While some may argue he is past even the twilight of his career, Rafael Marquez (41-8, 37 KO) still has hopes of making one more run at a world title.
The former two-division champion has inked a four-fight deal with Golden Boy Promotions. He will also be reunited with trainer Nacho Beristain.
“We’d like to give him a comeback fight and see how he does, give him a few fights and then eventually match him with a Leo Santa Cruz or an Abner Mares. Rafael Marquez is a good name and he has always made good fights,” Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer said. “We have some potential fights for him.”
The younger brother of Juan Manuel Marquez is best known for his legendary battles with fellow Mexican Israel Vazquez. While those four battles cemented their legacy in boxing history, they also may have taken everything out of both fighters. Vazquez never fought again after knocking out Marquez in their fourth fight and evening the score at two wins a piece. Marquez has continued to fight on, but the results have not been good.
The 38-year-old has lost three of his last five fights against the likes of Juan Manuel Lopez, Toshiaki Nishioka, and most recently Cristian Mijares. He is expected to fight in September in what sounds like a tune-up fight to see just how much is left in the tank.
“Rafael is coming off a loss, so we will give him a fight in September and see how he looks and see if he can still compete with one of our young guys,” said Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez. “He wants to fight for a world title again and at his age, he doesn’t want to waste any time. He wants good fights. He wants any one of our top guys at 122 or 126.”
While Marquez is showing the true warrior spirit in wanting to fight on, there is no reason for it. He is already a legend for the epic battles he has taken part in, but his last five fights have shown he is just not the same anymore.
Maybe he will win a fight against a lesser-known oppenent, but would anyone give him any chance at beating a young warrior like Mares or Santa Cruz?
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