Two weeks ago, Rafael Marquez moved up a weight class to 122 lbs, suffered a knockdown, and came out the new featherweight champion. Last night his older brother used the same blueprint in his victory over Marco Antonio Barrera.

In front of a raucous bipartisan crowd of over 8,000 rabid Mexicans, Juan Manuel Marquez moved up to junior lightweight and used sheer aggression to bull his way to a unanimous decision over Barerra, despite being floored in the 8th round. The Official scores were 116-111 (twice), and (ludicrously) 118-109. I had it 115-112 for Marquez.

Both fighters started out cautiously, with Marquez jabbing to the body and Barrera looking sharp with qucik counters. Barrera's jab found its mark early on, and by round 3 Marquez changed tactics by bulling his way in and pressing the fight; from that point on Marquez would be the aggressor, though Barrera gave as good as he got in their frequent exchanges. Barrera's left hook landed, and Marquez was increasingly finding his opponent with scintilating straight rights. While Barrera appeared to have the edge in the first three rounds, Marquez's effective aggression and hard combinations gave him rounds 4, 5, and 6. In the 7th round, Marquez got into a groove and landed straight right hands which rocked the "Baby-Faced Assassin". Barrera looked like he was ready to go, as Marquez pursued him recklessly, smelling the knockout. It was then where the wily veteran Barrera caught Marquez walking into a hard right hand on the chin, flooring him. Barrera soon turned genius into outrage as he blatantly punched Marquez while he was down, earning himself a point deduction. What was worse for Barrera, the punch was not scored a knockdown, as referee Jay Nady did not see it from where he was standing. Barrera did well in rounds 8 and 9, but Marquez roared back in the championship rounds, while Barrera looked like he had ran out of gas. Throwing every punch in the book, Marquez landed combinations and stung Barrera, though Barrera landed uppercuts and his effective jab.

It was a difficult fight to score, but it appeared that Marquez, 47-3 (35), had he started fighting more aggressively earlier on, may have secured a knockout of his fellow Mexican warrior. Barrera, 63-5 (42), has stated that he will retire in 2007, but a rematch with Marquez now, not Pacquiao, seems like the more palatable--and meaningful-- fight. For Juan Manuel Marquez, he joins his brother as a new champion, and deservedly so. A rematch with Pacquiao has to happen. Overcoming a decade of obscurity in which the lower classes were ruled over by the Morales', Barreras, and Pacquiaos, Marquez, at 33, is finally seizing the opportunity to secure and win the type of fights that help build one's legacy.