"THE GREATEST"
MUHAMMAD ALI
Juan Manuel Marquez 3 weight World champion SIGNED Tecate sponsored 8 1/4" x 5 1/4" photo image.
Condition mint
Price: £ SOLD
Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez Méndez (born August 23, 1973 in Mexico City), current WBA and WBO Lightweight world champion as well as the current Ring Magazine Lightweight champion. He has also held the IBF, WBA, and WBO Featherweight titles, and the WBC Super Featherweight title. He is the fifth Mexican boxer to become a world champion in three different weight classes after Marco Antonio Barrera, Érik Morales, Julio César Chávez, and later Fernando Montiel.
Personal Life
Márquez has a brother named Rafael Márquez, who is a former world champion at the Bantamweight, and Super bantamweight division. The two are listed in Ring Magazine's top ten pound for pound list. They are one of four sets of Mexican brothers to hold world titles. Márquez and his wife, Erika, have two sons.
Professional Career
Márquez had an amateur record of 35-1 that included two Golden Glove tournament wins. He made his professional boxing debut at age 19 on May 29, 1993, and lost his first bout via disqualification to Javier Duran.
Featherweight
Márquez remained undefeated for another six years as he compiled a record of 29-1 that included a win against future champion Agapito Sanchez, and former champions Julio Gervacio, and Alfred Kotey. In 1997, Márquez won the NABO Featherweight title, which he defended seven times. During this time, he was referred to as the "best fighter without a world title" Márquez was WBO Featherweight champion Naseem Hamed's mandatory challenger for 22 straight months, however, the WBO allowed Hamed to schedule other fights instead.
Márquez earned his first bout for a world title on September 11, 1999, when he lost a controversial decision to then-unbeaten WBA featherweight champion Freddie Norwood. Marquez was the aggressor throughout most of the bout but fought tentatively as Norwood was reluctant to engage, and often wrestled with Marquez in the many clinches. Marquez was knocked down in the second round. In the 8th round, Norwood's glove touched the canvas after an exchange, however, it was not ruled a knock down by the referee who was standing opposite to the action. In the 9th round, Marquez scored a knockdown after a two punch combination. HBO Punchstat had Norwood landing 73 out of 290 punches thrown to Marquez's 89 out of 444.
On November 20, 1999, Márquez faced Remigio Molina, and defeated him in eight rounds. In 2000, he defeated former champion Daniel Jimenez, and five fights later, he defeated future champion Robbie Peden in ten rounds, and captured the NABF, and USBA Featherweight titles.
Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez received his second bout for a world title on January 2, 2003, when he defeated five-time featherweight champion Manuel Medina, and captured the vacant IBF Featherweight title. In the 2nd round, Marquez connected with a three-punch combination that floored Medina. The fight was stopped in the 7th round after Marquez knocked Medina down for a second time.
He then defeated Derrick Gainer later in the year in a unification bout to win the WBA Featherweight title and become "Super Champion".
First Bout With Pacquiao
In May 2004, Márquez fought Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao in a drawn bout where he was knocked down 3 times in the first round by Pacquiao. Marquez fought himself back into the fight; after a very close second round, it was clear this would be a long night for Pacquiao. Marquez was able to counter effectively, dominating the middle rounds and effectively countering Pacquiao in the later rounds; however, the fight was ruled a draw. Many who were startled at Marquez surviving the first round saw Marquez take control of the fight thereafter, only to be denied the win on the judges' scorecards. The final scores were 115-110 for Márquez, 115-110 for Pacquiao, and 113-113. The second fight would prove to be more controversial.
On September 18, 2004, Márquez defeated future champion Orlando Salido. In 2005, Márquez was stripped of his WBA, and IBF Featherweight titles, for his inability to defend it against various boxers after potential bouts failed to draw a bid. In 2006, Márquez attempted to regain a title, coming up short in a controversial decision loss to Indonesian boxer Chris John for the WBA Featherweight championship title. The disputed decision led to the Ring Magazine's removal of Márquez from its pound-for-pound top 10 list.
In late 2006, Márquez captured the WBO Interim Featherweight title defeating Thai boxer Terdsak Jandaeng, and defending it against Filipino boxer Jimrex Jaca with a nine round knockout in Hidalgo, Texas. Márquez was promoted to world champion status in December 2006 when previous champion Scott Harrison vacated the title. Márquez vacated the Featherweight title the following year to challenge WBC Super Featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera.
Super Featherweight
On March 17, 2007, Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez became the WBC Super Featherweight champion by defeating Barrera in Las Vegas by unanimous decision. Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Márquez's first defence of his title was to be held on September 15, 2007 against Argentinian boxer Jorge Rodrigo Barrios. However, Barrios withdrew from the bout due to injury, prompting American boxer Rocky Juárez to challenge Márquez for the title in November 3, 2007 in a losing effort.
Second Bout With Pacquiao
On November 29, 2007, Márquez announced that he would defend his championship title against Manny Pacquiao, whom he fought to a controversial draw in 2004. On March 15, 2008, Juan Manuel Márquez lost his Super Featherweight Championship to Manny Pacquiao via a highly disputed split decision. Márquez suffered a knockdown in the third round that proved to be the difference in the decision as the remaining rounds were scored dead even. The fight was controversial with some Filipino boxing analysts saying Marquez should be the winner.Compubox scoring had Juan Manuel Márquez landing 42/201 (21%) jabs to Pacquiao's 43/314 (14%) jabs, it also had Márquez scoring 130/310 (42%) power punches to Pacquiao's 114/305 (37%) power punches. Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, offered a $6 million guarantee to Pacquiao for a rematch. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said, “I’m not saying they’ll never fight again, but you have to let it bake for a while”. Pacquiao, for his part, said: "I don't think so, this business is over" as he plans to move up to the lightweight division.
Lightweight
Márquez moved up to the Lightweight division in order to fight the lineal Ring lightweight champion Joel Casamayor on the weekend leading up to Mexican Independence Day at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. On September 13, 2008, he defeated Casamayor in the 11th round after two knockdowns, and captured his sixth world title in three different weight classes. In the first four rounds of the bout, Márquez continually walked into counter punches from Casamayor. It took Márquez until the fifth round to be able to find the range with his right hand. By the fifth round, a cut over Casamayor's right eye was opened from a clash of heads. Rounds five, six, seven, and eight were rounds where Márquez landed straight punches from the outside, but he was also struck by Casamayor whenever he lunged forward. Two minutes into the eleventh round, Casamayor was knocked down by a right punch as he pulled away from an intense exchange. Casamayor was able to get on his feet, but it was clear he was still shakey from the knockdown. As soon as the action was allowed to resume, Márquez went in for the kill as he let his punches go in furious combination. Casamayor punched back, but he was knocked down again with about 7 seconds left in the round. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in the bout, and stopped the fight as he deemed Casamyor unable to continue. The official judges had the fight scored 95-95, 95-95, and 97-93 for Márquez before the 11th round knockout. After the win, Ring magazine ranked Márquez second on its pound for pound list, and rated him the number one boxer in the Lightweight division.
Márquez vs. Díaz
On February 28, 2009, Márquez defeated IBO champion, and former WBA, IBF, and WBO Lightweight champion Juan Díaz by knockout. Díaz controlled the fight early in the bout as the two boxers exchanged punches. Díaz opened a cut above Márquez's right eye in the fifth round, and looked to control the bout, but Márquez responded by opening a gash above Diaz's right eye, and stunning him with a left hook before the end of the eighth round. Márquez landed two hard rights to Díaz's face in a three-punch combination that knocked Díaz down with 35 seconds remaining in the ninth round. Díaz rose, but seconds later, Márquez followed with a right uppercut to the chin that knocked Díaz down for a second time. Referee Rafael Ramos waved an end to the fight after two minutes and 40 seconds of the ninth round. This fight is currently the frontrunner for 2009 fight of the year. With the victory, Márquez defended his Ring Lightweight title, and claimed the WBO, the WBA, and the IBO Lightweight championship titles. After the fight Márquez expressed an interest in fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Welterweight - Márquez vs. Mayweather
Márquez moved up to the Welterweight division, and will fight undefeated and former number one pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. The fight was scheduled to take place at 144 lbs on July 18, 2009 at the MGM Grand arena; but has since been postponed due to a rib injury sustained by Mayweather. The bout has been rescheduled for September 19, 2009. . During the official weigh in for their 144lb bout, Marquez weighed in at 142lbs. Mayweather defeated Marquez on a unanimous decision.