26.11.09 – By Sean Ocampo: In front of a massive Pro-Mexican crowd at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, former WBA/IBF Featherweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez scored a scintillating 9th round knockout victory over Jimrex Jaca of the Philippines in their 12 round WBO Interim Featherweight title affair. With the win, Marquez improved his record to 43-3-1 with 32 knockouts to his credit..
The fight was close in the early part of the fight with Jaca landing the more telling blows of the two. The style of the young southpaw from the Philippines reminded some people a little bit of fellow countryman Manny Pacquiao but without the serious punching power of course. He showed aggressiveness and took the fight to Marquez in the early going but loss gas in the middle rounds. Marquez was in unusual form during the fight by being offensive minded that caused him a little bit of problem with Jaca’s go forward style.
But Marquez picked himself up by making minor adjustments as took over the fight starting the 4th round by throwing much more effective and accurate punches to Jaca.
However, Marquez sustained a cut above his right eye caused by an accidental headbutt during the 5th round. He felt a sort of sense of urgency right after he was cleared by the ringside physician. Marquez stepped on the gas by throwing a series of power punches to Jaca. However, Marquez’s punches still unfazed the tough Jaca.
Rounds 6 and 7 were both Marquez’s round by connecting almost half of his punches. He seemed to have figured out Jaca’s style and was breaking the Filipino down with effective combinations to head and body.
In fairness to Jaca, he showed heart by not giving up even if he was getting tagged with serious punches coming from Marquez.
During the 8th round, the fight was stopped again due to another accidental headbutt. Marquez’s gash became worst after the second clash of heads. But the fight was still allowed to proceed. Marquez once again turned on the heat by unleashing another barrage of punches before the bell rang.
A controversial situation happened during that same round, when referee Lawrence Cole suddenly told Marquez that he thought he was winning the fight and was ahead of the scorecards when Marquez was being checked by the ringside physician. It was sort of a bias advice coming from the referee. But like the professional that he is, Marquez ignored the advice and elected to go full force against Jaca.
The bloodied Marquez punished Jaca during the 9th as he unleashed an amazing 5 punch combination that was punctuated with a power full left hook that connected to Jaca’s jaw. Marquez scored the resounding knockout victory with that very combination as Jaca elected to just sit and be counted out by the referee.
Marquez is now looking towards the big money fights with either Barrera or Pacquiao. He demonstrated that he’s more than a counter puncher. He could also be a crowd pleaser by going toe-to-toe.
I’m personally looking forward to a fight between him and Pacquiao. The first fight seemed to be a very controversial by ending with a disputed draw. People in Pacquiao’s camp believed that decision should have been overruled because a judge miscalculated. Instead of a 10-6 round in the 1st round he scored 10-7. If not for the miscalculation then the fight could have been Pacquiao’s. However, Marquez’s camp insisted that Juan Manuel controlled the fight right after the three knockdowns in the 1st round. In my opinion, this fight should be settled once and for all in a rematch.
As for Jaca, his promoter Oscar De La Hoya confirmed that Jimrex will be in action underneath the mega fight between Mayweather and De La Hoya. He simply impressed a lot of people with the kind of performance he had against a top notch fighter like Marquez.
Both fighters showed tremendous courage with their respective performance. They showed what boxing is all about with this amazing and competitive fight.
Note: Lawrence Cole was the same referee that officiated the Barrera-Pacquiao fight three years ago. He’s the same guy that made the controversial 1st round knockdown in favor of Barrera. The replays clearly showed Pacquiao was accidentally tripped by Barrera. Pacquiao was even the one punching when he went down.