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LOS ANGELES: Israel Vazquez retained his World Boxing Council super
bantamweight crown with a 12-round split decision over former
champion Rafael Marquez in their title fight here Saturday.
Vazquez (43-4) won it at 113-112 and 114-111 on
two judges’ scorecards, while the third judge scored it 114-111
for Marquez (37-5).
In the third meeting between the two in the past
11 months, Vazquez landed the more effective punches while Marquez
was the busier of the two.
Marquez was deducted a point in round 10 by
referee Pat Russell for a low blow.
Vazquez hammered Marquez in the 12th round,
dropping his Mexican compatriot just before the final bell.
In the first of two dynamic earlier fights,
Marquez notched a seventh-round technical knockout in March when a
broken nose prevented Vazquez from continuing.
Vazquez rebounded in the rematch in August,
posting a sixth-round knockout to regain the title in an
action-packed bout that was one of the better bouts of 2007.
Vazquez first claimed the WBC belt in 2005 with
a third-round knockout of Mexican Oscar Larios.
Marquez is a former International Boxing
Federation bantamweight champ, having beaten Tim Austin to claim
that title on February 15, 2003. He successfully defended the belt
seven times.
On the undercard, Jorge Paez Jr. (19-1, 11 KOs)
scored a third-round knockout of Felipe Campana (4-4-3). Paez is the
son of former world champion Jorge Paez.
-- AFP
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