Nishioka decisions Marquez; tougher challenges ahead?

AT the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Toshiaki Nishioka retained his WBC Super-Bantamweight, out-pointing the excellent Rafael Marquez for a well earned, unanimous decision.

In something of a rarity for the lower weight classes, both men are still performing at the highest level despite being in their mid-thirties. Nishioka, the younger man at 35, actually seems to be in the finest form of his career. Defending the title in America for the first time, he used his advantage in speed to full effect, earning his sixteenth consecutive victory.

After testing the waters at Featherweight, Marquez was returning to the division that made him famous. Despite his stellar run as Bantamweight champion, it’s his three unforgettable wars with Israel Vasquez at 122lbs that left an indelible memory in the minds of boxing fans. Try as he might, on Saturday he couldn’t quite recapture that magic.

Nishioka aims to counter the jab

 There was a feeling-out process  in the early going. Little happened in the opening round as both men tried to find their range. Marquez began to let his hands go towards the end of round two, hoping his vaunted power would make an impression on the Japanese champion. Nishioka however, responded well. His southpaw jab was finding the mark and he looked very effective when following it immediately with his straight-left.

Rounds 4 and 5 were close, with both men trying to impose their style onto the other. Nishioka, now 39-4-3 (24), tried to control the distance with his speed and boxing ability, whilst Marquez tried to tempt him into exchanges, where his harder punches did more damage.

Rafa had success in round 6, his accurate power-shots getting to the champion, who was becoming tempted to fight in close quarters.  After recovering well to take the next round, Nishioka was cut after an accidental clash of heads in round 8. The champion had been dominating the round to that point, pushing Marquez to the ropes and landing several head shots. The sight of his opponents blood seemed to reinvigorate the Mexican though and he finished the round strong.

The champion lands a solid jab

After starting round 9 in the same manner, Rafa soon found himself frustrated as Nishioka turned the tables on him, fighting back strong and having particular success with his counters.

Showing his championship class, the Tokyo native dominated down the stretch. The final three rounds were his best of the night as fast, accurate head shots repeatedly peppered the tiring challenger. The champions advantage in speed looked even more pronounced as he landed punch after punch without reply. Even when both men stood and exchanged in the final seconds, bringing the fans to their feet, Nishioka got the best of it.

Although Marquez certainly had his moments and was responsible for pressing the fight, the scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113 seemed fair and the Mexican warrior falls to 40-7 (36).

Marquez and his trainer Daniel Zaragoza have been vocal in fights aftermath about a perceived “robbery” and have called for an immediate re-match. Although he was certainly very competitive, almost every observer scored the fight in favour of the champion and it’s likely Rafa’s complaints will fall on deaf ears. Even at this point of his career though, someone of Marquez’ talents, fighting style and punching power will always find himself in notable fights.

The champion though, is likely moving on to bigger things as Bob Arum claimed to have an agreement for Nonito Donaire to fight the winner of Saturdays clash. The thinking at present is that Nishioka will take some time to recover from this fight, before meeting the outstanding Filipino Flash in May or June of 2012.

Now that Nishioka has established himself as the best Super-Bantamweight in the world, a meeting with Donaire could be a genuine super-fight in the lower weight classes. Even at 35-years-old, Nishioka seems to be in his prime. His excellent speed of hand and foot, combined with his technical skills make him a tough proposition for anyone.

On the undercard, WBA Junior-Flyweight belt holder Roman Gonzalez, 30-0 (25), looked very impressive in his American debut, destroying Omar Soto in the second round. Gonzalez is undoubtedly one of the best little men in the sport but since very little attention is paid to his weight class, he continues to fly under the radar.

“Chocolatito” dominated the first round before an uppercut in round two brought the fight to a swift conclusion. With good technical skills and excellent punching power, hopefully it’s only a matter of time until the masses pay more attention to the Nicaraguan native. More fights in the US, preferably against someone like Adrien Hernandez or Omar Nino, would be a step in the right direction.

 

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