After his loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, Wayne McCullough thinks Juan Diaz may exit the ring for good.
Lightweight set for new career as a lawyer
When Juan Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez fought in February 2009 in Ring Magazine's "Fight of the Year," they gave everything they had.
Both of them suffered bad cuts with Marquez dropping Diaz twice in the ninth round and walking away with the stoppage win. Up to that point the fight was split on the cards. One judge had Diaz ahead by two rounds, another saw Marquez in front by the same margin and the third judge scored it even.
So in their rematch this past weekend, I wondered what they could do that hadn't already been done. Marquez is 10 years the senior at 36. His last fight was in September 2009 when he lost a wide decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr while fighting at 10st 2 lbs. He is now fighting back at a more natural weight of 9st 9 lbs which suits him better.
At 26 Diaz is still young, but he really needed a win here. He didn't look good during his last two fights against Paulie Malignaggi. In their first meeting, back in August 2009, Diaz won a controversial decision in his home state of Houston, Texas and in the rematch in December he was well beaten on points.
The "Baby Bull" Diaz was once known for his all-action, non-stop punching style. He isn't really a big puncher but he made up for that with his never-get-tired way of fighting.
Perhaps the fact he turned pro at 16 means he is burning out at 26 but if not, in this rematch, he needed to block the right and left uppercuts from his opponent that dropped him in the first fight.
Marquez had to stick to his counter power-punching style and be ready for Diaz blocking his uppercuts and maybe instead switch to short right and left hooks to Diaz's head.
Technical battle
The rematch in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas was for the WBO and WBA Super World lightweight belts which belonged to Marquez. He kept them when he battled Mayweather because he was fighting at a higher weight class.
Instead of the fight being a candidate for "Fight of the Year," it was simply a good technical battle, with each fighter waiting for the other to make the first mistake. Diaz came out and started to move around more than he did in the first fight which made it hard for the counter-punching Marquez to land any big blows.
The first few rounds were close and could have gone to either fighter but after the third round Marquez took control. Diaz kept his hands up high and rolled with the punches but in the fourth, a long left uppercut landed hard on his chin and it hurt him. When he did get hurt, he moved away to avoid the second or third shot coming.
The left jabs from Diaz were landing accurately each round and his defence was way better and, although he wasn't winning, he was always in the fight.
Marquez was always precise with his shots but even though they were mostly long or wide looping punches they were effective and scored well.
The middle of the fight was all Marquez as he moved in and landed combinations which usually finished with a left hook or uppercut but Diaz's jabs were still landing, as Marquez's right eye showed. It was almost closed going into the final four rounds.
Competitive
In the ninth, Diaz got cut on his lip just when Marquez looked like he had his opponent with the punches. Diaz came back in the tenth and had a good round with cleaner punches.
The final two rounds were competitive. Marquez controlled the pace but Diaz was still trying. In the end, Marquez won the fight but he didn't get a stoppage like last time. Judges scored the fight 117-111, 118-110 and 116-112.
Marquez was, as usual, more technically sound and fought his usual fight. Diaz, on the other hand, followed his trainer's game plan even though he didn't get the win.
Diaz, a college graduate, is taking his lawyers' entrance exam in October so will this be the last time we see him in a boxing ring?
Marquez made it clear that he would prefer to fight Manny Pacquiao next instead of cleaning out the lightweight division and, in my opinion, I think Pacquiao should give him a third chance.
