NO HOLDS BARRED: Charles Farrell and Frank Lotierzo on the Fight of the Year: Vazquez-Marquez 3

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman speaks with our colleagues Charles Farrell and Frank Lotierzo of The Boxing Standard.

Our lengthy discussion focuses mainly on this past Saturday's thrilling rubber match between super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez and former world champion Rafael Marquez, won by Vazquez by split decision. We analyze this fight, what it means for boxing, how the American boxing media once again largely blew this story, and more.

To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here and just press the play button on the player.

You can also download it by scrolling down that page and clicking on the download link (right-click to save it).

You can also listen to it through the player on this blog and the NO HOLDS BARRED MySpace page, also by pressing the play button on the player.

Also, NO HOLDS BARRED is available through iTunes.

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.

NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

YAMMA Pit Fighting. The producers of the original UFC and Live Nation, worldwide leaders in live entertainment, present YAMMA Pit Fighting mixed martial arts. On the streets, it's against the law. In the pit, it IS the law.

IFL, the International Fight League, the world's first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Vazquez-Marquez "Everything Boxing Should Be"

This past Saturday night Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez fought for the third time in 367 days. In the ring two titles were on the line. The minor title was Vazquez's WBC Super Bantamweight title, the more important one was the Championship of each other. And after three Fights, you can realistically say that one has yet to be decided. The Ring record book will forever show Vazquez the winner via a 12-round split decision, and holding a 2-1 advantage in the trilogy between them until they meet a fourth time.

During the course of the 25-rounds they've shared in the Ring, what stands out even more than the excitement the fights provided, is how they exemplify everything that professional boxing should be. The first one being, winning really means something to them, evidenced by their preparedness. They were in excellent shape, and showed intelligence and versatility while in the ring. Both Marquez & Vazquez not only listened to what their corners told them, they implemented it in the following round, that is until the other made the proper adjustment.

Marquez, who is at his best fighting on the outside behind his hard jab and punishing right cross, showed Vazquez, who is an in-fighter who likes to throw his big left-hook to the body and head, that he too has an inside game and is capable of hurting him. On the other hand, Vazquez showed he has an outside game, and disrupted Marquez with his jab while pushing the fight. I can't remember the last time I saw a Fighter like Marquez who could box and move, yet still could take your head off. Nor have I seen many swarmers like Vazquez who isn't a fish out of water from outside, let alone in the same Ring together in what has to be an early favorite for 2008 Fight of The Year.

Marquez and Vazquez fought like true warriors. Both had the stamina and heart to go as long as it took to get the job done, both got up off the floor to come back in the same round to either win it or stabilize it enough not to yield the mental or tactical advantage to the other. In the process they threw every punch in the book, the way it was meant to be delivered, and with power. And they both showed they're quite capable of thinking on their feet. In fact, not only is the Marquez-Vazquez trilogy as good as any other in boxing history, there isn't one single thing that can be asked of a Championship fight that wasn't delivered. And we just might get to see it one more time.

Still They Came

WBC super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez at the postfight news conference after their third fight, March 1, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Vazquez won by a split decision. Photo by Tom Casino/SHOWTIME.

They stood in front of each other for twelve rounds, both knowing that one had a slight edge in power, the other in technique. They had each stopped the other, splitting their last two fights, within a year, yet they both advanced fearlessly, without questions or complaints. They both knew from the opening bell that this would be yet another war, with the outcome uncertain, but with their bodies certain to be bloodied and racked with pain afterwards, and still they came. They threw jabs and uppercuts and straight rights and left hooks from every angle imaginable, all the while knowing that their counterpart would do the same, and land about as frequently as they would. Still they came, still they battered one another, still they took it all in stride.

This was glory in the ring, valor on TV, and the best boxing has to offer. Arguments about the referee’s calls, the possibility of a fourth meeting, and so on, while they have their place, are petty in comparison to the need to celebrate and honor this classic performance.

In an age when mediocrity is shamelessly paraded and peddled to the public, here was true greatness, here was historic nobility on display before our eyes.

This is the replay schedule in the U.S. for the third fight between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez:

DAY CHANNEL
Monday, March 3, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT SHO EXTREME
Tuesday, March 4, 10:00 p.m. ET/PT SHO 2
Wednesday, March 5, 11 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME

My guess is that Showtime will add more replays as the word spreads about the significance, ferocity, and beauty of this fight.

If you say you are a fight fan and failed to catch this battle the first time, do not fail again.

Why Can’t They All Be Like Vazquez and Marquez?

After watching this Friday’s televised mismatches and mediocre fights, and still fearing brain atrophy from witnessing last week’s Klitschko-Ibragimov rock-paper-scissors contest, we finally have a delicious fight on tap after all this junk food.

Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez will show ‘em how it should be done, again, for the third time tonight at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Showtime has the honor of telecasting it in the U.S., while various Internet pirates will attempt to stream it to people in areas where it is not available, or who just want to pilfer it.

The technique, poise, courage, strategy, valor, and aggressiveness of both fighters put so many of boxing’s paycheck-collectors to shame, especially among the guys who weigh about what both of these super bantamweights do together. The first two fights between Vazquez and Marquez, both last year, with Marquez taking the first and Vazquez the second, were surely the best of 2007, although somehow the Boxing Writers Association of America members voted for Pavlik-Taylor 1 over Vazquez-Marquez 2.

Whether or not this third affair between these two Mexico City champions becomes a third classic will soon be evident. As usual, most of the American boxing media has been rather ho-hum about all this. Perhaps they will instead be tuning into ESPN Classic, which will be showing tonight – seriously – the “Best of Butterbean 1”.

Let this be the start of our Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez 3 thread. The show starts fairly early, at 9 PM ET, so you can watch it, post here, and still get down to the barroom and tell everyone what they’ve just missed.

PS -- Showtime has made the video of the first two Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fights available, online and for free, here:

Monday and Saturday

Monday the sun didn’t shine – anywhere. Earth stopped rotating on its axis and revolving around the Sun. Rivers ceased to run, while smoke and dust and grime filled the air. Nocturnal vermin prepared to swoop up our last remaining scraps of foods, while howling mobs set each other afire in the streets.

It was all over, wasn’t it? There were no more heavyweights. Boxing was dead and gone. Klitschko and Ibragimov, with their murderously awful non-fight Saturday night, had killed them all, and civilization along with it. It was the end of history.

Then, in a barely visible ray of dim light which had not yet escaped to other galaxies, I saw some words on a television listing. There in barely legible type, in the listings for Showtime for this coming Saturday, March 1, read the words: “Boxing: Rafael Marquez vs. Israel Vazquez.”

Could this be true? Was there actually going to be a third fight between these two warriors who had put on the best fights of 2007? Was this planned show not wrecked by the worldwide destruction of everything else by the Klitschko-Ibragimov disaster?

Suddenly the sun began to shine anew. The air started to clear, the birds started to chirp, the kids started to laugh, and the engines started to hum. People smiled at and greeted each other cordially, while lovers held hands and smooched.

Life, alas, had returned to normal – the good with the bad, the beautiful with the ugly, the roses with the rot. It wasn’t all over after all, although it had seemed that way early Monday.

I guess you have to wait a bit to avoid jumping to conclusions about the end of the world.

Hopefully, after next Saturday, we won’t feel like we did this Monday.