Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Juan Díaz, billed as A Battle for the Ages. A Fight for Supremacy, was a boxing lightweight title superfight, for the vacant WBO and WBA lightweight championship, and Marquez's The Ring lightweight title. The bout was held on February 28, 2009, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. Márquez won the fight via technical knockout in the ninth round.
The match was named the 2009 Fight of the Year.
During the undercard, Márquez's former opponents Chris John and Rocky Juarez battled for John's WBA Featherweight title, which ended in a rare unanimous draw (114–114 on all three cards).
The fight Díaz controlled the fight early in the bout as the two boxers exchanged punches. Díaz opened a cut above Márquez's right eye in the fifth round, and looked to control the bout, but Márquez responded by opening a gash above Diaz's right eye, and stunning him with a left hook before the end of the eighth round. Márquez landed two hard rights to Díaz's face in a three-punch combination that knocked Díaz down with 35 seconds remaining in the ninth round. Díaz rose, but seconds later, Márquez followed with a right uppercut to the chin that knocked Díaz down for a second time. Referee Rafael Ramos waved an end to the fight after two minutes and 40 seconds of the ninth round.
Aftermath With the victory, Márquez defended his Ring Lightweight title, and claimed the WBO, the WBA, and the IBO Lightweight championship titles.Márquez stops Houston's Diaz in ninth round - Chron.com
His next fight was against the returning Floyd Mayweather Jr., which was first announced on May 1st. The fight was set at a catchweight of 145 lbs and is originally slated for July 18th, before the date was pushed to September 19th due to Mayweather suffering a rib injury during training. Márquez ultimately lost the fight to Mayweather via a one-sided unanimous decision.
Both men eventually fought in a rematch the following year in Las Vegas, with Márquez winning back-to-back via a 12-round unanimous decision.
Undercard Confirmed bouts:
Broadcasting Country Broadcaster Main Event HBO
References