Marquez wins another classic

HOUSTON – Juan Diaz joked after being stopped in the ninth round of a brilliant battle with Juan Manuel Marquez at the Toyota Center on Saturday that he might become mayor of his hometown one day.

If Diaz had been able to get past Marquez, he might have been able to bypass the mayor of Houston and gotten himself elected governor of Texas.

But Marquez shattered Diaz's dreams of a career-defining victory on a night that showed what boxing at its best can be.

Marquez capped a special night of boxing by outslicking a fighter who nearly was his equal in every area, knocking down Diaz twice in the ninth round and getting the win when referee Rafael Ramos stopped the lightweight title fight at 2:40 of the round.

"That guy might very well be the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in the world," former middleweight champion, Bernard Hopkins, one of the card's promoters, said of Marquez.

Chris John and Rocky Juarez had opened the HBO-televised card with an outstanding battle for a featherweight title that wound up in a draw. Opinion among media varied widely – Yahoo! Sports had it 116-112 for John – but the consensus in the crowd was that it was a special fight.

As good as it was, though, it paled in comparison to the main event, which had the near-sellout crowd of 14,571 on its feet and roaring from the first punch. Diaz was true to his prefight promise and attacked Marquez, firing hooks that sent Marquez in retreat.

Marquez, though, has a long history of weathering a firestorm early and coming back to win. His counterpunching took its toll on Diaz, who grew increasingly reckless and opened himself for withering shots that Marquez began to deliver.

"I didn't underestimate him at all because I knew he was very good, but he showed me something tonight," Diaz said. "Marquez is a great champion."

The fight was so close that the each judge scored it differently. Duane Ford had it 77-75 for Marquez. Max DeLuca had it 77-75 for Diaz, and Levi Martinez had it 76-76. Yahoo! Sports had it 77-75 for Diaz at the time of the stoppage.

Diaz was beating Marquez to the punch in most of the early rounds, but Marquez rarely let Diaz throw the final blow of an exchange. No matter what Diaz hit him with – and it was a lot – Marquez came back firing.

"He was landing those sneaky right hands in there when Diaz was throwing them wide left hooks," Hopkins said. "He hurt him two times in the fight, I think. Then he started sitting down on his punches a little more. And listen, these guys were using a lot of energy, and that made a big difference.

"You can be smart when you have all your energy, but the thing that separates the good fighters from the great ones is if you can be smart when you're tired. That's when your punches have to be accurate and you can't afford to waste anything. And that's where Marquez is professional and [experience] came into play."

After the fight, Marquez said he'd like to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was rated the No. 1 fighter in the world when he unexpectedly retired in June. Mayweather has a large tax debt and is widely expected to return, though it's not likely he'd have much interest in fighting Marquez.

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya said he fully expected Mayweather to return and said he'd work to arrange a Mayweather-Marquez fight or a Mayweather-Shane Mosley match. But he took a little jab at the man who defeated him in 2007 and said he doubted Mayweather would be up to the challenge.

"He will be back, absolutely," De La Hoya said of Mayweather. "He will be back. If he wants to fight a Shane Mosley or a Juan Manuel Marquez, or any of our other fighters, they're right here waiting for him.

"Juan Manuel is a dangerous, dangerous fighter for Mayweather, and I don't see him taking it because he is so dangerous. Just like he won't take Mosley. Absolutely, I have no doubt he is [looking for safe fights]."

The ring wasn't a safe place to be Saturday, which hasn't always been the case in recent years. But executives at HBO, which televises the lion's share of the sport's major matches, insist they no longer are interested in giving stars easy victories.

About eight hours before the broadcast kicked off on Saturday, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said he had learned his lesson and that the company was going to insist that the promoters provide only quality, competitive matches.

"We're standing firm," said Greenburg, who has come under heavy media attack in recent years because of the large number of mismatches that have appeared on the network.

But all three HBO shows in 2009 have been compelling, and next week's "Boxing After Dark" show in San Jose, Calif., headlined by James Kirkland and Joel Julio, is another quality card.

Marquez, one of the most entertaining fighters of his generation, said he's happy to oblige with those kinds of shows.

"I only want to fight the best guys," Marquez said. "Mayweather, [Ricky] Hatton, [Manny] Pacquiao, whoever it is, those are the fights I want. These are the kinds of fights the people want. You heard them tonight. These are the kinds of fights we should give them."

Greenburg might win Man of the Year if he can fill the final 10 months of the year with the kinds of shows HBO has aired already. And if Diaz keeps fighting the way he has, he may yet fulfill his dream of getting elected to a political office.

Marquez may not win any elections or popularity contests, but all he does is put on compelling shows and, more often than not, comes out on top.

He said he wants to fight at least two more times in 2009, if not more, which is only great news for the sport.

It's looking like 2009 is going to be the sport's best year in a long time.