PREDICTION PAGE: Vazquez/Marquez

Of this we can be sure. Nothing will be witheld in the ring at the Staples Center tonight. All the available energy, and strength, and desire inside Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez will be expended. The 32-year-old Vazquez holds a 2-1 lead after three bouts, and the 35-year-old Marquez would like nothing better than to even the score. Then, quite likely, these two Mexican-born foes for the ages will let their battered bodies heal up for a spell, and grab for a pen. One more after four. Make it five, keep the rivalry alive. Sign on the dotted line, do it one more time. But we get ahead of ourselves. Its just that so often we have our hopes dashed after clashes get hyped to the moon, and then expectations arent met. Vazquez and Marquez always meet, and exceed expectations. Speaking of expectation–who will get the nod Saturday? Both men come in with an 800 pound gorilla-sized question mark attached to them. Both looked less than sharp in their last outing.
Who has more left in the tank? Who will summon that late-inning surge, and pull away in the 12th? Vazquez or Marquez? Who? And how? Rafael Marquez (left) andIsrael Vazquez square off after making the weight Friday for their eagerly anticipated 12-round fight tomorrow/Saturday in the main event forOnce And Four All at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on SHOWTIME®. Both fighters weighed 125 1/2 pounds.

Tickets, priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25, are available at the STAPLES Center Box Office, online at Ticketmaster.com andvia Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800) 745-3000.

The doubleheader, which isco-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions, Espinoza Boxing Promotions and Zanfer Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, will air live on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).