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Big Fight build-up: Juan Manuel Marquez

The career of Mexican warrior Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez.

Juan Manuel Marquez

Born: Mexico City, Mexico. August 23, 1973

Full Name: Juan Manuel Marquez Mendez

Nickname: Dinamita

Record: 50-4-1 (37 KOs)

Juan Manuel Marquez had an amateur career of 35-1, including two Golden Gloves tournaments, before turning professional aged 19. His first professional fight on May 29, 1993 was his only loss for six years after being disqualified against Javier Duran.

At featherweight Marquez took his record to 29-1 in the following six years. After an eighth round knockout of former champion Julio Gervacio, Marquez won the vacant WBO NABO featherweight title after beating Cedric Mingo in ten rounds. He defended this title seven times including against future champion Agapito Sanchez and former champion Alfred Kotey both unanimous points decisions.

The Mexican was referred to as “the best fighter without a world title” at this time and despite being the mandatory challenger for WBO featherweight champion Naseem Hamed for almost two years, the WBO allowed Hamed to face other fighters instead.

Marquez never did get a shot at Hamed, but fought for his first world title on September 11, 1999 against then-unbeaten WBA featherweight champion Freddie Norwood. Marquez suffered a knockdown in the second round, but despite being the aggressor for most of the fight and knocking down Norwood in the ninth, the decision went against him although Marquez had thrown and landed more punches.

In November of the same year Marquez defeated Remingo Molina in eight rounds. In 2000 “Dinamita” defeated former champion Daniel Jimenez and five fights later captured the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) and United States Boxing Association (USBA) featherweight titles when he overcame Robbie Peden in ten rounds.

Marquez was given another shot at a world title on January 2, 2003 when he faced Manuel Medina for the vacant IBF featherweight title. Marquez had Medina down in the second round and again in the seventh when the fight was stopped. Later in the year he defeated Derrick Gainer, also in the seventh round, in a unification bout to win the WBA title.

In May 2004 Marquez faced Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao. Marquez was knocked down three times in the first round, but managed to fight on to a draw. The decision was somewhat controversial as despite the points deficit as a result of the knockdowns Marquez dominated the fight throughout. However, it was later revealed that one of the judges made an error in the scoring having marked the first round 10-7 instead of the mandatory 10-6 which would have given Pacquiao the victory.

In 2004 Marquez defended his WBA and IBF titles against future champion Orlando Salido followed by Victor Polo in 2005, winning both on unanimous decisions. Marquez was stripped of both titles when he failed to face mandatory contenders after potential bouts failed to be made.

In 2006 Marquez attempted to regain a world title by challenging Indonesian boxer Chris John for the WBA featherweight title, only to come up short in a controversial points loss. Marquez lost his place on The Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound top ten list as a result of the decision.

Marquez bounced back and later that year he captured the WBO Interim featherweight title by beating Thai boxer Terdsak Jandaeng before defending it against Filipino Jimrex Jaca with a ninth round knockout. Marquez was then promoted to world champion status when previous champion Scott Harrison vacated the title. Marquez followed suit and also vacated the title on order to move up to super featherweight to challenge WBC champion Marco Antonio Barrera.

Marquez overcame Barrera by a unanimous decision in a hard fought fight which saw him take the WBC title. His first defence was scheduled against Jorge Rodrigo Barrios, but the Argentine pulled out due to injury and the fight was rescheduled and re-cast as Rocky Juarez filled the opponent’s corner. Marquez won the bout by unanimous decision.

The week after the fight Marquez announced he would defend his title in a re-match against Manny Pacquiao after their first fight resulted in a draw. It wasn’t to be Marquez’s night as he suffered a knockdown in the third round which proved to be the deciding factor as the judges struggled to separate the performances. The decision was again controversial as again many people felt Marquez won the fight again, but this time Pacquiao was given the victory which split the judges. A third fight between Marquez and Pacquiao was called for, but both Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum were in no rush to face “Dinamita” again.

Marquez moved up to lightweight to fight The Ring champion Joel Casamayor on September 13, 2008. It took Marquez almost half the fight in order to find his flow and adapt to Casamayor, who was landing large counter punches on the Mexican. Once Marquez was able to land from the outside he took control of the fight, although he still managed to take a few shots from the taller Cuban. A cut opened above Casamayor’s right eye in the fifth due to a clash of heads, but it wasn’t until the 11th round that Marquez had the champion down after a ferocious exchange between the two. Casamayor got back to his feet, but Marquez went for the finish and knocked him down again with only seconds remaining in the round.

Marquez had won his sixth world title in three different weight classes and The Ring Magazine ranked him second on the pound-for-pound list and the number one boxer in the lightweight division.

IBO lightweight champion and former WBA, IBF and WBO champion Juan Diaz was next for Marquez and the pair met on February 28, 2009.

Marquez won the fight by a ninth round knockout in what was a ferocious battle which saw both men cut. Diaz seemed in control of the fight for the early rounds, but the older Marquez was willing to exchange as the pair went toe-to-toe regularly. It was Diaz who hit the canvas however when Marquez landed a three punch combination towards the end of the ninth. Diaz made it back to his feet but an uppercut sent him back down and the referee stopped the fight with 20 seconds remaining of the round.

In addition to being a contender for fight of the year, Marquez’s victory over Juan Diaz secured for him the WBO, WBA and the IBO lightweight titles, as well as defending his Ring title.

Marquez will move up almost two weight categories when he faces undefeated former pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr on September 19 in what could be the fight of his career.

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