May 22, 2010 turned out to be a bloody night for boxing fans. Deep cuts over both of Vazquez's eyes forced referee Raul Caiz Jr. to stop the fight at 1:33 of round three. Vazquez, 44-5 (33) entered the ring with his eyes already tender from three fights with Marquez, successive eye surgeries and a November scrap with Angel Priolo in which Vazquez escaped with a ninth round KO.
As expected, both fighters began firing ammunition as soon as the opening bell rang. Seeing no need for a "feeling out" round after three previous fights, Marquez, 39-5 (35) stuck his jab in Vazquez's face as often as possible and followed up with precise hooks to the body and head, as well as accurate rights to the head. By the end of round one, Vazquez already had a spot of blood on his left eyelid.
In each of their last three fights, Vazquez had taken a few rounds to get in a groove against Marquez and tonight was no exception. That's not to say that he didn't do effective work, he did. Vazquez arguably started as well tonight as he had in parts one, two, and three, but Marquez's laser-accurate punching had both eyelids filleted by the end of the second. Vazquez looked for all the world like Marquez had brought a Slap-Chop into the ring instead of boxing gloves.
A short right on Vazquez's grotesque left eye dropped the proud warrior to his knees in round three. Emboldened by the show of weakness in his opponent, Marquez unleashed a sustained combination. Defenseless as a piece of meat at Benihana, all Vazquez could do was hold his gloves high and back straight to the ropes, where the referee put an end to the carnage.
While both fighters made overtures to a potential fifth fight, Vazquez will likely require surgery and several months of rest before even thinking about sparring, much less another professional fight.
Abner Mares vs Yonnhy Perez
Yonnhy Perez, 20-0-1 (14) barely escaped with a majority draw and his IBF bantamweight belt after a courageous performance by Abner Mares 20-0-1 (13). Two judges scored a 114-114 fight, while the third gave Mares, 24, the edge with a 115-113 mark.
The first few rounds proved close with Mares pressing the 31-year old Perez, though Perez seemed to be landing the harder punches, his left hook was especially effective. In the middle rounds, Mares tried to stick-and-move, though at times it looked more like he was avoiding a fight than employing a strategy.
By the championship rounds Mares had returned to Perez's front door and continued to knock. Perez, who brought a reputation of incredible stamina into the ring, had visibly slowed, though he still landed occasionally.
Bill Scherer - Bill Scherer has written for RingSports.com and TigerBoxing.com, enjoyed a stint as the Managing Editor for FightTube.tv and is a United ...
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