In a a matchup that was considered as “Fight of the Year” for 2009 by Ring magazine and ESPN.com, Juan Manuel Márquez  defeated IBO Lightweight Champion Juan Diaz last February 28, 2009 to win the vacant WBO lightweight and WBA Super Lightweight titles.

In the early rounds, Diaz appeared to be winning the fight, pinning Marquez on the ropes and occasionally staggering him with big left hands. But Marquez worked slowly his way into the fight and was able to cut Diaz in the eye with a punch in the 8th round. In the 9th round, “Dinamita” was able to knock down the “Baby Bull” twice until the referee stopped the fight.

Seventeen months later on July 31, 2010, Diaz will get his chance to avenge his loss in a rematch for the 135 lbs. Unified Lightweight World Championship.

It will be held at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Mexican Juan Manuel Márquez (50-5, 37 KOs) is currently the WBA and WBO Lightweight world champion as well as the current Ring Magazine Lightweight champion. He is also rated by Ring Magazine as the number three pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

At 36 years old, Marquez is trying to prove that age is just a number. He might have lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his last fight but “Pretty Boy” owned all the considerable advantages on that one. He is 2-2 in his last four bouts.

American Juan Diaz (35-3, 17 KOs) is the former unified WBA , WBO , IBF and IBO world lightweight champion. After his loss to Marquez, he moved up to the Light Welterweight division where he struggled against Paulie Malignaggi twice; claiming their first bout in August on a controversial decision before dropping a clear decision in the rematch in December.

My results prediction?

Both fighters are coming off devastating losses. But with Diaz losing three of his last 5 fights, he looked older than Marquez although he is still only 26 years old. If Marquez suddenly showed his age and become “old”, Diaz will have his revenge. But if Marquez can display his skills that made him arguably the best counter-puncher today, he will pick where he left off and will knock Diaz out.

I predict a TKO win for Marquez in Round 8.

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UPDATE: Marquez vs Diaz 2 has already wrapped up!

Juan Manuel Marquez wins via Unanimous Decision. Judge Jerry Roth had it 116-112, Patricia Morse Jarman 117-111 and Glenn Trowbridge 118-110.

Check out the Marquez vs Diaz 2 fight video below:

You can also check out the following fight videos:

Daniel Jacobs vs Dmitry Pirog video
Jorge Linares vs Rocky Juarez video
Joel Casamayor vs Robert Guerrero video

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Tags: juan diaz, juan manuel marquez