Nishioka retains WBC crown with victory against Marquez

Rafael Marquez figured that by fighting in Las Vegas instead of Japan, he'd get a fair shake from the judges.

But after losing a 12-round unanimous decision Saturday to reigning WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka at the MGM Grand's Marquee Ballroom, Marquez probably felt he'd have been better off facing Nishioka in Tokyo.

Marquez (40-7) said he thought he'd done enough to win, and he was angry with the decision after judges Robert Hoyle (117-111), Dave Moretti (116-112) and C.J. Ross (115-113) had Nishioka winning.

"I'm very disappointed," said Marquez, a 36-year-old from Mexico. "I thought I won the first five rounds easily, and I believe I won at least seven rounds."

Nishioka, 35, a minus-270 favorite making his sixth title defense, said he fought the smarter fight.

Marquez also fought with intelligence early on, using his jab, cutting down the ring and not falling prey to the awkwardness of Nishioka, a southpaw. In the eighth round, the two fighters' heads clashed, and Nishioka sustained a cut on top of his head. The head-butt was ruled accidental, but Nishioka appeared shaken. With blood flowing down the right side of his face, he was hesitant as Marquez went after him and landed a big right hand late in the round.

It was more of the same in the ninth, as Marquez scored early with another overhand right and followed with a straight right hand. It might have been the wake-up call Nishioka needed, because he came out for the 10th a desperate fighter, landing a solid combination early in the round that stunned Marquez momentarily. He landed three more lefts that had Marquez backing up as Nishioka battled his way back.

"I was afraid they were going to stop the fight after the cut," said Nishioka (39-4-3). "So I had to fight harder."

In the co-feature, WBA junior flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez knocked out Omar Soto in the second round. Gonzalez (30-0), whose title was not at stake after Soto came in 3½ pounds over the 108-pound limit at Friday's weigh-in, landed a three-punch right-left-right combination that dropped Soto (22-9-1) in front of his corner as referee Robert Byrd counted him out at 36 seconds of the round.

Las Vegas' Jesse Magdaleno improved to 6-0 after stopping Isaac Hidalgo in the first round. Magdaleno was hitting Hidalgo (8-8-2) relentlessly throughout the first three minutes, and Hidalgo couldn't see out of his left eye and didn't come out for the second round.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.