First up, Kevin reported in the fight thread below (where he covered Morales/Diaz) that Erik Morales has retired following a close loss to David Diaz, failing to become Mexico's first four-division champion. I'll have more on the career of Erik Morales tomorrow, and hopefully we'll hear more from Kevin tonight on the Morales/Diaz fight.
But right now, let's talk Marquez-Vazquez II. What a tremendous war. Israel Vazquez regained the WBC super bantamweight title in dramatic fashion, scoring a sixth-round TKO over Rafael Marquez when referee Guadalupe Garcia stopped the bout, perhaps a bit premature.
But it was a fight. Both guys came to battle, and they did just that. After four rounds, Vazquez had cuts on both eyes, and Marquez's left eye was cut underneath and swollen all to hell. They both looked like they'd been in there for 15 rounds at that point. As it turned out, the excellent punching accuracy and power of both men was too much to even get a full half of a fight in.
The good news is, the fight was even better than the first one. The best news, however, is that it's been made very clear already that we will see Vazquez-Marquez III.
Personally, I could watch these guys fight every Saturday. Marquez controlled the first fight with his jab and straight right hand, but this time, he walked into Vazquez's strengths, throwing hooks. And as they always say, never hook with a hooker. It was the left hook of Israel Vazquez that won the fight.
Marquez was knocked down early in the sixth, and was being smothered by a vicious attack from Vazquez. He was still defending himself and you can definitely argue that he should have been allowed time to either regain his composure or get properly, but that's not what went down, and it's too late to argue it now, really.
Marquez deserves a rematch, just as Vazquez did. And both fighters, who seem to have serious respect for the other, are agreeable. It'll happen, and I can't wait.
For now, a quick salute to the fabulous career of Erik Morales, and tomorrow, we'll be back for more Morales talk. Another of our trench warriors is gone, and we're poorer for it.