By Keith Holmes
“Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.” George S. Patton
There could be no truer words spoken at the inception of the July 16th bout between legend and sure fire boxing Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez (53-3, 38KOs) and his much younger although relatively unregarded Likar Ramos (24-3, 18KOs). The underlying question pondered by many about this fight was whether or not it was a necessary bout for Marquez? The risks were very high for potential injury and seemed somewhat reckless being so close to a multi-million dollar showdown with Manny Pacquiao. Couple this with the fact there wasn’t much of a payday at play tonight, (this fight was not televised anywhere in the US), the timing almost seemed absurd.
However, a fighter fights. We so often wish this to be true about all boxers. But the reality of the sport today, so often time this isn’t the case. This is not the case with Marquez. It never has been. The Marquez name is becoming pedigree, (Marquez’s younger brother also won on the undercard). Juan Miguel Marquez fights and can easily be argued based on his prior two encounters with Manny Pacquiao that they are cut from the same cloth. He chooses when and where. A fighter fights.
The fight commenced with a very confident looking and surprisingly light on his feet, (for a 37 year old) Marquez. Obviously not his first rodeo for this Mexican hero, Marquez commanded ring generalship in front of his many fellow countrymen. Ramos pawed with a few skillful jabs and with a sizeable reach advantage it was evident that this could possibly be problematic to Marquez as the fight progressed. It was not to be. Ramos was dropped hard with a straight right to the head, one minute at one minute and forty seven seconds. The lights were turned out before he hit the mat. Everyone from the fighters, ring announcers, Tecate Girls, and fans cozied up to their laptop computers all hit the showers early.
If Marquez was hoping for a win tonight, mission accomplished. However, if a tune up for the November 12th mega fight against reigning pound for pound champion Manny Pacquiao was his wishes, he was certainly disappointed. That tune up will come in the form of sparring sessions in Mexico with less than four months to go. As we look forward, the critical questions that wasn’t answered with this non event bout, “Is anybody buying?”
On the undercard…..
Rafael Marquez (40-6, 36KOs) proved his pedigree mentioned above by putting Eduardo Becerril (12-8-2 4 KOs) into submission. The younger Marquez had this fight under control from the opening bell resulting in Becerril electing to not come out to fight in the sixth round.
Roman Gonzalez (29-0, 24KOs) was able to get a hault to the fight in the seventh round against Omar Salado (22-4-2 (13KOs) and maintain his undefeated record. This is causing more than a few curious looks his way.