J.M. Marquez: Baddest Man on Earth

-On February 28th Juan Manuel Marquez proved he was the baddest man on Earth. He got a TKO in the 9th round, after he knocked down Juan Diaz two times. After the fight many expected him to call out Many Pacquiao instead he called out, the retired, Floyd Mayweather Jr. He claimed that Pacquiao was ducking him, which is possible, and that he wanted Floyd. He said he was willing to go up in weight to fight him.

Courtesy of thesun.co.uk

-The fight started slow for Marquez as always. I scored the first three rounds going to Diaz. Marquez would back up against the ropes and Diaz would throw good-looking flurries. Marquez would juts dig in and pick his spots. Marquez was taking a lot of punishment in the early rounds. Marquez was shaken up after a strong left hook from Diaz in the 2nd round. Marquez punched his way out of it and regained his composure. Through the 4th round Diaz was very offensive. Once it was the 5th round Diaz slowed down and Marquez went to work. Marquez got cut during the 5th. During the 6th round, the quick flurries from Diaz missed their spots and both fighters started trading shots. Marquez consistently landed his power shots. In the 8th round Diaz slowed down a lot and Marquez really started to take over. Diaz got cut right over his eye by a strong left hook. This had been the best round of the night so far for Marquez. The 9th round was similar to the 8th. At the 2:20 mark Diaz went down after a strong left hook stunned him, followed by a flurry. Diaz got up slowly. Marquez attacks again and landed a powerful uppercut that sent Diaz backwards on the canvas. After the second knock down, the referee stopped the fight. Before the 9th round the judges had scored an even draw. The overall punch-count was 288/732 Marquez and 252/751 Diaz.

From Iboboxing.com

-This was the best fight of the year, only because in the Mosely-Margarito fight, Mosely dominated from the first bell. This fight went back and forth. Marquez looked really bad in the first rounds but that is his style. He always sizes up his opponents and takes over. With this said, there was also a very good under-card fight with Rocky Juarez taking on Chris John.

-This was Chris John's first fight in the US. He was definitely the more conditioned fighter. During the whole fight he used a lot of movement. Juarez always came in very square and tried attacking the body. He attacked the body consistently but it didn't seemed to effect John. John was fairly dominant but the 11th and 12th were definitely Juarez's best rounds. Juarez was very aggressive and cut the ring off from John. This was good but too little too late. Overall it was a very even fight. So even that the judges scored it a unanimous 114-114, a draw. John kept his titles and stayed undefeated. I had the fight scored 116-112 for Chris John. It was a very good fight and the boxing community would love to see a rematch.

-Juan Manuel Marquez is the best fighter in the sport today. He figures out his opponents strategy and changes his style for it. If only he could do it earlier in the fight. He did not win his two fights with Manny Pacquiao because he lost the early rounds. Some fighters might try to take easy competition but not Marquez. He consistently fights the best fighter in his divisions. Nate Campbell fought Ali Funeka. Marquez is willing to jump up in weight class and if he thinks he can, why not. All the top fighters right now want the winner of Hatton-Pacquiao in May, which will be Pacquiao. Marquez is looking beyond this and wants Mayweather. I don't think Mayweather-Marquez would be a very entertaining fight. Two good counter-punchers don't match up well. It wouldn't happen anyway because Marquez, unfortunately, in not a big draw. Only boxing connoisseurs know about him, not the average fans who buy up the pay-per-views. With all this said, Marquez is badder than Shane Mosley, badder than Nate Campbell, and badder than Manny Pacquiao. That's why he's he baddest man on earth.

Biggest Fight of the Year: Marquez-W, John-W

-February 28 marks the biggest night for boxing in the year 2009. It may not be as hyped as De La Hoya-Pacquiao, but it should be. I'm talking about two massive fights,
Rocky Juarez v. Chris John and Juan Manuel Marquez v. Juan Diaz.

-Marquez-Diaz is a fight of the top two contenders in the lightweight division. You might argue for Nate Campbell as the top of the division. Due to his weight gain he is now a Junior Middleweight. Diaz was undefeated until he fought Campbell. Diaz is still a very good fighter.
Marquez is a boxing legend, who got a draw in his first fight with Pacquiao, and a one-point loss in his second. This fight is taking place in Houston, hometown of Diaz. This is not going to stop Marquez from getting the win.

-The fighting style for Diaz is not conventional. He looks like a slow fighter that lacks cardio. He is quick and excellent at connecting. He's very good at picking his spots and hitting them with power. Prior to Campbell he deconstructed many fighters. This includes, the up and coming, Julio Diaz and Michael Katsidis. Diaz is going to put up a good fight but will get outworked in the end.

-Marquez has fought everybody under the sun. After his knockout of Joel Casamayor, he looked like he totally rebounded from his loss to Pacquiao. Marquez starts his fights very slow. He sizes up his opponents and takes over after the 4th round. This has been his Achilles heel. Like when he was knocked down three times in the 1st round of his first fight with Pacqiao. He will lose the early rounds but will come back very strong and get a tough win.

-Also on that night, Chris John fights Rocky Juarez. Juarez lost to Marquez in 2007 and lost twice to Marco Antonio Barrera. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. He has been in the ring with serious, and I mean serious, competition. He can handle business but Chris John has an undefeated ego. And that is hard to squelch.

-Chris John is from Indonesia and, for the most part, has only fought in Asia. He has dominated his opponents but they have been a bunch of nobodies. With this said, he did beat Juan Manuel Marquez in early 2006. This will be Chris John's big USA coming out party. He will impress and get a victory.

-Here is a link to my post fight podcast for Juan Diaz Vs. Michael Katsidis