Marquez overcomes Diaz in a thriller

Juan Manuel Marquez overcame the hellish fury of Juan Diaz to score a 9^th round stoppage win at the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas on Saturday night.  Diaz came out and was intent on neutralizing the expert precision of Marquez with unbridled pressure and offensive output.  And the plan seemed to be working.

Marquez was forced to work at a pace he clearly was not comfortable with and while he landing plenty on Diaz, Diaz was pushing him back and seemingly winning most of the battles. Marquez would go back to his corner and just seem baffled as to what to do to turn the tide. The fight seemed to heading in a similar direction of many Diaz fights where his opponents simply lose the will to go on. It happened notably with Acelino Freitas and Julio Diaz, where they just couldn’t take it anymore and were forced out after 8 rounds.

And Marquez seemed stressed as he asked his corner what round it was after the 7^th round, appearing to be weary of the battle ahead. But Marquez kept looking for something and in the 8^th round he hurt Diaz for the first time with a left hook and then opened up a cut on Diaz’s right eye which seemed to deflate Diaz and buoy Marquez. In the 9^th round Diaz tried his best to ignore his wound and charge ahead but this time Marquez was ready for him.  Marquez unloaded a fusillade of shots that hurt Diaz badly. Marquez wouldn’t let up and landed a high right hand that dropped Diaz hard. Diaz got up but it was obvious that his night was nearly over. Marquez dropped him with a whistling uppercut and ref immediately stopped the bout.

The fight was a draw on the judges scorecard after 8 rounds but in boxing, things can change in a heartbeat and to Marquez’s credit he hung in there looking for the changing moment – and he found it and pounced on it, which is what great champions do.  Marquez has proven over and over against what a great champion he is by overcoming adversity. And he is a very hot fighter right now because most people understand that but for several knockdowns against Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao, Marquez has out boxed the living legend in more than 12 rounds out of the 24 they have shared the ring together.

A third fight with many Pacquiao would be an amazing event because both fighters are riding so high right now. Of course, Pacquiao will have to take care of business against Ricky Hatton in May to keep that fight must see TV.  Marquez actually called out retired Floyd Mayweather in his post fight interview.  Marquez is clearly looking for big money, and he should get it.

I must point out how good physically Marquez looks at 135. It seems to moving up in weight was the right move. He looks strong, healthy and I believe he could push the envelope and fight at 140 as well.  A this point and argument can be made that Pacquiao and Marquez are #1 and 1A in the pound for pound best fighters in the world and a growing group are tabbing Marquez and numero uno.

As for Diaz, he fought a great fight and can still come back. Under different circumstances in this fight, he may have gotten his hand raised. He was giving one of boxing’s best pure hell but he got caught and stopped. But that’s boxing. He’s still a young man with lots more to offer the sport if he desires. But I get a sense Diaz may want to move on from the sport sooner rather than later.  He has law school ahead of him and didn’t seem that disappointed in getting stopped. He almost seemed relieved.  He’s made excellent money in the sport and has had great success. But despite Diaz’s bruising style and obvious dedication to the sport, he seems like the type of guy that thinks of boxing as a means to an end to boost his interests outside of the sport. But he’s still a big player and lore of the dollar may keep him around.  We’ll see what happens.