Juan Manuel Marquez, retained his WBA and WBO lightweight titles with a unanimous decision over Juan Diaz in the rematch of 2009's Fight of the Year. Marquez, nearly 37, showed no signs of slowing down as he outboxed his 26-year-old opponent over 12 competitive rounds. Scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 for Marquez. Punch stats had Marquez outlanding Diaz in every round (288 to 155 total).
Marquez is looking for a third fight with Manny Pacquiao. Their first two meetings resulted in a draw (2004) and a split-decision loss (2008) for Marquez. Pacquiao, however, remains in negotiations to fight Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13. An attractive alternative for Marquez could be a December title shot against Amir Khan.
On the undercard, Dmitry Pirog won the vacant WBO middleweight title when he stopped previously undefeated Daniel Jacobs with a huge overhand right in round five.


Comments