Marquez Weathers Storm to Stop Diaz in Nine
Juan
Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) may be reaching the twilight of his
illustrious career, but the veteran technician proved on Saturday
(February 28) he still has much left in the tank. Before a raucous
crowd, Marquez stopped a relentless Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (34-2, 17
KOs) after nine brutal back and forth rounds.
Not
intimidated from the start, Diaz rushed Marquez, throwing sharp,
compact hooks in the inside. Startled, Marquez returned the fire in
kind with stinging hooks of his own while attempting to make enough
space to counterpunch. Still, Diaz held the early edge as he repeatedly
backed Marquez against the ropes and rained down combinations to the
head and body.In
round 2, Marquez started well with counter hooks and straight rights
before being stunned and wobbled badly by a ripping Diaz left hook.
Being that they were in the Baby Bull’s hometown, the crowd roared and
rose to its feet as Diaz appeared on the verge of finishing off Marquez.
However,
Marquez sprung back to life and exchanged flush shots with his younger
foe. Despite Diaz’s pressure, Marquez refused to wilt and returned in
kind every single combination Diaz landed on him.
The
third and fourth rounds were equally close, as Diaz maintained his
effective aggression by easily closing the gap and firing rapid-fire
hooks anytime the champion’s back touched the ropes. But
Marquez’s work could not be ignored. When Diaz left any space between
them in ring center or against the ropes, Marquez strafed his
challenger with impressive uppercut and hook combinations.
By
the fifth, Marquez entered a comfort zone as Diaz’ pressure slowed.
Unwisely, Diaz began to fight stretches at ring center, and ate
cringe-inducing corkscrew left uppercuts to the head and digging hooks
to the body. While Diaz was still moving Marquez with his punches,
Marquez maintained an edge with clean punching.
Going
into the seventh, Marquez’s intense counter-punching had not slowed,
despite suffering a bleeding cut over his right eye. Diaz’s pressure
had lowered just a step, giving the champion ample opportunity to time
him with uppercuts through the gloves. Diaz weathered the storm, and
stubbornly bulled forward through Marquez’s punches to flurry the
veteran against the ropes.
In
the eighth, Marquez awed the crowd by punishing Diaz with lead
uppercuts. After an impressive left uppercut, the skin above Diaz’s
right eye was sliced open. The gushing blood colored half of the young
fighter’s face, and noticeably made him reluctant to continue his
trademark pressure. Marquez turned his assault by almost exclusively to
the uppercut, either ending or starting all of his combinations with
the punch. And it was an inside left uppercut/hook hybrid that badly
hurt Diaz as the round concluded.
Hurt
and bleeding, Juan Diaz amazingly stormed out and continued bulling to
the inside to land his hooks. Marquez patiently awaited another
opening, which came courtesy of an inside right hand.
The
punch sent Diaz careening through the ropes face first. The Baby Bull
beat the count, but was in no state to hold off the boxing master in
front of him. After holding off a few flurries, Diaz was dropped hard
by a lethal right uppercut. Referee Rafael Ramos had seen enough, and
Marquez secured the TKO victory.
In
the post-fight interview, Marquez again called out rival Manny
Pacquiao, but also humorously stated he’d settle on former pound for
pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather.
On
the undercard, Rocky Juarez failed in his fourth title attempt in
fighting to an exciting draw with Indonesian slickster Chris John.
Rocky was in danger of losing the bout before rallying in the last
three rounds. John remains undefeated at 42-0-2 (22 KOs) while Rocky
Juarez goes to 28-4-1, (20 KOs).
Adamek Retains Cruiserweight Title
On
Friday (February 27) Tomasz Adamek (37-1, 25 KOs) overcame a lackluster
start to finish Jonathon Banks (20-1, 14 KOs) in crushing fashion via a
highlight reel TKO in round eight.
Early
on, Adamek struggled to land his powerful right due to telegraphing his
shots. Banks kept on the move, and found success by pumping his jab and
alternating between heavy left and right hooks.
Starting in the fifth, Adamek focused his work to the body which gradually wore down the game Banks as the rounds went on.
Round
eight saw Banks land a cracking right hand early, but Adamek handled
the assault and responded later with a counter right that dropped the
challenger. With his eyes spinning and drool coming out of his mouth,
Banks struggled to his feet and beat the count.
Adamek
mercilessly pounced, and ended Banks’ night with an emphatic final
barrage of hooks that crumpled the American in the corner.
Now with a successful first defense, Adamek explained intentions to move to heavyweight or possibly rematch Steve Cunningham.
On
the undercard, middleweight contender Giovanni Lorenzo (27-1, 19 KOs)
scored a second round KO of Dionisio Miranda (19-4-2, 17 KOs) in an IBF
title eliminator.Bob Arum Claims Mayweather Pricing Himself Out of Huge Bouts
Former
Floyd Mayweather promoter Bob Arum is claiming the retired champion is
being unrealistic with his $20 million price tag for bouts with Shane
Mosley and Manny Pacquiao.
Arum, who Mayweather split with in 2006, says no promoter would give the former pound for pound #1 that kind of money.
“He
is so [expletive] out of line that it is ridiculous,” Arum complained
to setantasports.com. “Nobody and no fight, against Manny or anyone
else is going to get him $20 million guaranteed.”
When
asked if a megafight between Pacquiao and Mayweather could generate
that much if Manny defeats Ricky Hatton, Arum relented that it’s a
remote possibility.
“Could
he work hard and earn $20 million if a fight with Manny did well, yeah,
that is possible but nobody is going to give Mayweather [that amount]
to fight Pacquiao, Mosley, or Jesus Christ,” Arum quipped. “So is it
possible that Mayweather will come back? I say yes but his expectations
and aspirations are just too unreasonable.”
Floyd Mayweather’s last bout was a TKO win over Ricky Hatton in December 2007.
Glen Johnson Dominates on Friday Night Fights
Rugged
contender Glen Johnson dominated Daniel Judah this past Friday
(February 27) to keep his name in the mix at light-heavyweight.
Johnson immediately took control of the bout in round one by dropping Judah with a sharp right hand.
For the remainder of the bout, the rangy Judah was forced to fight Johnson in the trenches where he remained at a disadvantage.
Johnson’s
work-rate rarely subsided through the 10 rounds, and earned him a
unanimous decision win with scores of 99-89, and 99-90 twice.
Glen Johnson has been clamoring for a rematch with Chad Dawson since losing a disputed decision last year.
HBO B.A.D. 3/7/09
The young guns will stake their claim this weekend with a triple-header of exciting fights.
Knockout
artists James Kirkland and Joel Julio square off in an explosive
junior-middleweight bout. Both men have defensive liabilities which
almost guarantees a knockout. This one can go either way.
On the undercard, Victor Ortiz challenges Mike Arnaoutis, and Robert Guerrero goes against undefeated Daud Yordan.
The card begins at 10PM on HBO.
Throwback Fighter of the Week: “The Bodysnatcher” Mike McCallum
Despite
being overshadowed by the bigger names of his divisions, Mike McCallum
maintained a high level of excellence that was only fully appreciated
in his later years.
McCallum
turned pro in 1981, and won the WBA 154 lb. title three years later
from Sean Mannion. He went on to make six successful defenses through
1987 and go 31-0 (28 KOs). Among his KO victims during this streak were
feared power puncher Julian Jackson (TKO2), Milton McCrory (TKO10), and
former welterweight star Donald Curry (KO5).
In 1988, McCallum suffered his first loss courtesy of Sumbu Kalambay, who outpointed him over 12 rounds.
He
bounced back the following year to capture the middleweight title from
Herol Graham with a split decision. He went on to defeat Steve Collins
(UD12) and Michael Watson (KO11).
After avenging his loss to Kalambay with a 1991 points win, McCallum was held to a disputed draw with a young James Toney.
In the 1992 rematch, Toney escaped with a majority decision in a bout that again split critics on who won.
By
1994, McCallum had moved up to the light-heavyweight division, and made
two defenses before being dropped and losing a unanimous decision to
Fabrice Tiozzo in 1995.
After losing clear decisions to a prime Roy Jones and a rubbermatch James Toney, Mc Callum retired in 1997.
Renowned
for his lethal body punching, Mike McCallum was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003. Many today still speculate
on how McCallum would’ve fared against his famous contemporaries in
Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, and Marvin Hagler.
Mike McCallum’s final record stands at 49-5-1, 36 KOs.
Highlights, Part 1Highlights, Part 2