican professional boxer and the current WBA and WBO Lightweight world champion as well as the current Ring Magazine Lightweight champion. He has also held the IBF, WBA, and WBO Featherweight titles, and the WBC Super Featherweight title. He is the fifth Mexican boxer to become a world champion in three different weight classes after Marco Antonio Barrera, Érik Morales, Julio César Chávez, and later Fernando Montiel.

Personal life

Márquez has a brother named Rafael Márquez, who is a former world champion at the Bantamweight, and Super bantamweight division. The two are listed in Ring Magazine's top ten pound for pound list. They are one of four sets of Mexican brothers to hold world titles.^[1] Márquez and his wife, Erika, have two sons and a daughter.^[2]

Professional career

Márquez had an amateur record of 35-1 that included two Golden Glove tournament wins. He made his professional boxing debut at age 19 on May 29, 1993, and lost his first bout via disqualification to Javier Duran.

Featherweight

Márquez remained undefeated for another six years as he compiled a record of 29-1 that included a win against future champion Agapito Sanchez, and former champions Julio Gervacio, and Alfred Kotey. In 1997, Márquez won the NABO Featherweight title, which he defended seven times. During this time, he was referred to as the "best fighter without a world title".^[3] Márquez was WBO Featherweight champion Naseem Hamed's mandatory challenger for 22 straight months, however, the WBO allowed Hamed to schedule other fights instead.^[4][5]

Márquez earned his first bout for a world title on September 11, 1999, when he lost a controversial decision to then-unbeaten WBA featherweight champion Freddie Norwood. Marquez was the aggressor throughout most of the bout but fought tentatively as Norwood was reluctant to engage, and often wrestled with Marquez in the many clinches. Marquez was knocked down in the second round. In the 8th round, Norwood's glove touched the canvas after an exchange, however, it was not ruled a knock down by the referee who was standing opposite to the action. In the 9th round, Marquez scored a knockdown after a two punch combination.^[6] HBO Punchstat had Norwood landing 73 out of 290 punches thrown to Marquez's 89 out of 444.

On November 20, 1999, Márquez faced Remigio Molina, and defeated him in eight rounds. In 2000, he defeated former champion Daniel Jimenez, and five fights later, he defeated future champion Robbie Peden in ten rounds, and captured the NABF, and USBA Featherweight titles.

Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez received his second bout for a world title on January 2, 2003, when he defeated five-time featherweight champion Manuel Medina, and captured the vacant IBF Featherweight title. In the 2nd round, Marquez connected with a three-punch combination that floored Medina. The fight was stopped in the 7th round after Marquez knocked Medina down for a second time.

He then defeated Derrick Gainer later in the year in a unification bout to win the WBA Featherweight title and become "Super Champion".

First bout with Pacquiao

In May 2004, Márquez fought then three-division world champion Manny Pacquiao in a controversial bout that was scored a draw. In the first round Márquez was caught cold, as he was knocked down three times by a more lively Pacquiao. However, Márquez showed great heart to recover from the early knockdowns, and at the end of a very close second round it was clear that this would be a long night for Pacquiao. Márquez was able to counterpunch effectively, winning the middle rounds and effectively countering Pacquiao in closely fought later rounds; however, the fight was ultimately ruled a draw.^[7] Many fans who were startled at Márquez surviving the first round saw Márquez take control of the fight thereafter, only to be denied the win on the judges' scorecards. The final scores were 115-110 for Márquez, 115-110 for Pacquiao, and 113-113. One of the judges (who scored the bout 113-113) later admitted to making an error on the scorecards, because he had scored the first round as "10-7" in favor of Pacquiao instead of the standard "10-6" for a three-knockdown round.^[8] If the fight was scored correctly, it would have been a victory for Pacquiao.

On September 18, 2004, Márquez defeated future champion Orlando Salido. In 2005, Márquez was stripped of his WBA, and IBF Featherweight titles, for his inability to defend it against various boxers after potential bouts failed to draw a bid. [1] In 2006, Márquez attempted to regain a title, coming up short in a controversial decision loss to Indonesian boxer Chris John for the WBA Featherweight championship title. The disputed decision led to the Ring Magazine's removal of Márquez from its pound-for-pound top 10 list.

In late 2006, Márquez captured the WBO Interim Featherweight title defeating Thai boxer Terdsak Jandaeng, and defending it against Filipino boxer Jimrex Jaca with a nine round knockout in Hidalgo, Texas. Márquez was promoted to world champion status in December 2006 when previous champion Scott Harrison vacated the title. [2] Márquez vacated the Featherweight title the following year to challenge WBC Super Featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera.

Super Featherweight

On March 17, 2007, Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez became the WBC Super Featherweight champion by defeating Barrera in Las Vegas by unanimous decision.^[9] Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez's first defense of his title was to be held on September 15, 2007 against Argentinian boxer Jorge Rodrigo Barrios. However, Barrios withdrew from the bout due to injury, prompting American boxer Rocky Juárez to challenge Márquez for the title in November 3, 2007 in a losing effort.

Second bout with Pacquiao

Márquez in his second fight against Manny Pacquiao

On November 29, 2007, Márquez announced that he would defend his championship title against Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, whom he fought to a controversial draw in 2004. On March 15, 2008, Juan Manuel Márquez lost his Super Featherweight Championship to Manny Pacquiao via a highly disputed split decision earning Pacquiao his 4th world title in 4th weight division. Márquez suffered a knockdown in the third round that proved to be the difference in the decision as the remaining rounds were scored dead even. Compubox scoring had Juan Manuel Márquez landing 42/201 (21%) more jabs to Pacquiao's 43/314 (14%) jabs, it also had Márquez scoring 130/310 (42%) more power punches to Pacquiao's 114/305 (37%) power punches.^[10] Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, offered a $6 million guarantee to Pacquiao for a rematch. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said, “I’m not saying they’ll never fight again, but you have to let it bake for a while”. Pacquiao said: "I don't think so, this business is over" as he plans to move up to the lightweight division.^[11]

Lightweight

Márquez vs. Casamayor

Márquez fighting against Joel Casamayor

Márquez moved up to the Lightweight division in order to fight the lineal Ring lightweight champion Joel Casamayor on the weekend leading up to Mexican Independence Day at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. On September 13, 2008, he defeated Casamayor in the 11th round after two knockdowns, and captured his sixth world title in three different weight classes. In the first four rounds of the bout, Márquez continually walked into counter punches from Casamayor. It took Márquez until the fifth round to be able to find the range with his right hand. By the fifth round, a cut over Casamayor's right eye was opened from a clash of heads. Rounds five, six, seven, and eight were rounds where Márquez landed straight punches from the outside, but he was also struck by Casamayor whenever he lunged forward. Two minutes into the eleventh round, Casamayor was knocked down by a right punch as he pulled away from an intense exchange. Casamayor was able to get on his feet, but it was clear he was still shakey from the knockdown. As soon as the action was allowed to resume, Márquez went in for the kill as he let his punches go in furious combination. Casamayor punched back, but he was knocked down again with about 7 seconds left in the round. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in the bout, and stopped the fight as he deemed Casamyor unable to continue. The official judges had the fight scored 95-95, 95-95, and 97-93 for Márquez before the 11th round knockout.^[12] After the win, Ring magazine ranked Márquez second on its pound for pound list, and rated him the number one boxer in the Lightweight division.^[13]

Márquez vs. Díaz

On February 28, 2009, Márquez defeated IBO champion, and former WBA, IBF, and WBO Lightweight champion Juan Díaz by knockout. Díaz controlled the fight early in the bout as the two boxers exchanged punches. Díaz opened a cut above Márquez's right eye in the fifth round, and looked to control the bout, but Márquez responded by opening a gash above Diaz's right eye, and stunning him with a left hook before the end of the eighth round. Márquez landed two hard rights to Díaz's face in a three-punch combination that knocked Díaz down with 35 seconds remaining in the ninth round. Díaz rose, but seconds later, Márquez followed with a right uppercut to the chin that knocked Díaz down for a second time. Referee Rafael Ramos waved an end to the fight after two minutes and 40 seconds of the ninth round. With the victory, Márquez defended his Ring Lightweight title, and claimed the WBO, the WBA, and the IBO Lightweight championship titles.^[14] After the fight Márquez expressed an interest in fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr.^[15]

Welterweight

Márquez vs. Mayweather

Márquez moved up to the Welterweight division, and fought undefeated and former number one pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. The fight was scheduled to take place at 144 lbs^[16] on July 18, 2009 at the MGM Grand arena; but was postponed due to a rib injury sustained by Mayweather. The bout has been rescheduled for September 19, 2009.^[17] During the official weigh in for their 144 lb bout, Marquez weighed in at 142 lbs and Mayweather weighed in at 146 lbs thereby incurring a financial penalty as he was 2 pounds over the catchweight. Marquez looked slightly fleshy and uncomfortable with the move up in weight but despite being knocked down in the 2nd round, showed great heart to go the distance against a vastly superior opponent. Mayweather defeated Marquez by unanimous decision though many found it telling that Mayweather could not finish Marquez by knockout.

This fight marks only the fifth time in boxing history that a non-heavyweight fight sold more than 1 million pay-per-views, with the official HBO numbers coming in at over 1 million buys equalling a total of approximately $52 million. Four of those fights all featured Oscar De La Hoya as the main event, making this fight the one of two events where a non-heavyweight fight sold over 1 million PPVs without Oscar De La Hoya. The other fight was Manny Pacquiao versus Miguel Cotto which sold 1.25 million PPVs. ^[18]

See also

• Boxing
• List of boxing triple champions
• List of featherweight boxing champions
• List of super featherweight boxing champions
• List of lightweight boxing champions
• Reigning boxing champions
• Ring Magazine pound for pound
• List of current world boxing champions
• List of The Ring world champions

References

External links

• Juan Manuel Márquez Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• HBO: Fighters: Juan Manuel Márquez Article
• Professional boxing record for Juan Manuel Márquez from Boxrec
• Juan Manuel Márquez Fan Site