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STATELINE - With dark clouds in the sky approaching Saturday, it appeared rain and visible lightning strikes would come down on Lake Tahoe's first outdoor boxing event in 15 years. Inside the ring during the two main events it seemed for a time that the heavily favored Marquez brothers eventually would be beaten. But rain never came and the Marquez's did not lose.
Juan Manuel Marquez, who's right eye was swollen almost completely shut, knocked into submission No. 1 contender Terdsak Jandaeng 1 minute, 13 seconds into the seventh round before a crowd of 3,000 at MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa to win the WBO interim featherweight championship.
Earlier, after nine rounds, Rafael Marquez stopped his rallying opponent, Silence Mabuza, slicing up his face with rapid-fire head shots to defend his IBF/IBO bantamweight title for the seventh time and the second time against the South African at Lake Tahoe in nine months.
The fashion of their victories was a result of disciplined preparation, a patient approach and years of championship experience.
"They were two tough fights," said Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, who trains both brothers. "They are amazing. I had the fortune of finding two diamonds. Two diamonds that have to be polished, but it is amazing how disciplined they are. The only problem we got with them is that women are after them all the time."
The two bouts featured as a pay-per-view Showtime broadcast highlighted a card with seven fights, each ending on a knockout.
In the final fight, Reno's Joey Gilbert knocked out Jason Aaker of East Grand Forks, N.D., in the first round.
It was a nontitle fight for Gilbert, who is the IBO middleweight champion with 12 wins, 1 loss and eight knockouts. Gilbert leaves in two weeks to Iraq for his third visit with United States troops.
After Gilbert realized what to do, he ended the fight with Aaker (8-5, 5 KOs), who flew in from the Midwest by himself after accepting the fight on four days notice.
"We've been working on different strategies and obviously going to the body was one of them," Gilbert said. "It was like a light opened up in the sky and I saw his hands held so high and I heard (trainer) Dan (Birmingham) scream 'body.'"
A right to the torso put Aaker to the canvas, denying the partisan crowd the chance to chant "Jo-ey."
The crowd also heavily supported the Marquez brothers.
Rafael Marquez (36-3, 31 KOs) quickly went to work on the face of Mabuza, which sustained to cuts in their Nov. 5 fight. That bout was stopped in the fourth round - but Mabuza (19-2, 15 KOs) claims the more severe cut was caused by a first-round head butt.
On Saturday, Mabuza's nose was bloodied in the first round and the South African with high cheekbones blinked noticeably. The cheeks would swell and bleed as the fight continued.
Most of Marquez's blows were aimed at the head, but in the second round a punch landed below the belt. Referee Tony Weeks gave Mabuza nearly a minute to recover.
Momentum switched in the third round when Mabuza began landing combinations and pinning Marquez, who had a mouse under his right eye, against the ropes.
In the fourth round Mabuza gained confidence as he smartly landed blows from both the inside and outside.
Mabuza's confidence grew in the fifth round and he tagged Marquez with his best punch of the fight, a right cross that put the Mexico City fighter on his heels. Mabuza won the round on two of the three judges' cards, and he landed a head shot just after the bell, angering Marquez.
The champion became more irritated in the sixth when he took a punch that he complained was low. The round was fought on even terms with some clean exchanges throughout. Both fighters had their moments with Marquez landing the harder punches and Mabuza connecting with speedy combinations.
With a cut starting above the right eye and two cuts below the left eye, the sixth round would prove to be Mabuza's last stand as Marquez seized command.
Marquez pummeled Mabuza in the eighth and ninth rounds. Late in the ninth Marquez punished Mabuza against the ropes. After the bell, Mabuza's trainer, Nick Durant, asked the referee to stop it.
The trainer said, "The cut was too bad and the referee would have stopped it in a couple of rounds anyway."
Mabuza did not object.
"It was a wise decision," he said. "I must live to fight another day."
And indeed, he could get another shot at the title because Marquez has decided to move up to the 122-pound division.
"I will bring the 122-pound titles home," predicted Marquez, who praised Mabuza.
"He was well prepared but I was prepared as well," Marquez said. "I had him under control. I was waiting for the right moment to land the combinations and that came in the seventh and eighth rounds."
Juan Manuel Marquez (45-3-1, 34 KOs) found himself with a familiar-styled foe. Thailand's Jandaeng (24-2, 15 KOs) is the 12th left-hander Marquez has faced. With the win, Marquez is 11-1 vs. southpaws, the only loss being to Freddie Norwood in a world featherweight title bout.
Marquez, who attacks the body more than does his brother, accurately and viciously went to work in the second round against Jandaeng, who after taking a left-handed uppercut, finally fell flat on his face. Somehow he rose to his feet and survived the round.
Jandaeng cleared the cobwebs in the third, buying himself some time by landing some low blows. He received a warning from referee Jay Nady, who later penalized him a point. Toward the end of the round the right eye of Marquez began to badly swell.
Working on that eye, Jandaeng pummeled Marquez in the corner and won the fourth round.
Marquez did not panic. He calmly waited for counter punching opportunities and landed several accurate hooks to the head and body. An uppercut again put down Jandaeng, who got up at the count of seven.
Marquez, fighting with vision in just one eye, calmly closed the fight with a flurry of punches which left Jandaeng helpless on the ropes.
Marquez said his strategy was to counter punch.
"That's what I had in mind, and that's why I've got my eye like that," he said. "I risked a lot, but I was looking for that opportunity to get to punch, and now you see the results."
- Simon Ruvalcaba is a professional boxer from South Lake Tahoe who now resides in Carson City. Tim Parsons has covered boxing for the Tahoe Daily Tribune since 1992.
Juan Manuel Marquez, who's right eye was swollen almost completely shut, knocked into submission No. 1 contender Terdsak Jandaeng 1 minute, 13 seconds into the seventh round before a crowd of 3,000 at MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa to win the WBO interim featherweight championship.
Earlier, after nine rounds, Rafael Marquez stopped his rallying opponent, Silence Mabuza, slicing up his face with rapid-fire head shots to defend his IBF/IBO bantamweight title for the seventh time and the second time against the South African at Lake Tahoe in nine months.
The fashion of their victories was a result of disciplined preparation, a patient approach and years of championship experience.
"They were two tough fights," said Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, who trains both brothers. "They are amazing. I had the fortune of finding two diamonds. Two diamonds that have to be polished, but it is amazing how disciplined they are. The only problem we got with them is that women are after them all the time."
The two bouts featured as a pay-per-view Showtime broadcast highlighted a card with seven fights, each ending on a knockout.
In the final fight, Reno's Joey Gilbert knocked out Jason Aaker of East Grand Forks, N.D., in the first round.
It was a nontitle fight for Gilbert, who is the IBO middleweight champion with 12 wins, 1 loss and eight knockouts. Gilbert leaves in two weeks to Iraq for his third visit with United States troops.
After Gilbert realized what to do, he ended the fight with Aaker (8-5, 5 KOs), who flew in from the Midwest by himself after accepting the fight on four days notice.
"We've been working on different strategies and obviously going to the body was one of them," Gilbert said. "It was like a light opened up in the sky and I saw his hands held so high and I heard (trainer) Dan (Birmingham) scream 'body.'"
A right to the torso put Aaker to the canvas, denying the partisan crowd the chance to chant "Jo-ey."
The crowd also heavily supported the Marquez brothers.
Rafael Marquez (36-3, 31 KOs) quickly went to work on the face of Mabuza, which sustained to cuts in their Nov. 5 fight. That bout was stopped in the fourth round - but Mabuza (19-2, 15 KOs) claims the more severe cut was caused by a first-round head butt.
On Saturday, Mabuza's nose was bloodied in the first round and the South African with high cheekbones blinked noticeably. The cheeks would swell and bleed as the fight continued.
Most of Marquez's blows were aimed at the head, but in the second round a punch landed below the belt. Referee Tony Weeks gave Mabuza nearly a minute to recover.
Momentum switched in the third round when Mabuza began landing combinations and pinning Marquez, who had a mouse under his right eye, against the ropes.
In the fourth round Mabuza gained confidence as he smartly landed blows from both the inside and outside.
Mabuza's confidence grew in the fifth round and he tagged Marquez with his best punch of the fight, a right cross that put the Mexico City fighter on his heels. Mabuza won the round on two of the three judges' cards, and he landed a head shot just after the bell, angering Marquez.
The champion became more irritated in the sixth when he took a punch that he complained was low. The round was fought on even terms with some clean exchanges throughout. Both fighters had their moments with Marquez landing the harder punches and Mabuza connecting with speedy combinations.
With a cut starting above the right eye and two cuts below the left eye, the sixth round would prove to be Mabuza's last stand as Marquez seized command.
Marquez pummeled Mabuza in the eighth and ninth rounds. Late in the ninth Marquez punished Mabuza against the ropes. After the bell, Mabuza's trainer, Nick Durant, asked the referee to stop it.
The trainer said, "The cut was too bad and the referee would have stopped it in a couple of rounds anyway."
Mabuza did not object.
"It was a wise decision," he said. "I must live to fight another day."
And indeed, he could get another shot at the title because Marquez has decided to move up to the 122-pound division.
"I will bring the 122-pound titles home," predicted Marquez, who praised Mabuza.
"He was well prepared but I was prepared as well," Marquez said. "I had him under control. I was waiting for the right moment to land the combinations and that came in the seventh and eighth rounds."
Juan Manuel Marquez (45-3-1, 34 KOs) found himself with a familiar-styled foe. Thailand's Jandaeng (24-2, 15 KOs) is the 12th left-hander Marquez has faced. With the win, Marquez is 11-1 vs. southpaws, the only loss being to Freddie Norwood in a world featherweight title bout.
Marquez, who attacks the body more than does his brother, accurately and viciously went to work in the second round against Jandaeng, who after taking a left-handed uppercut, finally fell flat on his face. Somehow he rose to his feet and survived the round.
Jandaeng cleared the cobwebs in the third, buying himself some time by landing some low blows. He received a warning from referee Jay Nady, who later penalized him a point. Toward the end of the round the right eye of Marquez began to badly swell.
Working on that eye, Jandaeng pummeled Marquez in the corner and won the fourth round.
Marquez did not panic. He calmly waited for counter punching opportunities and landed several accurate hooks to the head and body. An uppercut again put down Jandaeng, who got up at the count of seven.
Marquez, fighting with vision in just one eye, calmly closed the fight with a flurry of punches which left Jandaeng helpless on the ropes.
Marquez said his strategy was to counter punch.
"That's what I had in mind, and that's why I've got my eye like that," he said. "I risked a lot, but I was looking for that opportunity to get to punch, and now you see the results."
- Simon Ruvalcaba is a professional boxer from South Lake Tahoe who now resides in Carson City. Tim Parsons has covered boxing for the Tahoe Daily Tribune since 1992.
