Marquez looks to win title with a memorable wallop

	Super bantamweight champ Israel Vazquez will pose the greatest challenge yet for the heavy punches of Rafael Marquez.

For decades professional boxers have entered the ring to a variety of different music. Frank Sinatra was the artist of choice for Bernard Hopkins, while Mike Tyson preferred anything by DMX. Their choice of music was purposeful -- intimidation was usually a big factor, as a song effectively served as a first punch -- but rarely did it have a purpose. That is, of course, unless you are Rafael Marquez.

When Marquez makes his way to the ring on Saturday night in Carson City, Nev. for his WBC super bantamweight title fight with Israel Vazquez he will walk with the sounds of Gallo de Pelea echoing in the background. It's appropriate, really, that in a fight that should be a brawl from start to finish, one of the combatants enters to a song about cockfighting.

"It suits me," says Marquez. "I'm ready for battle."

There's little doubt of that. One of Mexico's preeminent boxers, along with his brother, former featherweight champion Juan Manuel, Marquez is one of the most ferocious fighters at any level. With fists that look like they should be attached to a man twice his size, Marquez has plowed through the bantamweight competition, amassing a 36-3 record, 32 of those victories coming by knockout.

"Rafael packs a lot of power," says trainer Nacho Beristain. "When he hits you, it's going to hurt." Beristain says he first realized Rafael might be something special in his first fight, a KO loss to veteran Victor Rabanales. "That was an experienced fighter he took on," says Beristain, who also trains Juan Manuel. "And he hung in there with him. Right then I knew we had something."

Growing up in Mexico City Marquez's first boxing experience came in a small 9 x 9 foot room where his father, Rafael Sr., a respectable fighter in his own right who compiled a 35-5 professional record, would train his two sons using cheap plastic gloves. While Juan Manuel possessed his father's skill, Rafael's hard punches were hardly an inherited trait. "I don't know where he got it," says Rafael Sr. with a laugh. "It certainly didn't come from me."

For Marquez, this fight will be his first bout in the super bantamweight division, a shift he says he made in part because at age 31 he was struggling to make the bantamweight limit, and in part because of his desire to test himself at 122 pounds. "I want to show everyone I'm the best," says Marquez. "No matter what weight class I fight in."

He certainly picked the right opponent. Vazquez has held some variation of the super bantamweight title since 2004 and has 30 knockouts to his credit. In a fight being billed as a Fight of the Year candidate (it helps when both fighters have expressed their willingness to die in the ring), Marqeuez will face an experienced opponent with the size to absorb his bombs and the power to launch a few of his own.

"I'm a little nervous," admits Marquez. "But that's to be expected. Vazquez is a great fighter. I'm just ready to get this fight started."