Vázquez vs Márquez, 2007-2010: Four Fights, Two Wins Each and the Classic in Carson

Between March 2007 and May 2010, Israel Vázquez and Rafael Márquez, two champions raised in Mexico City, met four times. Each won twice. Two of the fights were named The Ring's Fight of the Year in consecutive years, and the third, a split decision in Carson, California, is still the one most fans name when the rivalry comes up. It also cost Vázquez more than any belt was worth.

Two Champions From Mexico City

Rafael Márquez was born in Mexico City on March 25, 1975, the younger brother of Juan Manuel Márquez, who would win world titles of his own. Rafael made his name at bantamweight, where he held the IBF title from 2003 to 2007 and defended it seven times before moving up to 122 pounds.

Israel Vázquez was born in the same city on December 25, 1977. By early 2007 he had already held the IBF super bantamweight title and was the WBC and The Ring champion in the division. He was a pressure fighter who traded hard and rarely backed up. Márquez was the better pure puncher, with a sharp right hand and a long run of stoppages. On paper the two styles promised violence, and they delivered it.

Carson, March 2007: A Broken Nose and a Retirement on the Stool

The first fight took place on March 3, 2007, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, with Vázquez's WBC and Ring titles on the line. He came in at 41-3 with 31 knockouts. Márquez, the challenger, was 36-3 with 32.

The damage started in the opening round, when a Márquez uppercut broke Vázquez's nose. Vázquez still put Márquez down in the third round, but the broken nose made it hard for him to breathe. According to the account in the Wikipedia article on the rivalry, he told his trainer Freddie Roach between rounds that he could not go on. He fought two more rounds, then stayed on his stool after the seventh. Márquez was the new champion, and the record shows a seventh-round retirement.

Hidalgo, August 2007: The Rematch in South Texas

Five months later, on August 4, 2007, they met again at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, a building near the Mexican border that has since been renamed Payne Arena. This time Márquez was defending the WBC and Ring belts.

Neither man came out of it without cuts. Márquez was bleeding from a cut by his right eye, and Márquez's overhand rights opened cuts above both of Vázquez's eyes. The third round was later chosen as The Ring's Round of the Year. In the sixth, Vázquez dropped Márquez with a left hook and went after him when he got up. Referee Jose Guadalupe Garcia stepped in and stopped it. Márquez thought the stoppage came too early, and so did television analyst Al Bernstein. Vázquez had his titles back, and The Ring named the bout its Fight of the Year for 2007.

Carson, March 2008: Twelve Rounds and a Split Decision

The third fight brought them back to the Home Depot Center on March 1, 2008, with Vázquez now the champion at 42-4 and Márquez at 37-4. Both of the first two fights had ended early. This one went the full twelve rounds, and the momentum kept changing hands.

Márquez scored first, dropping Vázquez with a right hand in the fourth round. In the fifth Vázquez hurt Márquez several times, and The Ring later picked that round as its Round of the Year, the second year in a row a round from this rivalry won the award. In the tenth, referee Pat Russell took a point from Márquez for repeated low blows.

The ending is what people remember. In the last seconds of the twelfth round Vázquez caught Márquez against the ropes with a barrage, and the ropes were all that kept Márquez upright. Russell ruled it a knockdown and gave Márquez a standing eight count. The scorecards showed how much the late rounds mattered. One judge had it 114-111 for Márquez, and the other two had Vázquez winning, 114-111 and 113-112. Without the point deduction and the final knockdown, the result could have gone the other way.

Márquez and his promoter Gary Shaw both disputed the deduction and the ruling at the end. The Ring and the WBC each named the fight their Fight of the Year for 2008.

A Detached Retina and Three Surgeries

The win came at a high price. Vázquez suffered a detached retina in the third fight, and he did not defend the title while he was treated for it. On December 18, 2008, the WBC stripped him for inactivity and elevated Toshiaki Nishioka, its interim champion. Vázquez had three operations on the eye, and on May 15, 2009, doctors cleared him to start training again.

He fought once in the meantime. On October 10, 2009, he knocked out Angel Antonio Priolo in the ninth round at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. A preview by Yahoo Sports said he did not look good in that tune-up, even though he won. (Yahoo's article gives the year as 2008 rather than 2009, which conflicts with the fight record and with his medical clearance date. This account uses 2009.)

Los Angeles, May 2010: The Fourth Meeting

More than two years after the third fight, on May 22, 2010, the two met for the last time at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The bout was at featherweight, one division above where their rivalry began, and it was for a vacant WBC Silver title. Yahoo Sports reported a crowd of 9,200.

This was the shortest and most one-sided of the four fights. Márquez went after Vázquez's eyes. Early on he opened a deep cut over the left eye. The Associated Press placed it in the first round, while the Wikipedia account of the series puts it in the second. In the third round a clash of heads opened another cut near the right eye, and Vázquez had trouble seeing. A Márquez right sent him down to one knee at 1:15 of the round. He beat the count, but referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the fight at 1:33 after more heavy punches landed.

Márquez did not hide his plan. "That was the plan, to go directly to the eyes," he told the Associated Press. Vázquez said he could still see but needed to look after his eyes. His manager, Frank Espinoza, put it more simply. "That's it. His career is over," he told the AP. It turned out to be Vázquez's final professional fight.

Two Wins Apiece

The series ended two wins each. Each man had won once by stoppage early in the rivalry, Vázquez won the close decision, and Márquez won the last fight easily. Talk of a fifth fight was discouraged because of the damage to Vázquez's eyes. Vázquez finished 44-5 with 32 knockouts, according to Wikipedia's record. Márquez kept boxing until 2013 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2023.

Israel Vázquez died of sarcoma in Los Angeles on December 3, 2024, at 46. The four fights, and especially the night in Carson in March 2008, are how the sport remembers both men.

Sources

• Israel Vázquez vs. Rafael Márquez, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Israel Vázquez, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Rafael Márquez (boxer), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Marquez stops rival Vazquez in 3rd, Associated Press via Korea JoongAng Daily, May 2010
• Time to end Vazquez-Marquez epic is now, Yahoo Sports, May 22, 2010
• A Trip Down Memory Lane: Part 1: March 2008, Front Proof Media, accessed October 2026
• Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez "Best Fight of 2008", RingTalk, December 24, 2008
• Payne Arena and Dignity Health Sports Park, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026