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Tonight on Showtime, former World Champions Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez will tear into each other for the fourth time, and while the result could be another epic, many fans (myself included) are a little worried about the two great Mexican warriors.

Anyone who saw the first three battles knows that these guys don't do boring. They come to concuss. When you consider the styles of the fighters, and their current condition, one cannot help but at least consider the worst.

Historically, the smaller guys tend not to last as long as larger fighters so it should be noted that both men have been doing this at a championship level for almost a decade. Sure, they took long rests after the third meeting, but that was because their handlers knew it was necessary, especially in the case of Vazquez, who needed several surgeries to repair his damaged right eye.

Each has had one fight in order to prepare for what will likely be the final chapter. Marquez looked a little slow and stiff-legged in his return, but got the job done in 3 rounds. Vazquez struggled with a total set-up, while earning some more scar tissue. He finally broke through in the 9th round, but it was a close call. Advantage Marquez.

Sources close to the situation have pointed out that the fighters are being compensated handsomely for this one. The previous three took place in half-filled arenas, which is both incredible and a little sad.

I'm glad they will be making the kind of money they can retire with, but isn't it a bit of a shame that they have to brutalize each other one more time to get what they deserve?

Perhaps I'm also worried that this fight could potentially take something away from what I thought was the perfect trilogy. Vazquez, with his massive heart pumping machismo, is forced to retire on his stool with a busted nose in the first. He comes back like a man possessed in the second to score a revenge stoppage. Then they take turns blasting away at each other for 12 rounds. Blood, guts, controversy... it had everything.

No one can be sure who the better man was, and that, in my opinion, is the way it should have stayed.

Some will argue that those who are not 100% behind this fight are being far too sensitive. This is boxing afterall. These men, and their handlers know what they're getting into.

Fair enough, but we know them men, too. We know what happens when you put throw them inside a boxing ring. We know where they are at in their careers. Unfortunately, we also know what happens a fighter on the slide takes one too many.

Let's hope for a brisk, entertaining scrap we can all feel good about when the final bell rings. In my opinion, the only way their series could get better is if no one gets seriously hurt and we see them shooting the breeze in Canastota, NY, five years from now.

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