By the time I sat down in front of a big screen tv with a Tecate in hand at a local Tijuana sports book to watch the destruction of Juan Diaz at the skillful hands of Juan Manuel Marquez last Saturday night, the trash talk between my cousin and I have been going on for weeks.
My cousin, a staunch supporter of Mexican fighters despite the logic behind it (he bet me that Jorge Arce would beat Vic Darchinyan), was convinced that Marquez skill and experience would be too much for Diaz’s youth, punch output and pedigree.
As Juan Diaz controlled the early rounds with measured aggression and effective combinations, the small wager my cousin and I have made against each other was pretty much spent as I dreamed of the beers that I would buy that night at his expense.
Then the eight round came.
As the Juan Manuel Marquez continued to punish the body of Diaz more and more in the preceding rounds to the eight, my dreams of falling asleep in a comfortable drunken haze Saturday night began to disappear. It became apparent that Marquez’s skill and experience was rising to the top as Diaz’s face showed the toll of Marquez’s body attack. When Marquez scored the left uppercut that produced the cut over the right eye of Diaz, I began to reach into my pocket for the bill that would satisfy my end of the bargain.
After hundred of fights witnessed on television and ringside, nothing could prepare me for the perfection of the execution that Marquez put on display in the ninth round.
As Diaz seemed to come out aggressively at the sound of the bell and dominate the first half of the round, Marquez continued to land the most underrated punch in boxing, the uppercut, with abandon. The demise of Diaz came suprisingly not from a uppercut but from a counter right hand that as soon as it connected separated the Houston crowd favorite from his senses. Once Marquez saw Diaz hurt, he went after the kill landing punch after punch. Diaz courageously beat the count but only to be welcomed by the most perfect punch I have ever wintnessed: A right uppercut right on the button as Diaz was ducking down to slip a punch.
By the time Diaz knew what happened, Juan Manuel Marquez retained his Ring magazine linear lightweight title, captured the WBA and WBO titles as well as Diaz’s IBO strap and became the #1 135 lbs. fighter in the world.
I will never doubt Marquez again. As for my cousin….. that is a different story.
That last punch that ended the fight reminded me of the last punch of the Mosley Vs Mayorga, perfect clean punch to finish the opponent.
Just brilliant!
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