Ali-Frazier. Gatti-Ward. Bowe-Holyfield. Addams Family Reunion. Poison Ivy: The New Seduction. There are classic trilogies, and there are not so classic ones. All signs point to Israel Vazquez - Rafael Marquez 3, this Saturday night in Los Angeles (and on Showtime), being a worthy threepeat. Their first two fights were mind-numbingly action packed. The ferocity of the last match-up didn't have an easy to follow movie plotline of a Pavlik-Taylor I (a man is decked, then returns for vengeance!). Until Vazquez finally prevailed, it was a back-and-forth war all night -- with Showtime's Steve Albert screaming each Mexican's name altertatively, like Faye Dunaway in the L.A. classic Chinatown: slap! "Vazquez!" slap! "Marquez!" slap! "Vazquez!" slap! "Marquez!"
ESPN.com has it covered from multiple angles. Graham Houston ranks the all-time great fight trilogies. William Dettloff complements that with a look at the top Mexican boxing rivalries. Dan Rafael leads off his weekend notebook with a preview of the fight.
In print, Keith Idec in the Herald News (check out the new web site!) proposes Vazquez-Marquez 3 as a palate cleanser for fans, after the sour tasting Klitschko-Ibragimov fight last weekend. David Avila in the Press Entrerprise sees the bout as continuing in the fine tradition of great Mexican boxing in Los Angeles.
Also on Showtime: Jason Litzau challenges for Robert Guerrero's IBF featherweight title tonight on SHO. The San Jose Mercury News reminds us: "Gilroy boxer Robert Guerrero inspired by wife's bout with cancer." The Montreal Gazette says don't forget that Lucian Bute is fighting this weekend , too, defening his super-middleweight title against William Joppy at the Bell Centre. Meanwhile, Rick Reeno at Boxingscene.com reports that Allan Green may have puleld out of his scheduled bout tonight on ESPN2.
John Duddy update: Maybe his last name is accurate after all.
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