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Starling–Breland II

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Date	April 16, 1988
Venue	Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBA welterweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Marlon Starling Mark Breland Nickname The Magic Man Hometown Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. Brooklyn, New York, U.S. Purse $425,000 $150,000 Pre-fight record 43–4 20–1 Age 28 years, 7 months 24 years, 11 months Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) Weight 147 lb (67 kg) 146 lb (66 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA Welterweight Champion WBA No. 1 Ranked Welterweight
Result
Split draw (116–113, 114–115, 114–114)

Marlon Starling vs. Mark Breland II was a professional boxing match contested on April 16, 1988, for the WBA welterweight title.

Background

On August 22, 1987, then-WBA welterweight champion Mark Breland and top welterweight contender Marlon Starling had fought for the first time with Starling upsetting the undefeated Breland to capture the WBA welterweight title. Breland hoped for an immediate rematch with Starling, but WBA rules at the time prevented a rematch from happening for the time being. Breland would instead return to the ring in December, defeating Javier Suazo on the undercard of his former Olympic teammate Evander Holyfield's rematch with Dwight Muhammad Qawi. In February 1988, in what was expected to be a precursor to their rematch, Starling and Breland both participated in a tripleheader event (along with Roberto Durán, who defeated Ricky Stackhouse) in a tripleheader event billed as Furious Friday. Breland would defeat Juan Alonso Villa by third round TKO, while Starling would successfully defend his WBA welterweight title against Fujio Ozaki, winning by unanimous decision. With their respective victories, Starling and Breland's rematch was set for April 16, 1988.

The Fight

In a largely tactical fight, Starling started off strong, pressing forward, dodging Breland's jabs and effectively counterpunching. Starling took a lead on the judge's scorecards through the first seven rounds, however, Breland would come on strong in the later rounds, losing only the 10th round from the eighth round on. After the fight went the fill 12-round distance, one judge had Starling the winner 116–113, another had Breland the winner 115–114 while the third scored it even 114–114, thus the fight was declared a split draw.

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:

Weight Class	Weight		vs.		Method	Round	Notes
Welterweight	147 lbs.	Marlon Starling (c)	vs.	Mark Breland	D	12/12	Note 1
Lightweight	135 lbs.	Julio César Chávez	def.	Rodolfo Aguilar	TKO	6/12	Note 2
Heavyweight	200+ lbs.	Buster Douglas	def.	Jerry Halstead	TKO	9/10
Super Middleweight	168 lbs.	Julian Jackson	def.	Reggie Barnes	KO	1/10
Super Lightweight	140 lbs.	Primo Ramos	def.	Kerns Ibarra	TKO	1/10

^Note 1 For WBA Welterweight title
^Note 2 For WBA Lightweight title

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	ABC