LAS VEGAS -- Juan Manuel Marquez is overshadowed no more.
For years, Marquez played third fiddle to Mexican superstars Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.
Even in his own family, he was second banana to little brother Rafael Marquez, who had a dominant reign as bantamweight champion before moving up in weight on March 3 to win the junior featherweight title from Israel Vazquez.
But Saturday night, Marquez emerged from all of their shadows, outfighting Barrera in a fierce battle to win a unanimous decision and a junior lightweight world championship before 8,127 at Mandalay Bay.
Marquez, a featherweight titlist, successfully moved from 126 pounds to 130 to join his brother as a two-division champion, a boxing rarity.
Judge Doug Tucker scored it 118-109 and judges Patricia Morse Jarman and Paul Smith each had it 116-111. ESPN.com also had it for Marquez, 116-111.
"They gave us nothing. We earned it," Marquez said. "This fight is very important for me. I said in the press conference this fight [will be] a war. I won the fight."
Barrera, who has had a career littered with big fights, was disgusted with the decision.
"I did the necessary things to win," he said. "He hit me four times below the belt and [referee Jay Nady] never said anything. They were bad judges. I won this fight. I don't know what happened."
It was a spirited fight between boxers who grew up in towns next to each other on the outskirts of Mexico City, but Marquez (47-3-1) regularly beat Barrera to the punch.
Barrera (63-5), who won titles at 122, 126 and 130 pounds, had promised a toe-to-toe battle in what he called one of the final fights of his probable Hall of Fame career.
It didn't start out that way, with the fighters measuring each other and throwing cautiously, but round by round, the action heated up. By the fifth round, Marquez's left eye began to swell.
Marquez, 33, seized command, however, with a huge seventh round. He hurt Barrera, 33, throughout the frame, starting with a right hand that staggered Barrera. Marquez followed with an uppercut and a right hand that rocked him again.
Marquez pinned a retreating Barrera along the ropes and landed another flurry. He looked like he was on the verge of a knockout, but Barrera rallied. He landed a right hand on Marquez's chin that dropped him to his knees, but Nady ruled it a slip, not a knockdown.
However, while Marquez was down, Barrera clipped him with a right hand and Nady penalized Barrera one point for hitting him while he was down.
"From where I was standing, I didn't see the punch land," Nady said. "I thought he knocked him with his shoulder."
In the end, the point deduction didn't change the outcome of the fight, but Barrera was upset by it.
"He went down and the ref didn't touch me," Barrera said. "I never connected with that punch. I never threw the punch because I thought he was down."
Television replays suggested otherwise.
"Barrera is a great champion and he connected with a nice shot on my chin," Marquez said of the non-knockdown. "Barrera deserves a rematch."
HBO will replay the bout next Saturday night (9:45 ET/PT) along with same-day taped coverage of the Mikkel Kessler-Librado Andrade super middleweight title fight.
Barrera had hoped to move on to a rematch with Manny Pacquiao, who knocked him out in 2003. Now, maybe Marquez will get a rematch with Pacquiao instead. He survived three knockdowns in the first round in a 2004 fight with Pacquiao and got a draw in a fight many believe Marquez won.
De Leon retains title
Daniel Ponce De Leon usually relies on his concussive power to win fights, but against battle-tested veteran Gerry Penalosa, he turned boxer for long portions of the fight and won a surprisingly lopsided unanimous decision to retain his junior featherweight title.
De Leon, of Mexico, did appear to win a close fight against the former junior bantamweight titlist from the Philippines, but the judges saw it much wider.
Judge Dave Moretti had it a 120-108 shutout and Nelson Vazquez and Chuck Giampa each had it 119-109. ESPN.com had it 115-113 for De Leon, and several members of the media had Penalosa winning a close decision.
De Leon was landing harder blows, but the 35-year-old Penalosa took all them without budging while landing often with both hands and snapping the Mexican's head back.
Penalosa's face was marked up after the fight, but he has never been stopped. He was surprised by the result.
"I'm really disappointed. I thought I won that fight," said Penalosa, who won a junior bantamweight belt in 1997 and made three defenses. "I want a rematch."
Penalosa, who was cut on his scalp, was moving up from bantamweight after an impressive ninth-round TKO against former titlist Mauricio Martinez in October.
Few believed Penalosa (51-6-2) would be able to withstand De Leon's power, but he did, which De Leon (31-1) gave him credit for.
"It was a very hard fight," said De Leon, 26, who made his fourth defense and would like to challenge recognized 122-pound champion Rafael Marquez. "I hurt him a couple of times, but he has great conditioning. I need to work more on my defense."
Hopkins wins controversial decision
Junior welterweight Demetrius Hopkins won a unanimous decision against Steve Forbes, a decision that was lustily booed by the crowd and shocked virtually everyone on press row.
Forbes, in his first bout since participating in "The Contender" reality series last year, appeared to easily win the fight as he outslugged, outfought and outhustled Hopkins (26-0-1).
Forbes (32-5) appeared confident in the victory, and Hopkins didn't look nearly as confident as the scores were announced.
However, Forbes' excitement turned to shock as Robert Hoyle and Glenn Trowbidge each had it 118-110 for Hopkins and Dalby Shirley had it 117-111. ESPN.com had it for Forbes, 116-112. Most ringside observers also had it clearly for Forbes, a former junior lightweight titlist.
"I'm in shock," said Forbes, who held a world title at 130 pounds from 2000 to 2002. "I won the fight. I want an immediate rematch."
Forbes, 30, lost a split decision to Grady Brewer in last season's finale of "The Contender" fighting at 149 pounds. He returned to 140 to face Hopkins, the nephew of Golden Boy promoter and light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, and appeared to land far more clean, accurate punches.
According to CompuBox statistics, Forbes threw more punches (782-770), landed more (198-168), landed a higher percentage (25-22), threw more power punches (559-512) and landed more power punches (174-132).
Hopkins, 26, however, thought he won the fast-paced fight.
"I think I pulled the fight out in the last rounds," Hopkins said. "I was working good. I deserved the victory."
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com