AMERICA AT LARGE:TWO WEEKS ago in California, Israel Vazquez edged Rafael Marquez on a split decision to claim a 2-1 edge in their trilogy. Like its predecessors, it was a thrilling bout, one that with barely two months elapsed in the new year is widely regarded as the leader in the clubhouse for 2008 Fight of the Year honours.

The corollary holds that if Vazquez-Marquez III is going to be displaced in the FOY sweepstakes, the most likely candidate could be this weekend's rematch in Las Vegas between Manny Pacquiao and Rafael's younger sibling, Juan Manuel Marquez.

Their bout at the Mandalay Bay reprises a 2004 draw between the two, and while the Freddie Roach-trained Pacquiao looms a 2 to 1 favourite with the Las Vegas sports books in Saturday night's rematch, their comparative accomplishments led Michael Katz, the dean of American boxing writers, to make the case in an online column a few days ago that the Marquez brothers might well be the most accomplished set of brothers in pugilistic history.

Until he was dethroned by Vazquez last August, the 32-year-old Rafael (37-5) had been a world champion for an unbroken streak of four-and-a-half years. Juan Manuel (34 years of age and 48-3) has, apart from a five-month hiatus in 2006, been in possession of at least one recognised world title or another for the past five years.

Now, granted, in the age of proliferating sanctioning bodies these collective accomplishments might not have the significance that once attached to such feats. (Pacquiao, for instance, was the hands-down choice as 2006 Fighter of the Year, despite not having owned or even fought for a recognised world championship since 2004.) Still, in the department of Boxing's Brother Acts, it's not as if the Marquez Brothers' competition is exactly overwhelming.

Some old-timers might point to the Baer brothers of the 1930s. Max was briefly the heavyweight champion, serving as the bridge between Primo Carnera and James J Braddock.

Max's accomplishments also included a TKO win over Hitler's favourite heavyweight, Max Schmeling. For that 1933 bout at Yankee Stadium, Baer played to the New York crowd by wearing trunks emblazoned with the Star of David, advancing the myth he was Jewish.

"He wasn't," insisted the late New York trainer Ray Arcel. "I know. I saw him in the shower."

Modernists might argue the case of Wladimir and Vitaly Klitschko, who in an era of multiple championships both held heavyweight titles.

But my own inclination is to share Katz's view that places the Spinks brothers ahead of the Baers as well as the Klitschkos.

Both Leon and Michael held heavyweight titles under circumstances that represented no more of an aberration than those attending the Klitschkos.

Among non-heavyweights, one could (and Katz does) make an argument for Marvelous Marvin Hagler and his half-brother Robbie Sims.

While Hagler was ruling the middleweight division in the 1980s, Sims carved out a 38-10-2 record that included wins over Roberto Duran, Iran Barkley and Doug DeWitt. The case for Hagler-Sims becomes somewhat diluted, however, with Sims's post-Hagler losses in championship fights against Sumbu Kalambay (WBA) and DeWitt (WBO), as well as to Nigel Benn and Vinny Pazienza in non-title bouts.

Still, the fact remains that in 117 aggregate career bouts, the Hagler-Sims duo was stopped exactly once: Sims's seventh-round TKO loss to Benn in London in 1991.

Many a pint has changed hands down the years over what has become a staple of American bar-room trivia. Which pair of brothers between them hit the most aggregate home runs?

While the uninitiated inevitably stumble into some permutation of DiMaggios, the simple answer is the Aarons: Henry, the all-time leader recently overtaken by Barry Bonds, hit 755, while his considerably less talented brother Tommie contributed 13 in 13 years to produce a total that still easily outstrips that of any other set of siblings.

Katz, pointing to the baseball model of the Aarons, failed to mention the most obvious boxing parallel - Muhammad and Rahman (14-3-1) Ali - but he does make a half-hearted case for the Leonard brothers: Sugar Ray won world titles in five weight classes in a career that saw him go 35-3-1 (with two of the losses coming in his final two, ill-advised bouts), while elder brother Roger Leonard was 16-1 in a four-year career that lasted from 1978 through 1982.

We'd be inclined to view the argument for the Leonards more seriously but for the frequent "retirements" that interrupted Ray's career and the standard of competition faced by Roger in his.

Roger Leonard's official ledger, incidentally, fails to record his most ignominious moment in the ring. Although the television cameras failed to record it (I was seated at ringside but also missed it at the time), Sugar Ray recently revealed that in the midst of the confusion attending the immediate aftermath of his 1980 first fight against Duran in Montreal, Roger, who had been woofing on Duran from the across the ring all night, came charging out of the corner only to be greeted by a punch from Manos De Piedra that knocked him cold in his tracks.

The elder Leonard was revived in time to hear the verdict, a decision in Duran's favour. As Ray and his cornermen contemplated the loss in the dressing-room later that night, Roger proclaimed his intention to avenge the family honour.

"I want Duran next," he told anyone who would listen.

"Roger," trainer Dave Jacobs wearily replied, "shut up."

After winning the WBA light-heavyweight title, Eddie Gregory changed his name to Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. As fate would have it, a foundling given the name Matthew Franklin by the nuns who raised him in a Philadelphia orphanage had also converted to Islam, and adopted the name Matthew Saad Muhammad before winning the WBC light-heavy title.

In 1982, the two light-heavyweight champions were included on a list of boxing dignitaries invited to the Baltimore Civic Center for an elaborate ceremony in which Sugar Ray Leonard had promised to reveal his future plans. (Said plan turned out to be retirement; this one would last nearly two years.)

When it came his turn to speak, Matthew Saad told Leonard from the dais, "Whatever you decide, I'm behind you."

A few moments later came Eddie Mustafa's turn. Acknowledging the presence of his fellow Muslim co-champion, he echoed the sentiments of "my brother" in counselling Leonard.

The following morning's Baltimore Sun reported that "Matthew Saad Muhammad and his brother Eddie" had supported Leonard's decision.