LAS VEGAS – This town might be only a little bit closer to Houston than it is to Mexico City on a map, but if a town’s heart can be measured, this one’s a lot closer to Chilango than Houstonian. Or so it sounded Friday afternoon.
That was when Mexico City lightweight world champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs) took the scale with Houston’s Juan Diaz (35-3, 17 KOs) in Mandalay Bay’s Events Center before a small but enthusiastically partisan-Marquez crowd.
As the challenger in Saturday’s fight, which is being billed simply as “The Rematch,” Diaz was first to be weighed. Looking relaxed and customarily fit, if a little soft, Diaz marked the lightweight limit on the nose, weighing 135 pounds for his first fight since two ill-advised trips to 140 last year.
Those fights, of course, came after his knockout loss in 2009’s Fight of the Year against Marquez a couple Februaries ago. Marquez, meanwhile, appeared both the taller and more muscular fighter, Friday, marking a well-defined 133 1/2 pounds.
If the Mandalay Bay crowd favored Marquez, so too did most boxing insiders milling about the stage during the weigh-in for Marquez-Diaz II. Though all gave Diaz a chance at an upset, knowledgeable fighters such as Shane Mosley and BJ Flores confidently predicted victories for the lightweight champion of the world.
Also taking the stage were Golden Boy Promotions fighters and partners. Michael Katsidis, David Haye, Amir Khan, Bernard Hopkins, and of course Oscar De La Hoya all greeted gathered fans.
LINARES TOWERS OVER JUAREZ
First on the Events Center scale Friday were Venezuelan lightweight standout Jorge Linares (28-1, 18 KOs) and perennial Houston contender Rocky Juarez (28-6-1, 20 KOs). Though Linares weighed only a half pound more than Juarez – 132 1/2 to Juarez’s 132 – he appeared to have significant physical advantages over the Texan. And the advantages didn’t stop there.
While Juarez has made unsuccessful challenges in five world title fights – all happening at or below the super-featherweight limit of 130 pounds – Linares sported a 4-0 (4 KOs) record in championship matches until a shocking first-round knockout to Mexican Juan Carlos Salgado last October.
Is Linares’ chin suspect? That is a question Juarez will have to ask early and often, Saturday, if he is to pull the upset in a fight most are only giving him a “puncher’s chance” of winning.
GUERRERO AND CASAMAYOR JAW THEN EMBRACE
Following a quiet run-up to his Saturday showdown with California lightweight Robert Guerrero (26-1-1, 18 KOs), Cuba’s Joel Casamayor (37-4-1, 22 KOs) briefly returned to form on Friday’s stage. After he’d made 138 pounds and Guerrero had made 138 1/2, Casamayor stepped into Guerrero’s chest and began speaking his trademark Spanish – which always features a Cuban rhythm and is often seasoned with unthinkable vulgarity.
After exchanging a few unfriendly phrases, though, the fighter’s made nice and embraced before leaving the Events Center.
Also making weight Friday were undefeated middleweights Danny Jacobs (20-0, 17 KOs), from New York, and Dmitry Pirog (16-0, 13 KOs), from Russia. In Saturday’s co-main event, Jacobs and Pirog will swap blows for the WBO’s vacant middleweight belt.
MOSLEY MAKES AN EARLY PACQUIAO PREDICTION
Receiving the largest ovation of any Golden Boy Promotions dignitary, Friday, was future hall of famer Sugar Shane Mosley. After exiting stage right, Mosley, cordial as ever, posed for photos and gave impromptu interviews that included, among other things, some details about his recent made-for-television match with NBA great Shaquille O’Neal – a fight in which, apparently, Mosley buckled the 350 pounder.
When asked for a prediction on rival promoter Top Rank’s upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito – the Mexican prizefighter Mosley knocked out 18 months ago – Mosley was initially reticent, sticking to the old cliché about styles making fights. Asked on whom he would bet the proverbial house, though, Mosley opened up slightly.
“Bet the house?” he said. “Probably Pacquiao.”
COVERAGE OF THE REMATCH
Saturday’s card will feature nine bouts. Four of them will be broadcast on the pay-per-view portion of “The Rematch.” 15rounds.com will have full ringside coverage.
Photo by Tom Hogan/Hogan Photos
