Escaping the Shadow: Juan Manuel Márquez
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
This article is part of our “long article” requests through Patreon! A huge thank you to Alteroc (@crwate01) for this excellent topic suggestion.
In an effort to learn more about combat sports, Alteroc laid out an article format that covers three athletes from a specific sport:
An all-time great
A specialist
Someone “weird”
This article covers #1 for boxing: 5-time, 4-division world champion, Juan Manuel Márquez.
Picking out an all-time great to profile for boxing, a sport with such a long and rich history, proved to be difficult. I didn’t want to profile a fighter whom had already been covered extensively by the mainstream, nor an old-timer whom I couldn’t give justice without more comprehensive research. After much deliberation, I settled on Mexican master, Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Márquez.
Márquez perfectly encapsulated the backbone and strength of will required to become an all-time great in boxing without much luck along the way.
Márquez waited longer than the next guy for a first world title, and arriving on the world scene at a time when Marco Antonio Barrera and Érik Morales ruled Mexican boxing couldn’t have been easy for Juan Manuel. Even after escaping the looming shadow cast by the incredible Barrera-Morales rivalry, Márquez found himself in a similar position in the shadow of global megastar, Manny Pacquiao. However, through unparalleled resilience, the supremely talented Márquez eventually retired with a definitively great legacy, arguably surpassing that of both Morales and Barrera.
Márquez grew up in a fighting family in a rough and poverty-stricken area of Iztacalco, Mexico City. Juan Manuel’s younger brother, Rafael Márquez, became a world champion himself, at bantamweight and super bantamweight. Márquez’s father — a former professional boxer — influenced both Juan Manuel and Rafael to take up the sport at a young age. Márquez began training at 8 and first fought at the amateur level in Mexico at 13.
Training under Ignacio "Nacho" Beristáin and assistant Gilbert Márquez, Juan Manuel turned professional at age 19. Márquez had been intent on turning over in 1991, but an unfortunate back injury delayed the young Mexican’s professional career until ‘93. Dinamita’s long-awaited professional debut ended in a first-round disqualification defeat to Javier Durán. Not much went to plan early on in Márquez’s boxing career.
Following the debut defeat, Márquez went on a 6-year, 29-fight unbeaten streak to secure a shot at Freddie Norwood’s WBA featherweight strap. Márquez struggled with the undefeated Norwood, a tricky southpaw who refused to press the action, and lost a disputed 12-round unanimous decision. Dinamita went down in the second round, had Norwood down in the ninth, and out-landed the champion 89-73. Another setback for Márquez meant he didn’t get another title shot until 2003, when he got an opportunity to fight for the vacant IBF featherweight title against former 4-time champion, Manuel Medina. Juan Manuel dropped the ageing Medina twice en route to a dominant seventh round technical knockout victory, finally capturing a world title at the age of 29 after a 10-fight win streak.
After an intermediate fight at the lightweight limit, Márquez’s first world title defense came in a unification against WBA champion, Derrick Gainer. Gainer, a tall, rangy southpaw, had won the WBA crown via an eleventh round stoppage over Freddie Norwood on September 9, 2000. Dinamita had the chance to win the belt he felt he deserved when he faced Norwood in 1999. An accidental head clash caused a cut over Gainer’s left eye and stopped the fight in the seventh round; Márquez took a technical decision victory having been unanimously ahead at the point of the stoppage. Now the unified WBA and IBF featherweight world champion, Márquez’s next bout sparked an all-time great rivalry.
In May 2004, Márquez squared off with Lineal and The Ring featherweight champion, Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao had just emphatically stopped pound-for-pound star, Marco Antonio Barrera, to capture the featherweight title. Márquez, admittedly overconfident, suffered the worst start imaginable, thrice on the canvas and bloody-nosed in the opening round. Once Márquez’s head had cleared, the Mexican came back into the fight and outboxed the Filipino down the stretch. In a Fight of the Year candidate, Pacquiao had just enough success throughout to prevent Dinamita from closing the score gap after the opening round. Márquez escaped with a draw courtesy of a scoring error by Burt Clements, who scored the first round 10-7 rather than 10-6. If the round had been scored correctly, Pacquiao would have won via split decision. A rare piece of fortune for Márquez kept the rivalry alive, with the split-draw creating the perfect narrative for a rematch.
Márquez and Pacquiao didn’t rematch immediately, despite many calling for it, with Pacquiao moving up to super featherweight soon after for a pay-per-view showdown with Érik Morales. Meanwhile Márquez continued to campaign at featherweight, defending against future 3-time featherweight world champion, Orlando Salido, and former 4-time world title challenger, Victor Polo. After beating Salido and Polo, both by unanimous decision, Márquez became an established pound-for-pound top 10 fighter in the sport, but not for long.
Another blip in Márquez’s professional career occurred in 2005, when the IBF stripped the Mexican of their title after not one promoter bid for the mandatory title fight between him and former Pacquiao victim, Prayat Sawaingam. Not long after, the WBA followed suit, revoking Márquez’s super champion status and ordering regular champion, Chris John, to defend against the Mexican. In an attempt to regain a version of the featherweight title, Márquez travelled to Indonesia to take on the undefeated John, but came up short in another disputed decision defeat. Dinamita competed at featherweight twice more following the defeat to Chris John, including winning the interim WBO title, but a high-priority opportunity awaited him at super featherweight.
On March 3, 2007, Juan Manuel Márquez moved up in weight to challenge WBC super featherweight world champion, Marco Antonio Barrera. Érik Morales had been stopped twice by Manny Pacquiao in 2006, and looked a shot fighter, but Márquez still hadn’t escaped Barrera’s shadow. At the time of the fight, Barrera hadn’t suffered defeated since 2003 when Pacquiao dominated him, and had regained a spot on the pound-for-pound list after a 6-fight win streak (which included a title win over Morales in their rubber match). Although the official scoring didn’t accurately represent it, with Márquez taking a wide unanimous decision, the back-and-forth battle could have conceivably gone either way. Nevertheless, in Dinamita’s first pay-per-view bout, he finally proved that he belonged among the very elite in the sport.
One defense of the WBC super featherweight title later — a unanimous decision victory over Rocky Juarez — and Márquez announced the much-anticipated rematch with Pacquiao for March 15, 2008. Taking place one weight class up from their first encounter, the Pacquiao-Márquez rematch resulted in a similarly competitive and controversial fight. Pacquiao entered a clear [-210] favourite, having twice demolished the great Érik Morales in a fashion nobody thought plausible, and beaten Barrera for a second time more impressively than Márquez did. Once again, Dinamita gave Pacquiao a torrid night, outlanding the Filipino and at a higher connect percentage, but Pacquiao hurt Márquez more than once, including a pivotal third-round knockdown. In the end, the knockdown made all the difference, with Pacquiao winning via split-decision, and by a single point on Tom Miller’s scorecard. Many, including myself, scored the fight for the Mexican, but given the amount of people who scored it for Pacquiao, I must refrain from calling it a robbery. It could have gone the other way, just like Márquez’s technical masterpiece with Barrera the previous year: you win some, you lose some.
Márquez and Pacquiao both subsequently moved up to lightweight, and both challenged for a version of a world title in their first bout at the new weight. Pacquiao challenged WBC world champion, David Díaz, while Márquez faced Lineal and The Ring champion, Joel Casamayor. Despite a rocky start, Dinamita took over the fight by the halfway stage and became the first fighter to stop Casamayor, knocking the Olympic gold medalist down twice in the eleventh round prior to Tony Weeks waving off the contest. After the win, The Ring ranked Márquez the second best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound (behind Pacquiao), and the number one fighter in the lightweight division.
Márquez first defended the Lineal championship against former WBA, WBO, IBF lightweight champion, Juan Díaz. Throughout the first half of the fight, Díaz looked to be getting the better of the action, and the Texan opened up a cut above Márquez’s right eye in the fifth round. In response, the 35-year-old Mexican came on strong, cutting up and hurting Díaz in the eighth, before dropping the former champion twice in the ninth. Rafael Ramos waved an end to the 2009 Fight of the Year after the second ninth-round knockdown — a vicious right uppercut to the chin. Once Dinamita had an opponent hurt, he would finish them more often than not. In victory, Márquez retained the Lineal title, and additionally became the unified WBA, WBO lightweight champion. Next up: the most challenging fight of Márquez’s long career, and a sign that the ageing Mexican could be on the slide.
On September 19, 2009, Márquez moved up to welterweight to face the former pound-for-pound superstar, returning from a near 2-year hiatus, Floyd Mayweather Jr. In Márquez’s most one-sided career defeat, the Mexican struggled to cope with Floyd’s lateral movement and counterpunching (Márquez never got the hang of cutting off the ring, preferring an offensively minded opponent e.g. Pacquiao). In addition, the extra weight slowed Márquez down and the size disparity made the fight utterly non-competitive. Mayweather scored a second round knockdown and won via a near shutout unanimous decision.
In 2010, Márquez fought twice more back down at lightweight, first rematching Juan Díaz on July 31. In a WBA, WBO championship defense, Dinamita came back strongly from the Mayweather defeat and largely dominated Díaz over 12. With a unanimous decision victory, Márquez moved on to a WBO mandatory title defense against Australia’s Michael Katsidis. Katsidis had upset the undefeated Kevin Mitchell earlier that year, and held the WBO interim title, but provided the ideal stylistic matchup for Juan Manuel Márquez. Aside from the heavy third-round knockdown scored by a Katsidis left hook, Márquez outclassed and overwhelmed the Aussie, securing a ninth-round stoppage. Overcoming adversity, namely getting up from the canvas, had become Márquez’s speciality.
Subsequent to the Díaz rematch, Márquez expressed interest in a trilogy fight with Manny Pacquiao. Since the pair’s second fight, Pacquiao had decisively beaten De La Hoya, Cotto, Clottey and Mosley up at welterweight, knocked Ricky Hatton out cold for The Ring junior welterweight title, and beaten up Antonio Margarito for the WBC super welterweight title.
Pacquiao, an unprecedented eight-division world champion, would enter the third Márquez fight a huge [-1100] favourite. Not many gave a 38-year-old Dinamita a chance at conquering the number 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. Although Márquez had beaten Díaz and Katsidis rather one-sidedly, he had looked slow and substandard against Mayweather at welterweight, and that’s where the Pacquiao fight would take place.
Márquez built himself up better for the Pacquiao fight than he had done for Floyd, and had a tune-up fight at junior welterweight, which he won via first round stoppage. On November 12, 2011, Márquez challenged for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title, seeking 4-weight world champion status. Márquez would become a 4-weight world champion, but not against Pacquiao. In yet another controversially decided fight, where the majority adjudged Márquez the winner, Pacquiao retained the title via majority decision. Dinamita landed most of the cleaner work throughout, consistently nailing Pacquiao with the counter-right hand, but the Filipino threw and landed more. Márquez smiled at the result, half expecting himself to be on the losing end of a disputed decision once more. In spite of Pacquiao officially being 2-0-1 up over Márquez, the rivalry hadn’t been decisively settled. Hence, a year later, we got the defining fight of the decade.
Prior to facing Pacquiao for a fourth and final time, Márquez secured the interim WBO junior welterweight title (later upgraded to the full world title) against Serhii Fedchenko. In the meantime, Pacquiao had been egregiously robbed of the WBO welterweight crown against Timothy Bradley. In a non-title bout on December 8, 2012, Márquez had one final opportunity to step out of the Filipino legend’s shadow.
Pacquiao started the fight the stronger of the two, employing more proactive movement to throw off Márquez’s timing. Down 2-0 and unable to tag Pacquiao clean, Márquez began targeting Manny’s more stationary midsection. Dinamita’s third-round body attack conditioned Pacquiao to anticipate another body shot when Márquez landed a flush overhand right which sent Manny to the canvas. Having knocked Pacquiao down for the first time, Márquez closed the scoring gap and had the Filipino stunned. By the fifth, Pacquiao had fully recovered and evened up the knockdown count with a straight left hand down the pipe. Márquez arose and landed a huge right hand which rocked Pacquiao, but a southpaw right hook then bloodied the Mexican’s nose and visibly hurt him. Pacquiao appeared to be on the verge of ending the rivalry once and for all with a conclusive stoppage victory, dominating much of the sixth round before Márquez’s legacy-defining moment of genius.
“We were waiting for the right moment. Manny Pacquiao always makes a fake move that I know too well. He fakes a charge forward and then looks like he is going to follow with a one-two. That's a common fake he has. What I do is, I wait for the moment, he fakes the punch ... that one-two. Then I go for his right hand as he throws it as a jab -- I go toward his right hand. He comes forward with all his weight, and that's why the fall becomes more forceful and spectacular -- because he is coming straight to me and I make my body twist and turn, and the right hand wasn't in a straight position. I believe that this movement made the hand even stronger. ... The clash of two body masses full-on makes the punch even stronger.”
I opted to profile Márquez because of the Mexican’s story, and the counter-right hand he landed on Pacquiao whilst hurt and fatigued provided the perfect conclusion. Not only did that moment exhibit Márquez’s trademark resolve better than any fight previously, but additionally showed Dinamita’s virtuoso counterpunching acumen. It’s the ultimate career-definer.
A clear decision defeat to Timothy Bradley and a victory over Mike Alvarado brought Márquez’s legendary 21-year career to an end. Márquez retired at 40 with a record of 56-7-1, and despite campaigning for that long at the top of the sport, and tasting the canvas aplenty, Dinamita never tasted stoppage defeat. Another interesting fact about Márquez: he beat Pacquiao (arguably twice), Casamayor, Díaz (twice) and Katsidis all after turning 35. In the twilight of Dinamita’s career, perseverance paid off for him.
I’ve highlighted Dinamita’s peerless resilience, but what about the technical game of Juan Manuel Márquez made him arguably the greatest Mexican fighter since Julio César Chávez?
Márquez wasn’t blessed with blistering Pacquiao-esque speed, and until the fourth fight against the Filipino, he didn’t appear blessed with one-punch power, either. However, very few could match the Mexican maestro for timing and accuracy.
Márquez’s footwork and distance management were sublime and often caused an opponent to overreach, thereby creating a counterpunching opportunity for the Mexican. Márquez would move conjunctively with each counterpunch — e.g. slipping to the left with the counter-right — to remain elusive and set up a successive shot. That made Dinamita an excellent counter-combination puncher, but more on that later.
Moreover, Márquez utilised upper-body movement to draw out the opponent’s offense, again for the purpose of counterpunching. In the first sequence above, Márquez leaned forward, simultaneously enticing Pacquiao to throw a lazy jab and creating an opportunity for himself to land the lead uppercut from a lower level. Márquez often followed up the lead uppercut with a straight right hand, and here the punch sailed over Pacquiao’s extended lead arm. In the sequence from their second fight, Márquez waited patiently on the outside for the Filipino to press the action. Aware that Pacquiao’s jab primarily served to set up the left hand, and wasn’t a genuine threat, Márquez threw a right hand counter (head off centre line to avoid Pacquiao’s jab + potential left cross). Of course, Márquez timed the counter brilliantly.
Once again, here’s an example of Márquez drawing out Pacquiao’s offense with a forward lean prior to landing a counter. Márquez parried Manny’s combination and dipped to throw an overhand right, again whilst taking the head off centre line to minimise the risk.
Márquez slipping to the left whilst throwing the counter-right hand especially helped him when exchanging with the faster Pacquiao. Here, the slip not only meant Márquez avoided Manny’s 1-2, but also allowed the Mexican to flow into the left shovel hook (which in turn set up the hard right hand to the chin).
Márquez may be Mexico’s finest ever counter-combination puncher. Here, Márquez took a step back, causing Medina to overcommit, before catching and countering with the same hand. Dinamita’s first counter shot — the short, bent-arm jab — set up the follow-up right hand-left uppercut combination. A beautiful 3-piece knockdown.
In addition to forcing Pacquiao to follow him around the ring and overreach, Márquez‘s footwork served to eliminate Pacquiao’s left hand. By pivoting to the left after Pacquiao had thrown a jab, Márquez prevented the Filipino from lining up the predetermined follow-up left cross.
Being a mechanically perfect puncher with poise, accuracy and great punch selection, Márquez would seldom fail to finish a hurt opponent. Here’s the first knockdown of the Díaz fight, encapsulating Márquez’s combination-punching brilliance. Dinamita countered Díaz’s jab with a right hand over the top, which staggered the Texan and forced him to shell up, then landed a 1-2-left uppercut, flowing seamlessly from punch to punch. For the finish, Márquez targeted the body to force Díaz to double over, which set up the concluding right uppercut.
Márquez wasn’t a multi-dimensional fighter (he much preferred to operate on the back foot), but he did have a fully fleshed out dimension. Conclusively, he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen: an all-time great counterpuncher, combination puncher, finisher, and one of the most extraordinarily resilient and determined men to ever enter the squared circle.