Rafael Marquez injures thumb, fight with Lopez off for Sep 18th

By Jason Kim: According to Fight News, former bantamweight and super bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez (39-5, 35 KO’s) injured his thumb and will be unable to fight World Boxing Organization featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez on September 18th. The thumb injury, which occurred while Marquez was on a bus, will take approximately two months to heal. In the meantime, WBO featherweight champion Lopez will be looking for a replacement to step in for Marquez on the 18th of next month. Despite the Marquez vs. Lopez fight being an interesting one, there was little talk about the fight on the internet among boxing fans.

It was strange that the fight wasn’t getting as much press as it should have been getting. However, Marquez has been inactive for the most part in the past couple of years, fighting only once in 2009 and once in 2010. In his last fight, Marquez stopped a shot looking Israel Vazquez in the 3rd round on May 22nd of this year. This was the 4th fight between Marquez and Vazquez in the past two years. Vazquez looked horrible against Marquez and was not in the last competitive in the fight before it was stopped in the 3rd. Still, Vazquez spoke of wanting a 5th between the two afterwards.

Lopez’s options for an interesting replacement aren’t good. There’s only a small handful of fighters in the featherweight division that the boxing public have any familiarity with, and those fighters aren’t likely going to be available or willing to step in against an outstanding fighter like Lopez in this much of a short notice.

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