In round 3 the momentum suddenly turned in favor of Mabuza who began to use good ring movement, managing to keep Marquez off-balance. He also used his superior hand speed to get off first and to actually move Marquez back. Mabuza became the aggressor, showing great heart as he took as well as he gave. What he lacked in punching power he made up for in speed and heart as the discrepancy on scorecards began to narrow.

In rounds 6 and 7 the action reached its climax with both boxers exchanging  savage blows. However, it became apparent that Marquez had a significant enough advantage in power to do more damage. In spite of it all, Mabuza held his own, while getting the better of Marquez in some of the exchanges.

In rounds 8 and 9 the momentum switched in favor of Marquez, who began to methodically break down Silence Mabuza. Marquez was coming forward and landing the harder shots, while Mabuza just tried to stay out of harm's way by using his still relatively fresh legs to move around the ring. Mabuza’s superior conditioning was the only thing that allowed him to survive the amount of punishment he received in rounds 8 and 9. Mabuza's corner wisely chose to stop the fight at the conclusion of round 9, saving their fighter from further punishment. This was the second time Marquez stopped Mabuza to keep his IBF bantamweight championship.