Marco Antonio Rubio (born June 16, 1980) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2015. He held the WBC interim middleweight title in 2014, and challenged thrice for a middleweight world title in 2009, 2012 and 2014.

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 to secure the World Boxing Council's # 1 ranking and a shot at the WBC Middleweight title on October 18, 2008 in Atlantic City on the Kelly Pavlik vs. Bernard Hopkins fight card televised portion.

Unified and lineal middleweight world title challenge On February 21, 2009, Rubio fought for the unified WBC, WBO, Ring magazine, and lineal middleweight titles against Kelly Pavlik. Before the start of the tenth round, Rubio's corner stopped the fight.

Comeback After he was stopped in the ninth round by middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in February 2009, Rubio went on six-fight winning streak

On April 8, 2011 in the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Rubio was featured in the main event of Friday Night Fights. 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 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 stop the fight.

By defeating Lemieux, Rubio became the mandatory challenger against the winner of Sebastian Zbik of Germany vs. Mexico's Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for the WBC middleweight title, which Chavez won.

Rubio made easy work of journeyman Matt Vanda (44-14, 24 KO’s) on December 16, 2011 with a 5th-round TKO win at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WBC middleweight title challenge

Rubio faced Mexican countryman Julio César Chávez Jr. in a scheduled 12-round middleweight bout, for the WBC version of the world title, on Feb. 4 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. 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, across from Del Rio, Texas. He has vitiligo.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes68LossAnthony DirrellUD10Sep 6, 201567Loss59–7–1Gennady GolovkinKO2 (12), Oct 18, 201466Win59–6–1Domenico SpadaKO10 (12), Apr 5, 201465Win58–6–1Dionisio MirandaKO2 (12), Jul 27, 201364Win57–6–1Marcus UpshawUD12Mar 23, 201363Win56–6–1Michel RosalesTKO11 (12), Dec 22, 201262Win55–6–1Carlos BaldomirRTD4 (12), Sep 8, 201261Win54–6–1Jorge CotaTKO7 (12)Jun 30, 201260Loss53–6–1Julio César Chávez Jr.UD12Feb 4, 201259Win53–5–1Matt VandaTKO5 (10), Dec 16, 201158Win52–5–1Mohammed AkrongTKO5 (12)Sep 3, 201157Win51–5–1Ricardo Marcelo RamalloTKO3 (10), Jun 4, 201156Win50–5–1David LemieuxTKO7 (12), Apr 8, 201155Win49–5–1Wilson SantanaTKO8 (12), Jan 1, 201154Win48–5–1José Luis ZertucheTKO6 (12), Aug 21, 201053Win47–5–1Samuel MillerUD12Jun 12, 201052Win46–5–1Jaison PalomequeTKO2 (10), Mar 20, 201051Win45–5–1Rigoberto ÁlvarezTKO9 (12), Jan 16, 201050Win44–5–1Jose Miguel Rodriguez BerrioTKO1 (12)Oct 31, 200949Loss43–5–1Kelly PavlikRTD9 (12), Feb 21, 200948Win43–4–1Enrique OrnelasSD12Oct 18, 200847Win42–4–1Alfredo CuevasTKO5 (10), Jun 6, 200846Win41–4–1José Luis ZertucheTKO7 (12), Feb 9, 200845Win40–4–1Sherwin DavisKO2 (10)Jan 1, 200844Win39–4–1Rogelio SanchezKO1 (10)Oct 19, 200743Win38–4–1Jorge Dario David GomezTKO3 (12), Jun 8, 200742Win37–4–1Erik Rafael EsquivelTKO9 (12)Mar 9, 200741Win36–4–1Daniel StanislavjevicUD12Jan 1, 200740Win35–4–1Octavio Castro2 (12), Nov 17, 200639Loss34–4–1Zaurbek BaysangurovUD12Sep 23, 200638Loss34–3–1Kassim Ouma12May 6, 200637Win34–2–1Aslanbek KodzoevTKO8 (10), Jan 27, 200636Win33–2–1Anthony IvoryTKO1 (10), Nov 4, 200535Win32–2–1Leon PearsonTKO4 (10)Aug 19, 200534Win31–2–1David ToribioTKO2 (10), Jul 14, 200533Win30–2–1Grady BrewerTKO8 (10), May 20, 200532Win29–2–1Juan Carlos Candelo10Mar 10, 200531Win28–2–1Frankie RandallKO2 (10), Jan 1, 200530Loss27–2–1Kofi JantuahKO1 (12), Sep 18, 200429Win27–1–1Jeffrey HillTKO7 (12), Aug 5, 200428Win26–1–1Fitz VanderpoolTKO1 (12)May 22, 200427Win25–1–1Alfred AnkamahTKO1 (12), May 1, 200426Win24–1–1Ramon MendivilTKO1 (10)Jan 1, 200425Win23–1–1Cristian SolanoTKO1 (12), Nov 20, 200324Win22–1–1Akhmed OligovTKO1 (12), Oct 8, 200323Win21–1–1Jose VarelaKO2 (12)Aug 1, 200322Win20–1–1Calvin OdomTKO1 (10), Jun 27, 200321Win19–1–1Jesus ArceKO1 (12)May 16, 200320Win18–1–1Jesus MendozaTKO1 (12)Mar 21, 200319Win17–1–1Paulino AvitiaKO1 (12)Feb 21, 200318Win16–1–1Saúl RománTKO4 (12)Jan 1, 200317Win15–1–1Norberto SandovalKO2 (12)Oct 25, 200216Win14–1–1Javier SantibanezTKO2 (12)Sep 6, 200215Win13–1–1Luis Enrique DelgadoKO1 (10)Jul 19, 200214Win12–1–1Jorge VacaTKO4May 17, 200213Draw11–1–1Julio César de la Cruz8Mar 22, 200212Win11–1Roberto UriasKO2Jan 1, 200211Win10–1Richard RuizPTS4Nov 9, 200110Win9–1Antonio GarciaTKO1Sep 21, 20019Win8–1Eduardo JacquesPTS10Sep 18, 20018Win7–1Ismael DiazKO4Jul 13, 20017Loss6–1Saúl Román2Jun 1, 20016Win6–0Raul MartinezKO1May 1, 20015Win5–0Antonio MoraKO3Jan 1, 20014Win4–0Jorge SandovalKO4Nov 20, 20003Win3–0Lino TorresKO3Sep 15, 20002Win2–0Gonzalo Bonilla2Aug 4, 20001Win1–0Alberto Juarez4May 17, 2000

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