Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez sends a message to the boxing world with a decisive victory over Juan Diaz

By Steve Galindo III

 LAS VEGAS

– In the weeks leading up to his much talked about rematch against Juan Diaz, Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez knew that he had much to prove. He wanted to send a message to the many critics that have casted doubts over him since his defeat to Floyd Mayweathwer Jr., last year. But more importantly, the 36-year-old Mexican Warrior had a message for the next generation of pugilists such as Michael Katsidis and Amir Khan- youngsters of the sport that have been calling him out for the past year. In dominating Juan Diaz (a fighter 10 years younger in age), throughout the course of 12 exciting rounds Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas – the message was sent. Marquez (51-5, 37 KOs), retained his World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization lightweight titles by way of unanimous decision with scores of 116-112, 118-110, and 117-111. La Prensa San Diego scored the bout 117-111 for Marquez.

   “In boxing when you prepare well and you dedicate yourself, than age does not matter,” Marquez said after his hard fought victory. “The message is this; we need for the younger fighters to respect us, because I can tell you that Juan Manuel Marquez will be around for awhile.” After suffering two crushing defeats to Marquez, 26-year-old Juan Diaz has a newfound respect for his conqueror. Diaz arrived in Vegas with big dreams of becoming a four time-world champion. Having spent the last two months preparing for Marquez, Diaz was feeling confident about the game plan that he and his team had cooked up back home in Houston, Texas. During his ring entrance, Diaz received a rude awakening- as he was met with a chorus of boos from the 8,383 boxing- crazed fans that were in attendance.

    Boos would slowly turn into cheers, as Diaz began to outbox the Mexican veteran in the opening salvo.  Diaz’ patience and persistence would pay big dividends in rounds 2, and 3 as he continued to stymie the future Hall-of-Famer with his tactical approach. “Juan Diaz is a great fighter, he demonstrated that in these two fights, he changed his style, and became more technical,” Marquez said of his opponent’s early success. In round 4, Marquez changed the momentum of the fight with a stunning left uppercut that stopped the ‘Baby Bull’ in his tracks. The uppercut was eerily reminiscent of the one that knocked Diaz out in the ninth round of their first encounter.

   In round 5, Marquez continued to batter his younger opponent with timely combinations, and a pair of overhand rights. By round 6, it became apparent that the technical approach that Diaz had devised would not be successful against the mastery of Marquez. “I kind of figured he (Marquez) was going to adjust to whatever game plan I brought in the corner,” Diaz said. He’s a smart fighter.” Despite some swelling that appeared over the right eye of Marquez in round 8, his taming of the “Baby Bull” continued throughout the championship rounds. To Diaz’s credit he showed true grit in withstanding Dinimaita’s devastating blows, and exhibited better movement then he did in the first fight. 

   In spite of the fact that he was down on the scorecards, Diaz never once thought about pressuring Marquez the way he did in the first fight. “At one point I did want to turn it into a war, but that’s what I was programmed for is to box, to try to outthink him, and when you do that for two months (training) that’s what you do.”  Marquez would go on to land 133 more punches, including 39 more jabs and 94 more power punches.  Regardless of the fact that he will be turning 37-years-old in just a few weeks, Marquez outworked, out-hustled and out landed his younger opponent in all 12 rounds.

   Marquez and his promoters will now look to parlay his victory into a third meeting with pound-for-pound King Manny Pacquiao. According to Marquez, the Filipino superstar is his number one priority and says that a bout with Pacquiao “is the world to me.” Since dropping a razor-thin split-decision to Pacquiao two years ago, Marquez has been hell-bent on trying to get the Filipino slugger in the ring with him one more time. The Mexico City native is convinced that he holds the key to defeat Pacquiao and is even willing to meet him at a catch weight of 145 pounds in order to make the fight happen. President of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya believes that Pacquiao should step up and accept Dinamita’s challenge. “Juan Manuel Marquez went all the way up to 147 (pounds) to fight Mayweather. So we feel that if he wants to fight Pacquiao, fight him at a catch weight (between) 140-143 (pounds) he’ll do it with no problems-he’s right here ready and willing.” Trying to get Pacquiao in the ring for a third time will prove to be difficult for Marquez and his handlers, as it stands Manny Pacquiao is scheduled to meet “The Tijuana Tornado” Antonio Margarito on November 13.

EL GRAN CHISME

Chula Vista’s Chris Martin faces tough test tonight on Showtime

    World-ranked bantamweight Chris Avalos (16-0, 13 KOs), of Lancaster, Calif., by way of San Diego, will face California state featherweight and junior featherweight champion Chris “The San Diego Kid” Martin (18-0-2, 5 KOs), of Chula Vista, Calif., in an excellent 10-round main event, on SHOWTIME 11p.m. A winner of eight in a row, the slick-boxing, 5-foot-6, 24-year-old Martin captured the California State 126-pound title in his last outing with a convincing, lopsided yet entertaining eight-round decision over Adolfo Landeros on June 11, 2010, in San Diego. “That was a good win for me,” said Martin, who has fought nearly half his fights in the San Diego area. “I feel I’m ready to fight some name opponents. I’m OK with whoever they place in front of me. In all my fights, I give it my all and never leave anything in the ring.’’He trains out of the Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista.

The Nightmare seeks redemption

   Friday night, August 13, Riverside’s Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola (28-2, 25 KOs) will have the opportunity to take his first step towards redemption when he squares off with   Bakersfield’s Manuel “El Toro” Quezada (29-5, 18 KOs) for the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship in the scheduled 12-round ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights.