Josue Marquez

Miguel Velazquez is a Spaniard who by 1970 was world-ranked, with a record of 40-1-1. Velazquez had just won the vacant European Lightweight title with a 15 round decision over future world Lightweight champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame member, Ken Buchanan.[5]

When Marquez and Velazquez met, May 22, 1970 at Madrid, Spain's Palacio de los Deportes, they fought for a better world ranking among the top ten Junior Welterweights of the time, Marquez weighing 136 and a half pounds and Velazquez 138, one and a half and three pounds over the Lightweight division's weight limit, respectively, but also 3 and a half and 2 pounds under the Junior Welterweight division's weight limit. Despite putting much resistance, Marquez dropped a ten round decision to Velazquez.

Velazquez later became a world champion, winning and losing the World Boxing Council's world Junior Welterweight championship against Thailand's Saensak Muangsurin.

Immediately following the fight with Velazquez, Marquez returned to Italy for a rematch against Giampiero Salami, on June 26 at Ancona. Once again, however, he lost to Salami, this time outpointed over eight rounds. Three months later, Marquez returned to the boxing ring, facing fellow Puerto Rican contender Hector Matta, who was 9-3. On September 26 at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Marquez obtained a ten round decision win over Matta. Marquez did not fight again for the rest of 1970, taking seven months and a half to return to the ring, to fight Carlos Penzo in San Juan. This fight was also a mismatch, as Penzo had only fought once, losing that fight. Marquez beat Penzo by ten round decision May 15, 1971.

After the Penzo bout, Marquez was allowed to challenge for the vacant Puerto Rican national Lightweight championship. His rival, Victor Ortiz (not to be confused with the latter world champion boxer and actor of the same name) was 11-2, when he and Marquez faced off on June 20, 1971 in San Juan. Marquez won the Puerto Rican Lightweight title when he outpointed Ortiz over twelve rounds, giving Marquez his first professional championship.[6]

Ortiz would go on to become the 5th ranked Junior Welterweight in the world by the WBA and challenge Antonio Cervantes unsuccessfully for his world title.[7]

On his next fight, Marquez would face his biggest test until that time, up and coming Puerto Rican prospect and future WBC Lightweight champion of the world, Esteban De Jesus, who was undefeated and untied in 20 bouts. De Jesus was a rising star in Puerto Rico, the rest of Latin America and the United States when he and Marquez first boxed each other, on July 24, only a month and four days after Marquez had won the national championship.

In a twelve round fight, De Jesus took the title away from Marquez, winning by a points decision.

The two had a rematch on September 4, once again in San Juan. De Jesus was again deemed winner on points after twelve rounds to retain the national Lightweight title.

Marquez followed those two confrontations with a draw against George Foster, who was 13-5 before their December 3 bout at the Felt Forum in New York, and a split decision win on January 21, 1972 against well regarded trial-horse Doc McClendon, 8-7-1, also at the Felt Forum, before challenging De Jesus for a second time; their third bout overall, with De Jesus' Puerto Rican national title on the line was fought not in Puerto Rico, but at the Felt Forum in New York City, on May 21 of 1972. Once again, Marquez was defeated by De Jesus, this time by a twelfth round knockout. The referee for the third De Jesus-Marquez bout was Arthur Mercante.

Marquez then met a debutant boxer, Radames Checo, in a mismatch held on July 28 at Caguas, Puerto Rico. Marquez beat Checo by ten round unanimous decision, and Checo would go on to lose all fourteen of his professional boxing bouts.[8]

On February 15, 1973, Marquez challenged Colombian Antonio Cervantes for his World Boxing Association Junior Welterweight championship of the world. Held at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, this was the first world title fight staged at that venue. Cervantes is a relatively tall man with long arms, but Marquez gave him a close fight for fifteen rounds before the world champion was deemed victor and retainer of his world crown by a split decision. According to boxing magazine The Ring, Marquez landed a short left hook in round three that dropped the champion, but the fall was scored a slip by the referee, Venezuela's Juan Carlos Tapia. In round fifteen, Cervantes dropped Marquez. Nine thousand people attended the bout, most of whom felt that Cervantes was the correct winner. Ring Magazine saw the bout at 147-141 for the Colombian champion.[9]

Marquez's father died later on the day after his challenge with Cervantes was finished; having watched the bout in person, he (Marquez's father) suffered a heart attack and died shortly after.[10]

Six months after his world title challenge of Cervantes, Marquez was back in the ring, facing 3-2 Ronald Whyms, whom Marquez outpointed over ten rounds at San Juan on August 21.

Then came a trip to Australia to meet Hector Thompson, 41-3-2, on November 5 at the Brisbane Festival Hall in Brisbane. Marquez lost that fight by ten round decision, but returned to the winning column by defeating super-veteran Angel Robinson Garcia, by then 128-65-19, also by ten round decision, back home in San Juan on February 8, 1974.

Marquez boxed future Wilfred Benitez world title challenger Emiliano Villa, by then 13-1, at Barranquilla, Colombia, on July 7 of that year, losing a ten round decision, then awaited almost one year outside the professional boxing ring before coming back, after he promptly lost to another one of Cervantes' world title challengers, the 16-3-2 Adriano Marrero of the Dominican Republic, by a ten round decision at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan on June 28, 1975. One month and a half later, he was back in Colombia, to face 15-2-2 prospect, Miguel Betruz, whom Marquez outpointed over ten rounds at a bullring in Cartagena, on August 16, as part of the card that featured the then WBC recognized world Middleweight champion Rodrigo Valdez retain his belt with a 15 round decision over Rudy Robles.[11]

Marquez fought Frankie Benitez, Wilfred's brother, on December 13, 1975. With a record of 22 wins and 2 losses, Benitez was considered a prospect by fans and the press alike, but Marquez derailed him with a ten round decision win in San Juan. The pair had a rematch on April 17, 1976, this time at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, where they fought to a ten round draw (tie).

Another rematch followed the second Marquez-Benitez encounter, this time against Adriano Marrero, by now 22-6-2. This fight was also fought at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, by then a world boxing hotbed. In a card headlined by Alfredo Escalera's defense of his WBC world Junior Lightweight championship against Ray Lunny III (which Escalera won by 12th. round knockout), Marquez and Marrero battled again, on Saturday, September 18, 1976, when Marquez avenged his previous loss to Marrero, winning by ten round decision.[12]

The win against Marrero turned out to be the last victory of note Marquez achieved in his professional boxing career, since he only fought twice more: first, against a boxer with an 0-3 record, Rolando Garcia, knocked out in four rounds on March 17, 1977 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum. Then Marquez faced Edwin Viruet, who had just come from lasting the full 15 round distance with Roberto Durán in a world title attempt; completing a total of 25 rounds against Durán divided in two fights without getting knocked out by the Panamanian. Viruet knocked Marquez out in round ten on April 8, 1978 at the Juan Ramon Loubriel stadium in San Juan, after which Marquez decided to retire from professional boxing.

Marquez won 32, losing 12 and tying 2 of his 46 professional boxing fights, winning 7 and losing 2 of those by knockout.