...from 1-4, with 1 being best, 4, worst. Purely from an entertainment perspective. I've got it... 1. Fight 3, 2008 2. Fight I, 2007 3. Fight II, 2007 4. Fight 4, 2010 That third clash, even though the outcome was bitterly, bitterly disappointing (one of, if not the, lowest moment in my time as a fan of both great brothers) has to be the best fight, to me. It had absolutely everything. A one-sided beating early on, with one fighter clearly more inspired. A dramatic, sweeping comeback from a proud Champion. A brutal tussle as the fight evened out, with neither man giving any quarter. The controversy of the point deduction, & the introduction of fouls in the heat of battle. Vazquez's absolutely heroic final round onslaught, & the closing-seconds knockdown of Marquez, which crucially impacted the scoring. Champagne Boxing, at its spectacular finest! It gets no better than that third fight!
Hard to say. I can only suggest that the 4th fight is definitely last. Not since John Henry Lewis fought Joe Louis, or since Luther McCarty fought Arthur Pelkey, has a man gone into a prize fight so badly handicapped by an injury, known or unknown.
That 3rd fight is one of my lowest points as a boxing fan, too. But for different reasons. I wasn't able to watch live, so I had recorded it it at my house. But before I watched it, I went on auto-pilot, logged onto Fightbeat and spolied the result. So the first time I watched it, I knew what was going to happen. I've never truly been able to appreciate that great fight because of it.
I still say had they stopped at three, that this would've easily been the greatest trilogy in boxing history. #3 - as Ramonza mentioned, fight had everything you could possibly ask for. If there was a fight to argue as being better than Corrales-Castillo I, it's this one #2 - Right behind it and I don't argue with anyone who rates it as the best of the series. I felt the third fight was more competitive, but this one was thrilling throughout, even in watching after-the-fact and already knowing who won (not to mention that Freddie Roach was made to look like a jackass) #1 - well on its way to running away with FOTY honors until its anti-climactic ending. Still a fantastic fight, though. #4 - The only good to come out of this fight was that both fighters received career-high paydays, Marquez would get one more big payday (JuanMa) and the undercard produced a terrific bantamweight fight between Abner Mares and Yonnhy Perez.
But they tried to say it was a straight shoot- shameful. Only saving grace that had was it got, as Jake said, both men at least 1 extra payday.
I fucking hate it when that happens. There's NOTHING quite like a "live" fight (by live I mean watching as it happens on TV, not necessarily attending). Sure fights are great to watch otherwise even if you've seen them or know the result, but there is nothing like that edge of the seat excitement and unpredictability of a live fight.
This is obviously true but i guess what i appreciate most about boxing (and i'm sure most true fans do) is that you can still get a lot of entertainment value from watching a fight even knowing the result ahead of time. If i already know the result 99.9% of the time i have no interest in watching a replay of a hockey/football/soccer/baseball/basketball game. Just show me the highlights and i'm probably good.
haha, this reminded mE of getting fucked by Dsimon for the 2nd fight. http://fightbeat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19009&highlight=cross+thread+spoiler+vazquez&page=4 I'm minding my own business doing rbr for an obscure ppv card that was on at the same time as the vazquez/marquez 2 fight. Tam Tam had also been doing it, but stopped for a while. While I like Dsimon just fine, that dumb sob popped into the thread and says "Vasquez tko!" and nothing else. I replied simply "You stupid fuck. I'm out of here." I log off, and when I watch vazquez/marquez 2 later that night...the FOY...it sucked. I hate spoilers and cross-thread spoilers are the worst.
Yeah, I still remember the disappointment, and surprise, at it being stopped...it seemed on its way to being an absolute classic. Who knew that we'd be treated to two subsequent fight of the year efforts. It was still a very high level fight, and the criticism Vazquez recieved in the aftermath probably made the rest of the trilogy even that much better. The fourth fight should not be talked about or reference...it's like in the movie The Village, one of "those we do not speak of".
I think Marquez should get a little more credit for the 4th fight. People always use the "Win the battle, lose the war" line, but in a case like this, when Marquez actually went on to finish what he started, people dismiss it. Vasquez was a physical mess. That´s true. Let us not forget who turned Vasquez into the mess. So 2-2 is not a bad way to end this rivalry.
Yeah, I agree with that, and remember saying something similar at the time of the fourth fight. Vazquez was more used up after the trilogy...and Marquez does deserve some of the credit for that. Not saying Vazquez hadn't been in some wars before fighting Marquez, though, he certainly was...such a physically demanding style.
I would have pointed out the same thing (as I have done many times over), but felt I'd be written off as playing favouritism. Marquez does deserve more credit for evening the score, & for having the final say --- if not the most dramatic one.
