The 'Final Confrontation' Takes Place on March 1st By Steve Kim (Jan 24, 2008) Photo © Tom Casino/SHOWTIME Send this page to friend Give us your feedback They have dubbed the rubber match between Israel Vasquez and Rafael Marquez, which takes place on March 1st at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, the 'Final Confrontation', but they could have easily called it 'Round 14' as the two Mexicans have put on 13 pulsating rounds of action in splitting their first two affairs. Last March in their initial fight at the Home Depot Center, Marquez would overcome a third-round knockdown to control the action from the outside with his sharp jab and accurate right-cross before Vasquez, citing a busted nose, would call it a day after the seventh frame, just as the fight was shifting into another gear down the stretch. Despite the truncated ending, this bout was the first serious contender for 2007's 'Fight of the Year'. Five months later in Hidalgo, Texas, the two would pick up where they left off by engaging in a back-and-forth slugfest that was highlighted by a pulsating third frame (which was the consensus choice for 'Round of the Year') and a dramatic stoppage of Marquez in six by Vasquez, who would not be denied on this hot August night. This encounter would be the critics choice as last years best bout. Like other classic trilogies of recent memory, Barrera-Morales, Bowe-Holyfield and Gatti-Ward, these two have styles that seem incapable of creating anything but a superlative battle. A meshing of styles and personalities that create an ebb-and-flow in the ring that is undeniably entertaining and enthralling. “I think their styles are perfectly suited for each other,” said Marquez's highly acclaimed trainer, Nacho Beristain. The third bout has 'can't miss' written all over it. But the question is, will this bout be defined by the technical precision of Marquez (like the first one) or the dogged determination and physicality of Vasquez that marked the rematch? “He didn't think too much of Israel's strength and power,” Beristain said through translator German Villasenor, in assessing the return bout. Unlike the first meeting, Marquez was unable to establish distance and keep Vasquez at bay. “I made a lot of mistakes,” Marquez would admit through his adviser Jaime Quintana. “I've been watching the video over and over and I see some mistakes that are incredible, they shouldn't happen and they happened and I'm correcting those mistakes now.” Another factor according to Marquez took place before the opening bell in Vasquez's locker room. “What changed in the second fight was an issue that many people didn't know,” he would explain. “There was a big issue in the dressing room; there was no commissioner checking the wrapping and the gloves and they were 'skinning' the gloves and it was a big issue. We complained to the commission, we complained to TV, we complained to the promoters and nobody could do anything about it. We were pissed about it.” But when asked if any of that made a difference in the punching power of Vasquez, he would say, “I can tell you it was the same. Concentration was the problem there. But punching was the same, first fight and second fight.” Re-establishing their advantage on the outside seems to be a focus in Marquez's camp. “It's not only the jab, it's a lot of adjustments,” Beristain would say. “He has to set up the jabs, but he has to work on a series of other things. Among them, moving side-to-side, lateral movement and throwing combinations.” The difference according to Vasquez between the two fights is very simple –the ability to breathe properly, which allowed him to fight consistently and impose his will. “I repaired my nose, I didn't have any problems whatsoever. You saw the result,” he would say through Golden Boy Promotions publicist Ramiro Gonzalez at Wednesday afternoon's press conference on Olvera Street in Los Angeles that formally announced this promotion. But another factor was a small, yet vital, technical and strategic adjustment made at the behest of his new trainer, Rudy Perez. Traditionally a slow starter that gradually works his way into a fight, the mission statement in the rematch called for the native of Mexico City to smother and close the distance on Marquez behind his jab and then bang away on the inside. As the rounds went on, he would have Marquez on his heels and unable to punch with the same leverage he had in their first fight. “I didn't have too much time for that fight because Rudy came late. Now, it should be different because Rudy has been with me the whole time. And I'm going to show the difference,” Vasquez would say. Coming into this contest, it seems that Vasquez, who is the natural jr. featherweight, has seized the physical and psychological momentum of the rivalry. But 'Magnifico' states “I'm prepared for each fight, I don't live from the past, whatever happened in the past, is the past. This is another fight. I'm preparing for another fight. I'm preparing for the best he might bring to the table.” This much is clear, when these two are in the ring at the same time it's something that must be Tivo'd. “One thing you can count on, these are fighters, this is what they do – they fight,” said Vasquez's manager, Frank Espinoza. “And this is what you're going to get out of these two guys, these two warriors. And there's no question they come to fight.” SKINNED So what exactly is 'skinning'? According to noted trainer Emanuel Steward “That's when you take the strings of the gloves and instead of tying them up right across that little crease across the wrist, you pull them up more in the front part of the glove, almost where the Everlast or Reyes label is and then you pull the weight of the gloves, pull all of that padding back more. Then you tie it up. “What happens is you're taking the weight that was up in the front part, you pull it all back up in the back part of the wrist so the gloves up at the front part are much harder and they hurt a lot more.” It's boxing's version of a corked bat. During the rematch between Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez in September of 2005, Steward mentioned this tactic on the air, while calling the fight for HBO Pay-Per-View. Steward says that since many commissions don't have specific rules against it, an inexperienced inspector will let 'skinning' occur. But Espinoza says that while his fighter’s hands were being wrapped and gloved that a representative of Marquez's camp, Rudy Hernandez, was observing them throughout the process. He says that the Texas commission also approved their wrapping and gloves. Before the fight, a big ruckus was made, protests lodged and bloody murder screamed by Marquez's representatives. “What Jaime Quintana tried to do was try to stir things up, take us off our game plan,” said Espinoza. “But it didn't work. And you saw the results.” “For me, there is no controversy,” said Vasquez of the issue. “I showed up to the ring, you saw the result. This time, the third fight I'm going to prove one more time who's Israel Vasquez.” TOO SOON? Marquez and his crew also had a problem with the officiating of the bout in August. “I think in the rematch, the problem had a lot to do with the refereeing,” Beristain would complain, in talking about Gaudalupe Garcia. “It's just that referee's style, that's the way he works. I think he did stop it a little bit too soon. But I don't think that'll come into play this fight.” Many other more neutral observers believe that Garcia was justified in halting the action as a dazed and disorientated Marquez was being hit with an onslaught of Vasquez punches. He seemed to save him from undue punishment with Marquez fading fast and Vasquez coming on like a locomotive. But naturally, the fighter himself doesn't see it that way. “I was surprised when they stopped the fight. Yes, I was hurt but so was he. That's the name of the game, I mean, you're punching each other. I was punching him, he was punching me and both of us were hurt. And when they stopped the fight, I wondered 'What happened?' It shouldn't be that way because I was taking his punches and he was taking mine. It was give and take.” REPLAY Showtime will be showing the first two fights between Vasquez and Marquez on Saturday, February 2nd, at 11 p.m. ET/PT. 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