Juan Manuel Márquez

Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez (born August 23, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014.

He is the third Mexican boxer (after Érik Morales and Jorge Arce) to become a world champion in four weight classes, having held nine world major titles from featherweight to light welterweight, including the lineal championship at lightweight.

In a career that spanned over twenty years, Márquez was known for being a fast and highly technical boxer who was exceptionally skilled at combinations and counterpunches, yet also willing to engage in slugfests with opponents.

He was also credited for his toughness, and never lost a fight by stoppage.

His most notable bouts include his four-fight saga with Manny Pacquiao and his fight against fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera.

He made his professional boxing debut at age 19 on May 29, 1993, losing via disqualification to Javier Duran.

Márquez remained undefeated for six years, compiling a 29–1 record that included wins against future champions Agapito Sanchez, Julio Gervacio and Alfred Kotey.

In 1997, Márquez won the WBO 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.

During this time, Márquez worked as an accountant while training under Ignacio Beristáin in Mexico City.

In 1999, Márquez faced Freddie Norwood for the WBA Featherweight title instead.

Márquez 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, Márquez scored a knockdown after a two punch combination.

Márquez lost via controversial unanimous decision.

HBO Punchstat had Norwood landing 73 out of 290 punches thrown to Márquez's 89 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 & USBA Featherweight titles.

Márquez received his second bout for a world title on February 1, 2003, when he defeated former four-time Featherweight Champion Manuel Medina and captured the vacant IBF Featherweight title.

In the 2nd round, Márquez connected with a three-punch combination that floored Medina.

The fight was stopped in the 7th round after Márquez 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 the WBA (Super) Champion.

Márquez would keep this job until winning his first world title in 2004.

In May 2004, Márquez fought Lineal & The Ring Featherweight Champion Manny Pacquiao in a bout where Márquez was knocked down three times in the 1st round.

Márquez outboxed Pacquiao for the remainder of the bout which was ended in a controversial, split-decision draw.

The final scores were 115–110 for Márquez, 115–110 for Pacquiao and 113–113.

Judge Burt A. Clements (who scored the bout 113–113) later admitted to making an error on the scorecards, because he had scored the first round as 10–7 in favor of Pacquiao instead of the standard 10–6 for a three-knockdown round.

On September 18, 2004, Márquez made his first appearance on pay-per-view, being on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya, defeating and retaining his unified titles against future champion Orlando Salido.

On May 7, 2005, he made his fourth title defense and first appearance on Showtime Championship Boxing, facing Victor Polo while walking away with a unanimous decision victory.

In August 2005, Márquez was stripped of his WBA and IBF unified Featherweight titles for his inability to defend them against various boxers after potential bouts failed to draw a bid.

In 2006, Márquez attempted to regain a title, coming up short in a unanimous decision loss to undefeated Indonesian boxer Chris John in Indonesia for the WBA Featherweight Championship title.

The loss led to the Ring Magazine's removal of Márquez from its pound for pound.

In late 2006, Márquez captured the Interim WBO Featherweight title by defeating Thai boxer Terdsak Jandaeng.

Márquez was named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year in 2012.

He is considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time, and is ranked by BoxRec as the thirteenth greatest boxer of all time and the fifth greatest Mexican boxer of all time, pound for pound.

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the class of 2020.

Márquez had an amateur record of 82–4, with 72 wins by knock-out.