Raúl Marquez

Raúl Marquez
Data
Birth Name	Raúl Marquez
Fight name	El Diamante
Weight class	Light middleweight
nationality	United States
birthday	August 28, 1971
place of birth	Valle Hermoso
style	Southpaw
size	1.79 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	47
Victories	41
Knockout victories	29
Defeats	4th
draw	1
No value	1
Profile in the BoxRec database

Raúl Márquez (born August 28, 1971 in Valle Hermoso , Tamaulipas ) is a former Mexican professional boxer and world champion of the IBF in the light middleweight division. Among the amateurs he was a two-time US champion, bronze medalist at the 1989 World Cup and an Olympian in 1992.

Amateur career

As a child, Raúl Márquez came with his family from Mexico to the USA, where they settled in Texas. He started boxing at the age of seven and won his first amateur fight in Houston at the age of eight . At the age of 15, she won the national junior Olympics. At the age of 16, he narrowly failed in the national elimination bouts for participation in the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea. Also in 1988 he graduated from Northshore High School in Houston.

In 1989 he won the welterweight (63.5-67 kg) US championships, the US Olympic Festival and a bronze medal at the World Championships in Moscow ; after victories against the Spaniard Javier Martínez (31: 7), the Canadian Greg Johnson (TKo) and the 1991 European champion from Sweden Roberto Welin (17:14), he lost in the semifinals to the three-time world champion Francisc Vaştag (7:13) Romania.

Then he boxed in the light middleweight (67-71 kg) on. He was again US champion in 1991 and took part in the 1991 World Championships , where he was eliminated in the round of 16 against the eventual European professional champion and World Cup challenger Ole Klemetsen from Norway (17:27).

In 1992 he won the national Olympic qualification with victories against Robert Allen (TKo), reigning US champion and as a professional six-time world championship challenger, Lonnie Bradley (22:17), reigning National Golden Gloves Champion and later WBO world champion as well as Antwun Echols ( 71:18), later three-time professional World Cup challenger. He also won the AIBA World Challenge with a final victory over the 1991 world champion and 1992 Olympic champion Juan Lemus (24:19).

He then took part in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona , where he reached the quarter-finals against David Defiagbon and Rival Cadeau, but where he was defeated in the fight for a medal place against Orhan Delibaş .

Professional career

He switched to the pros in 1992 and won 25 fights, 18 of them prematurely. Among the defeated opponents were Reggie Strickland and Jorge Vaca . In April 1997 he defeated Anthony Stephens in the fight for the vacant IBF title and successfully defended the World Cup against Romallis Ellis and Keith Mullings . In December 1997, he finally lost to Luis Campas .

He lost another IBF title fight in July 1999 to Fernando Vargas , while his duel against Shane Mosley in February 2003 remained worthless. The reason for this was Márquez's face injuries from an accidental headbutt by Mosley. In June 2004 he lost to Jermain Taylor . A draw with Bronco McKart in March 2008 was followed by a points win in June 2008 against Giovanni Lorenzo . He played his last professional fight on November 8, 2008 in Bamberg against Arthur Abraham for the IBF middleweight title, but lost prematurely in round 6.

predecessor	Office	successor
Terry Norris	Light Middleweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) April 12, 1997 - December 6, 1997	Luis Campas

After boxing

After his active career, he became a sports commentator for Showtime, among others, and founded his own fitness and boxing club in Texas in 2012.

Web links

• BoxRec profile
• Overview of all professional fights, BoxRec
• Former Olympian, world champion boxer hopes to knock out low self esteem in Humble area children