Rafael Marquez ready to take on Japanese sensation Kenichi Yamaguchi in 10-round bout – Boxing News
Rafael Marquez, the former WBC Silver super bantamweight champion, will enter the ring after the lapse of six months against the Japanese proud Kenichi Yamaguchi, the former WBO Asia Pacific super bantamweight champion, in a 10-round bout which will be held
on May 5, 2012.
The above duo will co-headline the pay-per-view organised and promoted by Fernando Beltran of Promociones Zanfer and the ring for the bout will be stretched at Tijuana situated in Baja California, Mexico.
The Saturday night showdown is being headlined by the much anticipated WBA female super bantamweight championship bout between Jackie Nava and Diana Ayala. Rafael recently shared his thoughts about his upcoming opponent and vowed to make a comeback by grabbing
an impressive win.
Rafael, 37, has been in a total 47 bouts and boasts an impressive resume with 40 wins, 36 of them via knockout. The world number five ranked super bantamweight is considered as the longest reigning IBF bantamweight champion in the recent years.
Marquez grabbed his IBF gold after collecting an impressive technical knockout win over Tim Austin in 2003 and since then defended it against seven different opponents. Rafael vacated the title just to take on Israel Vazquez to become the WBC super bantamweight
champion.
In his last fight with Toshiaki Nishioka in October 2011, Rafael attempted to collect the WBC super bantamweight title for the second time but his efforts went in vain and he left the ring with a unanimous decision loss.
His Saturday night opponent, Kenichi, 31, is seriously overshadowed by Rafael’s experience. The Japanese sensation has been in a total 22 bouts and emerged victorious in 17. He has nailed just four of his opponents by knockout and will be easy bait for the
knockout pounder Rafael.
Despite having a clear edge over Yamaguchi, Rafael respects his opponent and does not underestimate his abilities. During the interview, Marquez commented, “He is Japanese, moves a lot in the ring…he is very capable and he is a good fighter. We trained really
well to make this fight a great fight for all the fans.”
The bout will definitely be an epic one and if Yamaguchi gives Rafael a tough time, it will definitely become one of the memorable bouts of the year. Yamaguchi at the moment is coming from an 11th round technical knockout loss to Orlando Salido. The special
edition will be televised live on Mexico’s state channel Azteca.
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