Marquez stops Stephens

      It wasn't pretty, but Raul Marquez got the title he wanted.
      Marquez, of Houston, stopped Anthony Stephens in the ninth round to capture the vacant International Boxing Federation junior middleweight championship Saturday afternoon at the Tropicana Hotel.
      Both fighters and referee Richard Steele were covered with blood when Steele stopped the bout, televised on ABC's "Wide World of Sports," at 1:47 of the ninth round.
      Stephens, 154, of Shreveport, La., went down in the ninth round from what Marquez described as a head butt and left hand. Replays showed the knockdown was caused by the head butt.
      Steele said Stephens was a "warrior," who fought well early.
      "He was going downhill,'' Steele said. ''He wasn't able to defend himself. That last blow was enough for me."
      Marquez was bleeding from a cut on his right forehead, which he sustained in the fifth round from an accidental head butt.
      "When I see blood, it makes me fight harder," Marquez said of his head butt.
      Marquez improved to 26-0. Stephens, 32, dropped to 28-8.
      Marquez led on all three judges' scorecards. Bill Graham and John Stewart had Marquez ahead 78-74 through the eight rounds, and judge Sheila Martin-Harman had Marquez leading, 77-75.
      Marquez, 25, won the title that was vacated when Terry Norris elected to take a fight against IBF welterweight champion Felix Trinidad instead of Marquez, who was the IBF's No. 1 contender.
      Marquez said he would like to fight the winner of the Norris-Trinidad bout. Norris and Trinidad were scheduled to fight June 27 in Madison Square Garden.
      But promoter Don King said that will change because the Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson fight was rescheduled for June 28 at the MGM Grand Garden.
      Marquez received $50,000. Stephens received $7,500.
      In other bouts:
      Don Diego Poeder, 193, of the Netherlands, stopped John Kiser, 192, of Denver, at 1:49 of the fifth round..
      Cesar Soto, 131, of Mexico, stopped Elias Quiroz, 131, of Mexico, at 2:32 of the second round.
      Vassily Jirov, 194, of Scottsdale, Ariz.,, stopped Tyrone Armstead, 186, of Evansville, Ind., at the end of the fourth round.