Marco Antonio Rubio (born June 16, 1980) is a Mexican former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 2000 to 2015. He held the WBC interim

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

title in 2014, and challenged twice for a middleweight world title in 2009 and 2012.

Professional career

On February 21, 2009 Rubio earned the right to fight for the middleweight title by scoring a split decision victory over

Enrique Ornelas Enrique Andrade Ornelas (born September 17, 1980) is a Mexican professional boxer. A two-time world title challenger, Ornelas challenged for the WBO super middleweight title in 2010, as well as the WBA light heavyweight title in 2012. Backgrou ...

to secure the World Boxing Council's # 1 ranking and a shot at the WBC Middleweight title on October 18, 2008 in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

on the Bernard Hopkins vs. Kelly Pavlik fight card televised portion.

Unified and lineal middleweight world title challenge

On February 21, 2009, Rubio fought for the unified WBC,

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

, ''Ring'' magazine, and lineal middleweight titles against Kelly Pavlik. Before the start of the tenth round, Rubio's corner stopped the fight.

Comeback

Rubio then won six fights in a row since he was stopped in the ninth round by middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in February 2009. On April 8, 2011 in

Bell Centre Bell Centre (), formerly known as Molson Centre (), is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Montr ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, Rubio was featured in the main event of

Friday Night Fights The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Bo ...

. His opponent was David Lemieux, who came to the fight with an undefeated record. Lemieux was the heavy favorite to win in his hometown against the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

veteran. During the first five rounds Lemieux dominated Rubio by landing hard power punches. But Rubio refused to quit and wouldn't go down. Rubio came back in round six and started to land harder punches that slowed down Lemieux. In the seventh round Rubio knocked down Lemieux. Lemieux got up, but Rubio continued where he left off and threw more punches at him. With only seconds left in round seven, Lemieux's corner threw in the towel to a stop the fight. Since he won the Lemieux fight, Rubio placed himself into a mandatory position to face the winner of the fight between titlist

Sebastian Zbik Sebastian Zbik (born 17 March 1982) is a German professional boxer and the former WBC middleweight Champion of the world. He resides in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Professional career Zbik won the interim WBC middleweight title against Italia ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Julio is the Spanish equivalent of the month July and may refer to: *Julio (given name) *Julio (surname) *Júlio de Castilhos, a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * ''Julio'' (album), a 1983 compilation albu ...

, which Chavez won. Rubio made easy work of journeyman

Matt Vanda Matt Vanda (born October 16, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2014. Professional career Vanda's made his professional debut on March 30, 1996 in the welterweight division against Ed Fuller in Kearney, Nebr ...

(44-14, 24 KO’s) on December 16, 2011 with a 5th-round TKO win at the

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circ ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

WBC middleweight title challenge

Rubio faced Mexican countryman

Julio César Chávez Jr. Julio César Chávez Carrasco (born 16 February 1986), best known as Julio César Chávez Jr., is a Mexican professional boxer who held the WBC middleweight title from 2011 to 2012. He is the son of former three-division world champion of bo ...

in a scheduled 12-round middleweight bout, for the WBC version of the world title, on Feb. 4 at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

. Chávez, Jr. retained the belt, earning a unanimous decision over fellow Mexican Rubio. The judges scored the bout 118-110, 116-112 115-113 for Chávez, Jr., which drew a mixed reaction from the 14,120 in attendance at the Alamodome. Neither fighter went down despite taking continuous heavy blows to the head and body throughout the 12-round bout. Chávez, Jr. overcame a gutsy performance by Rubio despite having some trouble entering the fight.

Personal life

Rubio currently resides in the Mexican border city of

Ciudad Acuña Ciudad Acuña, also known simply as Acuña, (originally Garza Galán, later Villa Acuña) is a city located in the Mexican state of Coahuila, at and a mean height above sea level of . It stands on the Rio Grande (locally known as the Río Bra ...

, across from

Del Rio, Texas Del Rio is a city and the county seat of Val Verde County in southwestern Texas, United States. The city is 152 miles west of San Antonio. As of 2020, Del Rio had a population of 34,673. History The Spanish established a small settlement south of ...

. He has

vitiligo Vitiligo is a disorder that causes the skin to lose its color. Specific causes are unknown but studies suggest a link to immune system changes. Signs and symptoms The only sign of vitiligo is the presence of pale patchy areas of depigmen ...

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubio, Marco Antonio 1980 births Boxers from Coahuila Living people Mexican male boxers Middleweight boxers Sportspeople from Torreón Light-middleweight boxers Super-middleweight boxers