Marquez, Diaz ready to battle
By Bodog
The Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino will be the site this Saturday for the rematch between Manuel Marquez (50-5-1) and Juan Diaz (35-3). The rematch is scheduled only 17 months after their first meeting, a fight which was named 2009 Fight of the Year. Both fighters are coming off losses in their last fights and will be looking to redeem themselves in the eyes of their fans and the promoters.
The HBO pay-per-view card is stacked with lots of great fights. Heavily-hyped unbeaten middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs (20-0, 17 KO’s) will be stepping up in competition against undefeated Russian Dmitry Pirog (16-0, 13 KO’s). Also on the card will be Robert Guerrero taking on Joel Casamayor, while Jorge Linares squares off against Rocky Juarez.
The first Marquez/Diaz meeting was a real battle in the early going as Diaz brought all that he had against the third-ranked pound-for-pound in the world Marquez. After weathering Diaz’s storm, Marquez was able to wear him down in the later rounds, eventually finishing Diaz in the ninth round. Because it’s only been a little over a year, and Diaz hasn’t had that much time to improve beyond the fighter he was a year ago, most expect a hard fought battle that will likely end the same way the first meeting between the two fighters did.
Marquez will be going into the fight as the heavy -450 favorite despite coming off of a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. That loss should only fuel the fire for Marquez to re-establish himself back atop the Super Lightweight division. Diaz will pay -300 if he can manage the upset, but with three loses in his last five fights, Diaz will need to put together his best showing in four years if he hopes to walk out with the WBO and WBA Super Lightweight titles on Saturday night.
One thing is for sure, these two fighters will be coming into the ring looking to put on a great show for the fans; the way they did in their first meeting. With over 540 landed punches in their first fight, fight fans can expect another battle between two very skilled punchers this time around.
“I think this fight is going to be better than the first one,” Marquez said, “because Juan Diaz is a great fighter and a great warrior, and I am, too.”
“I want to give everyone a great fight,” said Diaz. “I want to make all of the fans happy.”
On the undercard, in the battle of the undefeated fighters, Daniel Jacobs (20-0 17KO’s) will pay -200 as the favorite over Dmitry Pirog (16-0 13 KO’s). Pirog will pay a healthy +160 and will certainly have a puncher’s chance against the untested Jacobs. To the winner goes the vacant WBO Middleweight title, as well as the opportunity to sign onto some big fights in the near future. Touted as the next big thing, Jacobs will look to put his stiff jab to work and wear down the Russian until he can either land a big power shot or record a one-sided decision victory.