Juan Manuel Márquez

Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez (born August 23, 1973 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico), is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the fourth Mexican-born boxer to become a three-division world champion, where he won eight world titles in three different boxing weight classes. Currently, Marquez is the WBA, WBO and The Ring Lightweight World Champion. Ring Magazine currently rates Márquez as the number four pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

Personal Life

Juan Manuel is the brother of Rafael Márquez, who is a former world champion at the Bantamweight and Super bantamweight division. They both trained under Ignacio Beristain and Assistant Gildardo Marquez, who is considered as one of Mexico's best boxing trainers. At one time, the two were listed in Ring Magazine's top ten pound-for-pound list. They are one of four sets of Mexican brothers to hold world titles. Márquez and his wife, Erika, have two sons and a daughter.

Figthing Style

An orthodox boxer, Marquez is known for his speed and counter-punching style. His fighting style is elusive because in most of his fights, he's always rotating or moving his left hand and releasing overhand punches. He is also known for his precision power punching and devastating uppercuts. He is also noted as being one of the best combination punchers in the sport, capable of stringing together long series of punches from various angles that often forces his opponent onto the backfoot.

Amateur Career

Juan had an amateur record of 35-1 that included two Golden Glove tournament wins. He made his professional boxing debut at age 19 on May 29, 1993, and lost his first bout via disqualification to Javier Duran.

Professional Career - Featherweight

Márquez remained undefeated for another six years as he compiled a record of 29-1 that included a win against future champion Agapito Sanchez, and former champions Julio Gervacio, and Alfred Kotey. In 1997, Márquez won the NABO Featherweight title, which he defended seven times. During this time, he was referred to as the "best fighter without a world title". Márquez was WBO Featherweight champion Naseem Hamed's mandatory challenger for 22 straight months, however, the WBO allowed Hamed to schedule other fights instead.

Márquez earned his first bout for a world title on September 11, 1999, when he lost a controversial decision to then-unbeaten WBA featherweight champion Freddie Norwood. Marquez was the aggressor throughout most of the bout but fought tentatively as Norwood was reluctant to engage, and often wrestled with Marquez in the many clinches. Marquez was knocked down in the second round. In the 8th round, Norwood's glove touched the canvas after an exchange, however, it was not ruled a knock down by the referee who was standing opposite to the action. In the 9th round, Marquez scored a knockdown after a two punch combination. HBO Punchstat had Norwood landing 73 out of 290 punches thrown to Marquez's 89 out of 444. On November 20, 1999, Márquez faced Remigio Molina, and defeated him in eight rounds. In 2000, he defeated former champion Daniel Jimenez, and five fights later, he defeated future champion Robbie Peden in ten rounds, and captured the NABF, and USBA Featherweight titles.

Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez received his second bout for a world title on January 2, 2003, when he defeated five-time featherweight champion Manuel Medina, and captured the vacant IBFFeatherweight title. In the 2nd round, Marquez connected with a three-punch combination that floored Medina. The fight was stopped in the 7th round after Marquez knocked Medina down for a second time. He then defeated Derrick Gainer later in the year in a unification bout to win the WBA Featherweight title and become "Super Champion".

In May 2004, Márquez fought Manny Pacquiao in a controversial bout that was scored a draw. In the first round Márquez was caught cold, as he was knocked down three times by a more lively Pacquiao. However, Márquez showed great heart to recover from the early knockdowns, and at the end of a very close second round it was clear that this would be a long night for Pacquiao. Márquez was able to counterpunch effectively, winning the middle rounds and effectively countering Pacquiao in closely fought later rounds; however, the fight was ultimately ruled a draw. Many fans who were startled at Márquez surviving the first round saw Márquez take control of the fight thereafter, only to be denied the win on the judges' scorecards. The final scores were 115-110 for Márquez, 115-110 for Pacquiao, and 113-113. One of the judges (who scored the bout 113-113) later admitted to making an error on the scorecards, because he had scored the first round as "10-7" in favor of Pacquiao instead of the standard "10-6" for a three-knockdown round.

On September 18, 2004, Márquez defeated future champion Orlando Salido. In 2005, Márquez was stripped of his WBA, and IBF Featherweight titles, for his inability to defend it against various boxers after potential bouts failed to draw a bid. In 2006, Márquez attempted to regain a title, coming up short in a controversial decision loss to undefeated Indonesian boxer Chris John for the WBA Featherweight championship title. The disputed decision led to the Ring Magazine's removal of Márquez from its pound-for-pound top 10 list.

In late 2006, Márquez captured the WBO Interim Featherweight title defeating Thai boxer Terdsak Jandaeng, and defending it against Filipino boxer Jimrex Jaca with a nine round knockout in Hidalgo, Texas. Márquez was promoted to world champion status in December 2006 when previous champion Scott Harrison vacated the title. Márquez vacated the Featherweight title the following year to challenge WBC Super Featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera.

Super Featherweight

On March 17, 2007, Márquez became the WBC Super Featherweight champion by defeating Barrera in Las Vegas via unanimous decision, by the official scores of 116-111, 116-111, and 118-109. Márquez's first defense of his title was to be held on September 15, 2007 against Argentinian boxer Jorge Rodrigo Barrios. However, Barrios withdrew from the bout due to injury, prompting American boxer Rocky Juárez to challenge Márquez for the title on November 3, 2007 in a losing effort.

On November 29, 2007, Márquez announced that he would defend his championship title against Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, whom he fought to a controversial draw in 2004. On March 15, 2008, Juan Manuel Márquez lost his Super Featherweight Championship to Manny Pacquiao via split decision. Márquez suffered a knockdown in the third round that proved to be the difference in the decision as the remaining rounds were scored dead even. Compubox scoring had Juan Manuel Márquez landing 42/201 (21%) more jabs to Pacquiao's 43/314 (14%) jabs, it also had Márquez scoring 130/310 (42%) more power punches to Pacquiao's 114/305 (37%) power punches. Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, offered a $6 million guarantee to Pacquiao for a rematch. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said, “I’m not saying they’ll never fight again, but you have to let it bake for a while”. Pacquiao said: "I don't think so, this business is over" as he plans to move up to the lightweight division.

Lightweight

Main article: Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Joel Casamayor. Márquez stayed up to the Lightweight division in order to fight the lineal Ring lightweight champion Joel Casamayor on the weekend leading up to Mexican Independence Day at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. On September 13, 2008, he defeated Casamayor in the 11th round after two knockdowns, and captured his sixth world title in three different weight classes. In the first four rounds of the bout, Márquez continually walked into counter punches from Casamayor. It took Márquez until the fifth round to be able to find the range with his right hand. By the fifth round, a cut over Casamayor's right eye was opened from a clash of heads. Rounds five, six, seven, and eight were rounds where Márquez landed straight punches from the outside, but he was also struck by Casamayor whenever he lunged forward. 

Two minutes into the eleventh round, Casamayor was knocked down by a right punch as he pulled away from an intense exchange. Casamayor was able to get on his feet, but it was clear he was still shakey from the knockdown. As soon as the action was allowed to resume, Márquez went in for the kill as he let his punches go in furious combination. Casamayor punched back, but he was knocked down again with about 7 seconds left in the round. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in the bout, and stopped the fight as he deemed Casamyor unable to continue. The official judges had the fight scored 95-95, 95-95, and 97-93 for Márquez before the 11th round knockout. After the win, Ring magazine ranked Márquez second on its pound for pound list, and rated him the number one boxer in the Lightweight division. 

Main article: Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz. On February 28, 2009, Márquez defeated IBO champion, and former WBA, IBF, and WBO Lightweight champion Juan Díaz by knockout. Díaz controlled the fight early in the bout as the two boxers exchanged punches. Díaz opened a cut above Márquez's right eye in the fifth round, and looked to control the bout, but Márquez responded by opening a gash above Diaz's right eye, and stunning him with a left hook before the end of the eighth round. Márquez landed two hard rights to Díaz's face in a three-punch combination that knocked Díaz down with 35 seconds remaining in the ninth round. Díaz rose, but seconds later, Márquez followed with a right uppercut to the chin that knocked Díaz down for a second time. Referee Rafael Ramos waved an end to the fight after two minutes and 40 seconds of the ninth round. With the victory, Márquez defended his Ring Lightweight title, and claimed the WBO, the WBA, and the IBO Lightweight championship titles. After the fight Márquez expressed an interest in fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. This fight was named "Fight of the Year" for 2009 by ESPN.com.

Welterweight

Main article: Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. Márquez moved up to the Welterweight division, and fought undefeated and former number one pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. The fight was scheduled to take place at 144 lbs on July 18, 2009 at the MGM Grand arena; but was postponed due to a rib injury sustained by Mayweather. The bout was rescheduled and held on September 19, 2009. During the official weigh in for their 144 lb bout, Marquez weighed in at 142 lbs and Mayweather weighed in at 146 lbs thereby incurring a financial penalty as he was 2 pounds over the catchweight. Marquez looked slightly fleshy and uncomfortable with the move up in weight but despite being knocked down in the 2nd round, showed great heart to go the distance against Mayweather. 
Mayweather defeated Marquez by unanimous decision though many found it telling that Mayweather could not finish Marquez by knockout. This fight marks only the fifth time in boxing history that a non-heavyweight fight sold more than 1 million pay-per-views, with the official HBO numbers coming in at over 1 million buys equalling a total of approximately $52 million. Four of those fights all featured Oscar De La Hoya as the main event, making this fight the one of two events where a non-heavyweight fight sold over 1 million PPVs without Oscar De La Hoya. The other fight was Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto which sold 1.25 million PPVs.

Return to Lightweight

Main article: Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz II. When asked upon his return to the lightweight division, Marquez said: "I came back to lightweight because at welterweight I lost a lot of speed". It has now been reported that Marquez is beginning negotiations for a rematch with Juan Diaz. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said the fight for Marquez's title is being planned for July 10 as the main event of an HBO PPV card. He said it would "probably" take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After his comeback in 2010, fellow Mexican boxer Erik Morales said he would like to fight Marquez. Morales returned two divisions higher in 2010, as a welterweight. However, Marquez has also stated that he would be interested in a fight with Ricky Hatton.

The Marquez-Diaz rematch took place on July 31, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay. Marquez's titles were also at stake. Prior to the bout, the WBO ordered the Marquez-Diaz winner to fight mandatory challenger Michael Katsidis. Marquez won the fight via unanimous decision by the official scores of 117-111, 116-112, and 118-110. After the Diaz rematch, Marquez stated that he was interested in pursuing a third fight with Manny Pacquiao. He will also have the chance to move up to the junior welterweight division for a potential fight with any of the titleholders: Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander or Amir Khan, all of whom are fighting now on HBO.
Main article: Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Michael Katsidis. A few weeks after the Juan Diaz fight, Golden Boy Promotions officially announced that Marquez would defend his lightweight titles against mandatory challenger, WBO interim Michael Katsidis, on November 27, 2010 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and that the bout would be televised live on HBO Championship Boxing. During the official weigh in for their 135 lb bout, Marquez came in at 134 pounds, while Katsidis came in at 135 pounds on the limit. Despite being knocked down in the third round Marquez came back and defeated Katsidis by a ninth round TKO to retain the lightweight belts. At the time of the stoppage, the Mexican boxer was ahead on all the scorecards by 77-74, 78-74, and 76-75. During the post fight interview he once again expessed his interest in a third fight with Manny Pacquiao. Marquez holds the distinction of being the oldest champion in the history of the lightweight division.

Return to welterweight

Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum has stated that a third meeting with Marquez may happen in November, providing Pacquiao defeats his current opponent Shane Mosley on May 7.

On May 10, Marquez accepted an offer from Top Rank to fight Pacquiao for his WBO Welterweight Title at a catchweight of 144 pounds. On May 18, Marquez signs the deal to fight Pacquiao for the third time on November 12 at Las Vegas.

Professional record

52 Wins (38 knockouts), 5 Losses , 1 Draw
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
N/A	N/A	Manny Pacquiao		- (12)	2011-11-12	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada	WBO Welterweight Title on the line.
N/A	N/A	TBA		- (12)	2011-07-16	Mexico City, Distrito Federal	A non-title fight, fight at Light Welterweight.
Win	52-5-1	Michael Katsidis	TKO	9 (12), 2:14	2010-11-27	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBO/WBA/The Ring Lightweight titles.
Win	51-5-1	Juan Díaz	UD	12 (12)	2010-07-31	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBO/WBA/The Ring Lightweight titles.
Loss	50-5-1	Floyd Mayweather Jr.	UD	12 (12)	2009-09-19	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada	A non-title fight, fought at Welterweight.
Win	50-4-1	Juan Díaz	TKO	9 (12), 2:40	2009-02-28	Toyota Center, Houston, Texas	Retained The Ring & won the WBO/WBA Lightweight titles.
Win	49-4-1	Joel Casamayor	TKO	11 (12), 2:55	2008-09-13	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada	Won The Ring Lightweight title.
Loss	48-4-1	Manny Pacquiao	SD	12 (12)	2008-03-15	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Lost the WBC Super Featherweight title.
Win	48-3-1	Rocky Juarez	UD	12 (12)	2007-11-03	Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona	Retained WBC Super Featherweight title.
Win	47-3-1	Marco Antonio Barrera	UD	12 (12)	2007-03-17	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Won WBC Super Featherweight title.
Win	46-3-1	Jimrex Jaca	KO	9 (12), 2:48	2006-11-25	Dodge Arena, Hidalgo, Texas	Retained interim WBO Featherweight title.
Win	45-3-1	Terdsak Kokietgym	TKO	7 (12), 1:13	2006-08-05	MontBleu Resort & Casino, Stateline, Nevada	Won interim WBO Featherweight title.
Loss	44-3-1	Chris John	UD	12 (12)	2006-03-04	Karang Melenu Sports Hall, Kutai Kartanegara	Lost WBA Featherweight title.
Win	44-2-1	Victor Polo	UD	12 (12)	2005-05-07	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBA/IBF Featherweight titles.
Win	43-2-1	Orlando Salido	UD	12 (12)	2004-09-18	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBA/IBF Featherweight titles.
Draw	42-2-1	Manny Pacquiao	Draw	12 (12)	2004-05-08	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBA/IBF Featherweight titles.
Win	42-2	Derrick Gainer	TD	7 (12), 2:37	2003-11-01	Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan	Retained IBF and won WBA Featherweight titles.
Win	41-2	Marcos Licona	TKO	9 (10), 3:00	2003-08-16	Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut
Win	40-2	Manuel Medina	TKO	7 (12), 1:18	2003-02-01	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Won vacant IBF Featherweight title.
Win	39-2	Hector Marquez	TKO	10 (10), 0:28	2002-06-21	The Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	38-2	Robbie Peden	RTD	10 (12), 3:00	2002-03-09	A. J. Palumbo Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	IBF Featherweight title eliminator.
Win	37-2	Johnny Walker	TKO	1 (10), 0:56	2001-10-19	Coeur d'Alene Casino, Worley, Idaho
Win	36-2	Julio Gamboa	TKO	7 (10), 3:00	2001-08-19	Wendover, Utah
Win	35-2	Baby Lorona Jr.	TKO	2 (10), 2:50	2001-04-01	Peppermill Hotel Casino, Reno, Nevada
Win	34-2	Sean Fletcher	TKO	7 (10), 1:54	2001-02-11	Peppermill Hotel Casino, Reno, Nevada
Win	33-2	Reynante Jamili	KO	3 (1:14)	2000-10-22	Peppermill Hotel Casino, Reno, Nevada
Win	32-2	Daniel Jiménez	RTD	7 (10), 3:00	2000-08-27	Union Plaza Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	31-2	Roque Cassiani	UD	12 (12)	2000-05-20	Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada	Won Vacant WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	30-2	Remigio Molina	TKO	8 (10), 2:01	1999-11-20	Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	29-2	Freddie Norwood	UD	12 (12)	1999-09-11	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	WBA Featherweight title was on the line.
Win	29-1	Wilfredo Vargas	KO	2 (10), 2:02	1999-05-10	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	28-1	Jose de Jesus Garcia	KO	1 (10), 1:54	1999-02-20	Spotlight 29 Casino, Coachella, California
Win	27-1	Francisco Arreola	TKO	3 (12), 2:24	1998-10-24	Tropicana Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	26-1	Enrique Jupiter	TKO	8 (12)	1998-08-22	Tropicana Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	25-1	Juan Gerardo Cabrera	TKO	4 (12)	1998-06-20	Tropicana Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	24-1	Luis Samudio	TKO	9 (10), 2:18	1998-03-16	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	23-1	Alfred Kotey	UD	12 (12)	1997-11-22	Tropicana Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	22-1	Vincent Howard	TKO	12 (12)	1997-09-27	Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada	Retained WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	21-1	Catalino Becerra	TKO	7 (12), 1:37	1997-07-14	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California	Retained WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	20-1	Agapito Sánchez	UD	12 (12)	1997-04-21	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California	Retained WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	19-1	Cedric Mingo	RTD	10 (12), 3:00	1997-02-03	Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California	Won vacant WBO NABO Featherweight title.
Win	18-1	Rodrigo Valenzuela	KO	8 (10)	1996-12-09	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	17-1	Darryl Pinckney	UD	10 (10)	1996-10-19	Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada
Win	16-1	Freddy Cruz	UD	10 (10)	1996-07-08	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	15-1	Julio Gervacio	KO	8 (10)	1996-04-29	Anaheim, California
Win	14-1	Hector Ulises Chong	KO	4 (10)	1996-03-04	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	13-1	Julian Wheeler	TKO	10 (10), 2:55	1995-11-06	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	12-1	Miguel Rodriguez	TKO	1 (10), 2:30	1995-09-25	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	11-1	Julio Cesar Portillo	KO	6 (10), 2:10	1995-07-10	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	10-1	Julio Sanchez Leon	UD	10 (10)	1995-04-24	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	9-1	Martin Ochoa	TKO	1 (?)	1995-01-30	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California
Win	8-1	Israel Gonzalez	TKO	4 (8), 0:34	1994-12-03	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	7-1	Jose Luis Montes	KO	2 (?)	1994-11-12	Plaza México, Mexico City, Distrito Federal
Win	6-1	Israel Flores	UD	4 (4)	1994-10-01	Mexico City, Distrito Federal
Win	5-1	Gregorio Silva	TKO	2 (?)	1994-08-27	Mexico City, Distrito Federal
Win	4-1	Roman Poblano	UD	6 (6)	1994-05-07	Mexico City, Distrito Federal
Win	3-1	Isaac Cortes	TKO	5 (6)	1993-10-01	Mexico City, Distrito Federal
Win	2-1	Israel Flores	TKO	2 (?)	1993-09-18	Mexico City, Distrito Federal
Win	1-1	Javier Quiroz	TKO	3 (?)	1993-06-26	Mexico City, Distrito Federal
Loss	0-1	Javier Duran	DQ	1 (?)	1993-05-29	Mexico City, Distrito Federal	Professional debut for Márquez. Disqualified for a headbutt.

Source: wikipedia