Juan Manuel Marquez Mendez aka “Dinamita” is a professional Mexican boxer. He was born on August 23, 1973 in Mexico City and currently holds the WBO, IBO, and WBA Lightweight championship belt as well as the distinction of being the current Ring Magazine Lightweight champion. Apart from his current titles, Marquez used to hold the WBA, WBO, and IBF Featherweight titles plus the WBC Super Featherweight title. To add further glory to his name, he is the fourth boxer from Mexico to have been a world champion for three classes aside from Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Julio Cesar Chavez.
Marquez stands at 5 feet and 7 inches in height or 170 centimeters, has a reach of 67 inches or 170 centimeters, and fights using an Orthodox stance. He made his debut into the professional boxing world in May 29, 1993 when he was just 19 years old. Unfortunately, he was not victorious during his first match as he lost via disqualification against the more experienced Javier Duran.
Marquez was able to recover from his loss and even managed to stay undefeated a good six years after his entry into the professional boxing world. To his credit, he was able to defeat former champions such as Alfred Kotey and Julio Gervacio, and future champion Agapito Sanchez.
One of his most notable fights was against Manny Pacquiao, a Filipino boxer. During his matches against Pacquiao, there were many speculations raised regarding the decisions after each match. Unfortunately, Pacquiao managed to take the title away from Marquez after their second fight before Pacquiao moved to another boxing class.
Over the course of his career, Marquez has a total of 52 matches won, 38 via knockout, with only 5 losses to his name plus 1 draw.
Though Marquez had already been fighting in the welterweight division, he has returned to lightweight. After winning a fight against Michael Katsidis via unanimous decision, he has already expressed his interest in having a third bout with Manny Pacquiao.
Timothy Bradley
The 24-year old Timothy Bradley is the current World Boxing Council champion in the light welterweight division. A devout Christian, Bradley was born in California, United States on August 29, 1983. The American Boxer from Palm Springs California practices the Orthodox stance and is a former WBC Youth Champion.
Timothy Bradley is popularly known as the “Dessert Storm” and was considered a 5-1 heavy underdog against a fight with Junior Witter. Bradley never faced top 10 contenders in his professional career, ever fought outside his country and never fought for a world title. This was his first fight outside of California in May 10, 2008 at FM Trent Arena, Nottingham, England. The event was promoted by Mick Hennessy. Bradley earned the mandatory shot to fight against Witter’s WBC title since Jose Luis Castillo wasn’t able to qualify for the weight against him in Cancun.
Bradley won his bout via split decision against Witter, who was a super lightweight champion from Great Britain. He showed his spectacular and unique combination of patience, speed and an overhand right. The World Boxing Council acknowledged his victory full-heartedly. They expressed that Bradley showcased his undefeated record and that his quality as a fighter deserved the break. He attested the importance of being the World Boxing Council professional champion. Aside from that, the fight was good because Junior Witter (36-2-2, 21 KOs), who defended his title for the third time, relinquished it with much dignity and honour. The boxing community knew that the decision of the judges on the Bradley vs. Witter showed all neutrality. As predicted, Bradley is now the 25th “ShoBox” alum to capture the a world class title
Bradley fought in the ring 27 times. He won 26 of the bouts with 11 victories via knockout. He has 1 fight that ended in a no contest.
Bradley is thought to be very skilled and quick especially against the opponents that he has come across with. After he won against Luis Abregu in a bout that ended via unanimous decision in Bradley’s favor, he has openly challenged Manny Pacquiao, egging him to “Come break down this wall.” Incidentally, Bradley has also expressed interest in going against Amir Khan, Devon Alexander, as well as Marcos Maidana.
