Boxing Betting Lines & Odds Israel Vazquez vs Rafael Marquez IV | IXGAMES

Back in the heyday of boxing, it wasn’t that uncommon for fighters to face off four times against each other (or more). Shoot, Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta fought six times. The most recent occurrence of two fighters battling four times was Azumah Nelson and Jesse James Leija, who squared off that often from 1993-96. But guys fighting four times nowadays, when boxers often only get in the ring twice a year, is very unusual. Thus Israel Vazquez (44-4, 32 KOs) and Rafael Marquez (38-5, 34 KOs) will sort of break the mold on Saturday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles when they face off for the fourth time in a bout on Showtime. This will be the first time they meet as featherweights (126 pounds). One thing you can be assured of as a bettor and fan is that this won’t be a Floyd Mayweather-type fight. By that I mean these guys will stand toe-to-toe and bash each other, just as they have in the previous three meetings. It’s actually sort of surprising they are facing off again considering the damage they have inflicted upon each other. On March 3, 2007, Vazquez lost the first fight after his nose was so broken that he couldn’t breathe and had to quit in the seventh round – and he broke it in the first round but fought through it. Just five months later he beat Marquez on a sixth-round TKO. And seven months later Vazquez won a split decision thanks to a dominant final round in which he knocked down his Mexican countryman – literally, that two-point swing was the difference in a one-point win on the final card. Plus Marquez had earlier been penalized a point by referee Pat Russell, so that’s how evenly matched these two are. The 25 rounds they have fought have produced four knockdowns (something you will never see in a Mayweather bout) and the final two fights were voted “Fight of the Year” by Ring Magazine. But literally the best statistic to come out of that final fight was that it was so brutal that Marquez then took 14 months off and Vazquez, who required three surgeries on his damaged retina, took 19 months off. Vazquez ended his absence with October’s ninth-round knockout of Angel Antonio Priolo, while Marquez knocked out Jose Francisco Mendoza in the third round in May. At Bodog’s online sportsbook we have opened our boxing betting lines with Vazquez as a -155 favorite and Marquez at +125, with the rounds total at 9.5 (the under is -140, which looks like a good bet considering two of the first three didn’t make it that far). By comparison, we opened Vazquez at -160 for their most recent bout (March 1, 2008) and he closed at -145. Marquez opened at +130 and closed at +115. The rounds total on that closed at 7.5, with the over a -155 favorite. Vazquez by decision was a nice win for the players, as it paid out at +350 (Vazquez would have paid +380). Because these two are such brawlers, a decision by KO, TKO or DQ by both was the favorite in both cases. That’s a rarity in boxing. If Marquez evens this rivalry at two wins apiece, don’t be surprised to see a fifth and final bout. In Saturday’s co-feature, Yonnhy Perez defends his IBF world bantamweight title against unbeaten top contender Abner Mares. Those two have opened at -115 each. By the way, if you are a Showtime subscriber I highly recommend watching “Vazquez-Marquez: The Trilogy,” a two-hour documentary that will air again on the network on Saturday at 4 p.m. (Eastern). Each of their first three fights can be viewed at sports.sho.com as well. Author, Richard Gardner, Bodog Sportsbook Manager