Boxing Sports Highlights: Diaz to get shot at Marquez
January 10, 2009
On the same night he began his professional career as a starry-eyed 16-year-old, Juan Diaz also got to meet a man who already was well down the road to becoming a Mexican boxing legend.
Now, nine years later, Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez will be reintroduced for more than a simple handshake and exchange of pleasantries.
Marquez, regarded as the No. 3 best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, will put his Ring Magazine world lightweight title on the line in Diaz’s Houston backyard when the pair headlines a card billed as “Supremacy” on Feb. 28 at Toyota Center.
The co-main event will have Houstonian Rocky Juarez taking on unbeaten Chris John for the World Boxing Association featherweight world championship.
“With the support (of Houston), Rocky and I are not going to take anything for granted,” said Diaz, the former three-time world lightweight titleholder. “We’re gonna train our butts off. We’re gonna fight night like we’ve never fought before. We’re gonna go in there and train, sweat, bleed if we have to in the gym. We’re going to do whatever it takes to win those fights.”
Quest to be the best
For Diaz (34-1, 17 KOs), it will be his second time in the ring since suffering the only loss of his pro career last March 8 to Nate Campbell. He took a 12-round split decision over Michael Katsidis on Sept. 6 at Toyota Center.
“Well, 2008 was a year that didn’t start out too well for me, but I feel like I finished up strong, and I’m ready to get going in 2009 and become a world champion once again,” said Diaz, 25.
Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs) has been a dominant figure in the ring for 15 years, winning world titles in three weight divisions.
“Everybody knows Juan Diaz is a great fighter and a great champion, a great boxer,” Marquez, 35, said. “But on February 28, I will put my Mexican heart and my Mexican blood in the ring.”
Marquez already has defeated Juarez in a featherweight title fight Nov. 3, 2007. After an accidental head butt in the first round, Marquez bloodied Juarez badly and dominated to win a unanimous 12-round decision.
“Marquez is a veteran fighter, and he likes to use that head,” Diaz said. “Rocky and I are both young guys, and sometimes a tactic like that can throw you off your game. I think that’s what happened to Rocky in that fight, and I’m going to learn from that.
“What you get in Marquez is a great fighter, a guy who has been a great champion. But he’s a slow starter, and my plan is to make him fight right from the start and fight every round. I want to not give him a chance to fight his fight.”
Time running out
Juarez, 28, might be getting his last shot at a world championship when he steps in against John (42-0-1, 22 KOs), a native of Indonesia who since winning his crown in 2003 has made 10 title defenses, including a controversial decision over Marquez, and will be making his first appearance in the United States.
Juarez (28-4, 20 KOs), a silver medalist at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, won the first 23 fights of his pro career before losing to Marco Antonio Barrera (twice), Humberto Soto and Marquez. This will be his fourth crack at a world title.
“I’m optimistic, and I’m still young and think that I have plenty of time left in my boxing career, so I don’t like to think of this as a crossroads fight,” Juarez said. “I’m counting on winning this one.”
Juarez is coming off an 11th-round TKO of former world champion Jorge Rodrigo Barrios on Sept. 6 and knows that he again is stepping up in class against John.
“I was supposed to fight Steven Luevano, but he didn’t want to come to Houston,” Juarez said. “When that didn’t happen, I was offered the chance against John, and I took it.
“This is the biggest paycheck of his career, it’s his first time fighting in America, and I feel good about getting him in my hometown. I think fighting in Houston will be the difference in me finally getting that world championship.”
