Rafael Marquez stops Israel Vazquez in third round

Rafael Marquez endured brutal punishment in his three prior fights against Israel Vazquez to get to Saturday night, but the resilient Marquez earned what he so badly wanted by making himself the last man standing.

Mexico’s Marquez dominated Vazquez en route to a third-round technical knockout at Staples Center, delivering pounding blows that first opened a nasty cut over Vazquez’s left eye in the second round. He then knocked down Vazquez early in the third, finishing him at the 1:33 mark.

In the end, Huntington Park’s Vazquez was bleeding as badly as he ever has after one of their fights, and that’s saying something considering the first three epic encounters. The grisly gash over his left eyebrow wouldn’t be fit for morning television, or a family newspaper.

Referee Raul Caiz Jr. stepped in to stop the bout in the third round; a head-butt by Marquez earlier had opened a cut over Vazquez’s surgically repaired delicate right eye.

The 35-year-old Marquez (39-5, 35 knockouts) followed the head-butt with a big right, then a decisive flurry that caused the blood from above Vazquez’s right eyebrow to stream into his bad eye. A big right uppercut buckled Vazquez’s knees, and Caiz stepped in quickly to stop Vazquez (44-5) in the featherweight bout.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for almost three years,” Marquez said in the ring, crediting trainer and former world champion boxer Daniel Zaragoza for developing a fight plan, “to go directly to the eyes.

Caiz said beyond the blood, he stopped the fight simply because Vazquez, 32, “was hurt. It was over.”

The classic series, previously fought in the super-bantamweight division, still might have life. A Showtime poll showed 79% of fight fans want to see a deciding fifth fight, and even the injured Vazquez said, “If the commission says it’s OK, and the people want a fifth fight, I’ll take it.”

Said Marquez: “I’m willing to do it.”

But promoters for both fighters said they do not expect to stage a fifth fight.

“It’s 2-2, and that’s the way it should end,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Vazquez’s promoter.

Marquez, who won the first fight of the series by breaking Vazquez’s nose but lost the next two bouts, surged from the opening bell with a more determined approach. Vazquez tried to keep up in the first, but his corner already was treating the left eyebrow before it was split by a straight right from Marquez in the second.

“I feel OK, I can see and everything,” Vazquez said. “We gave the fans four great fights.”

Earlier, Colombia’s Yonnhy Perez retained his IBF bantamweight title belt after surviving a majority draw against Hawaiian Gardens’ Abner Mares.

The pro-Mares crowd jeered the decision, in which judges Gwen Adair and Regina Williams scored the bout 114-114. Marty Denkin gave Mares a 115-113 edge.

“I will fight a rematch, but it’s up to my promoters,” said Perez (20-0-1). “He’s a good fighter, but he never hurt me.”

Mares (20-0-1) remained active and powerful, using a hard left late in the 10th to keep the champion on his toes. He landed the last shot of an exchange in the 11th to impress, then delivered the best punch of the 12th.

“I thought I won, and I’m not the only one,” Mares said. “I wouldn’t mind a rematch. I showed him a high-caliber fighter tonight.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com