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Marquez the Magnificent
Veteran Juan Manuel Marquez put on a master-class performance to beat Juan Diaz on points in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The 36-year-old WBO and WBA champion won their rematch by unanimous decision. Judge Jerry Roth had it 116-112, Glenn Trowbridge 118-110 and Patricia Morse Jarman 117-111.
Fighting with his right eye almost shut during the last few rounds, Marquez threw almost evey punch and every combination in the book as he taught the 26-year-old a lesson in ringcraft, pacing himself to perfection.
He even rocked Diaz with the last punch of the fight, a left hook to the chin, leaving no doubt about the outcome.
Diaz was just unable to take charge at any stage and was also bleeding from the mouth during the last few rounds of a bout shown live on SuperSport early on Sunday, SA time.
Their bout in February last year was voted Fight of the Year by The Ring and the repeat produced another memorable contest.
Marquez, who now has a record of 51-5-1, with 37 knockouts, won their first meeting on a ninth-round stoppage. This time he had to draw on all his reserves and instincts to go the full 12 rounds.
Diaz dropped to 35-4; 17.
Both fighters were coming off losses. Marquez, moving up to welterweight, was well beaten by Floyd Mayweather Jr in September last year. In December, Diaz lost to junior welterweight Paulie Malignaggi.
Diaz has now lost four three of his six most recent fights even though he remains a formidable opponent.
Marquez had been out of action for ten months but no one would say so from the way he fought. He will be 37 in August but probably has a few more big fights in him.
Sapa-AP reports that Diaz has a university degree and far more career opportunities than most fighters. He is eager to pursue a career in law and perhaps politics, but has not indicated that he will retire soon.
Preliminaries
In a junior welterweight bout on the undercard, Robert Guerrero moved to 28-1-1; 18 by beating Joel Casamayor 98-89, 98-89, 97-90. Casamayor's record dropped to 37-5-1; 22.
Guerrero was down in the tenth round but rallied to win the battle of former champions.
Dmitry Pirog won the WBO middleweight title that Sergio Martinex had vacated when he knocked out Daniel Jacobs in the fifth round.
Early in the fifth round, the Russian backed up Jacobs against the ropes and landed a perfect right to the jaw that left him flat on his back.
Jacobs seemed capable of getting up but in a rather strange action the referee pushed his head back on the canvas and counted him out 57 seconds into the round. Pirog now stands at 17-0; 14 and Jacobs at 20-1; 17.
Jorge Linares, who had held world titles in two divisions, defeated Rocky Juarez in a lightweight bout over ten rounds, taking his record to 29-1; 19. The scores were 99-90, 99-90, 97-92.
Juarez, who took a count in the fifth round, dropped to 28-7-1; 20.
