KNOCKOUT NATION:Marquez Dissects Diaz, Adamek Shines, Mayweather Demands, Mike McCallum

Marquez Weathers Storm to Stop Diaz in Nine Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) may be reaching the twilight of his illustrious career, but the veteran technician proved on Saturday (February 28) he still has much left in the tank. Before a raucous crowd, Marquez stopped a relentless Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (34-2, 17 KOs) […]

Marquez Weathers Storm to Stop Diaz in Nine

Juan

Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) may be reaching the twilight of his

illustrious career, but the veteran technician proved on Saturday

(February 28) he still has much left in the tank. Before a raucous

crowd, Marquez stopped a relentless Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (34-2, 17

KOs) after nine brutal back and forth rounds.

Not

intimidated from the start, Diaz rushed Marquez, throwing sharp,

compact hooks in the inside. Startled, Marquez returned the fire in

kind with stinging hooks of his own while attempting to make enough

space to counterpunch. Still, Diaz held the early edge as he repeatedly

backed Marquez against the ropes and rained down combinations to the

head and body.In

round 2, Marquez started well with counter hooks and straight rights

before being stunned and wobbled badly by a ripping Diaz left hook.

Being that they were in the Baby Bull’s hometown, the crowd roared and

rose to its feet as Diaz appeared on the verge of finishing off Marquez.

However,

Marquez sprung back to life and exchanged flush shots with his younger

foe. Despite Diaz’s pressure, Marquez refused to wilt and returned in

kind every single combination Diaz landed on him.

The

third and fourth rounds were equally close, as Diaz maintained his

effective aggression by easily closing the gap and firing rapid-fire

hooks anytime the champion’s back touched the ropes.  But

Marquez’s work could not be ignored. When Diaz left any space between

them in ring center or against the ropes, Marquez strafed his

challenger with impressive uppercut and hook combinations.

By

the fifth, Marquez entered a comfort zone as Diaz’ pressure slowed.

Unwisely, Diaz began to fight stretches at ring center, and ate

cringe-inducing corkscrew left uppercuts to the head and digging hooks

to the body. While Diaz was still moving Marquez with his punches,

Marquez maintained an edge with clean punching.

Going

into the seventh, Marquez’s intense counter-punching had not slowed,

despite suffering a bleeding cut over his right eye. Diaz’s pressure

had lowered just a step, giving the champion ample opportunity to time

him with uppercuts through the gloves. Diaz weathered the storm, and

stubbornly bulled forward through Marquez’s punches to flurry the

veteran against the ropes.

In

the eighth, Marquez awed the crowd by punishing Diaz with lead

uppercuts. After an impressive left uppercut, the skin above Diaz’s

right eye was sliced open. The gushing blood colored half of the young

fighter’s face, and noticeably made him reluctant to continue his

trademark pressure. Marquez turned his assault by almost exclusively to

the uppercut, either ending or starting all of his combinations with

the punch. And it was an inside left uppercut/hook hybrid that badly

hurt Diaz as the round concluded.

Hurt

and bleeding, Juan Diaz amazingly stormed out and continued bulling to

the inside to land his hooks. Marquez patiently awaited another

opening, which came courtesy of an inside right hand.

The

punch sent Diaz careening through the ropes face first. The Baby Bull

beat the count, but was in no state to hold off the boxing master in

front of him. After holding off a few flurries, Diaz was dropped hard

by a lethal right uppercut. Referee Rafael Ramos had seen enough, and

Marquez secured the TKO victory.

In

the post-fight interview, Marquez again called out rival Manny

Pacquiao, but also humorously stated he’d settle on former pound for

pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather.

On

the undercard, Rocky Juarez failed in his fourth title attempt in

fighting to an exciting draw with Indonesian slickster Chris John.

Rocky was in danger of losing the bout before rallying in the last

three rounds. John remains undefeated at 42-0-2 (22 KOs) while Rocky

Juarez goes to 28-4-1, (20 KOs).

Adamek Retains Cruiserweight Title

On

Friday (February 27) Tomasz Adamek (37-1, 25 KOs) overcame a lackluster

start to finish Jonathon Banks (20-1, 14 KOs) in crushing fashion via a

highlight reel TKO in round eight.

Early

on, Adamek struggled to land his powerful right due to telegraphing his

shots. Banks kept on the move, and found success by pumping his jab and

alternating between heavy left and right hooks.

Starting in the fifth, Adamek focused his work to the body which gradually wore down the game Banks as the rounds went on.

Round

eight saw Banks land a cracking right hand early, but Adamek handled

the assault and responded later with a counter right that dropped the

challenger. With his eyes spinning and drool coming out of his mouth,

Banks struggled to his feet and beat the count.

Adamek

mercilessly pounced, and ended Banks’ night with an emphatic final

barrage of hooks that crumpled the American in the corner.

Now with a successful first defense, Adamek explained intentions to move to heavyweight or possibly rematch Steve Cunningham.

On

the undercard, middleweight contender Giovanni Lorenzo (27-1, 19 KOs)

scored a second round KO of Dionisio Miranda (19-4-2, 17 KOs) in an IBF

title eliminator.Bob Arum Claims Mayweather Pricing Himself Out of Huge Bouts

Former

Floyd Mayweather promoter Bob Arum is claiming the retired champion is

being unrealistic with his $20 million price tag for bouts with Shane

Mosley and Manny Pacquiao.

Arum, who Mayweather split with in 2006, says no promoter would give the former pound for pound #1 that kind of money.

“He

is so [expletive] out of line that it is ridiculous,” Arum complained

to setantasports.com. “Nobody and no fight, against Manny or anyone

else is going to get him $20 million guaranteed.”

When

asked if a megafight between Pacquiao and Mayweather could generate

that much if Manny defeats Ricky Hatton, Arum relented that it’s a

remote possibility.

“Could

he work hard and earn $20 million if a fight with Manny did well, yeah,

that is possible but nobody is going to give Mayweather [that amount]

to fight Pacquiao, Mosley, or Jesus Christ,” Arum quipped. “So is it

possible that Mayweather will come back? I say yes but his expectations

and aspirations are just too unreasonable.”

Floyd Mayweather’s last bout was a TKO win over Ricky Hatton in December 2007.

Glen Johnson Dominates on Friday Night Fights

Rugged

contender Glen Johnson dominated Daniel Judah this past Friday

(February 27) to keep his name in the mix at light-heavyweight.

Johnson immediately took control of the bout in round one by dropping Judah with a sharp right hand.

For the remainder of the bout, the rangy Judah was forced to fight Johnson in the trenches where he remained at a disadvantage.

Johnson’s

work-rate rarely subsided through the 10 rounds, and earned him a

unanimous decision win with scores of 99-89, and 99-90 twice.

Glen Johnson has been clamoring for a rematch with Chad Dawson since losing a disputed decision last year.

HBO B.A.D. 3/7/09

The young guns will stake their claim this weekend with a triple-header of exciting fights.

Knockout

artists James Kirkland and Joel Julio square off in an explosive

junior-middleweight bout. Both men have defensive liabilities which

almost guarantees a knockout. This one can go either way.

On the undercard, Victor Ortiz challenges Mike Arnaoutis, and Robert Guerrero goes against undefeated Daud Yordan.

The card begins at 10PM on HBO.

Throwback Fighter of the Week: “The Bodysnatcher” Mike McCallum

Despite

being overshadowed by the bigger names of his divisions, Mike McCallum

maintained a high level of excellence that was only fully appreciated

in his later years.

McCallum

turned pro in 1981, and won the WBA 154 lb. title three years later

from Sean Mannion. He went on to make six successful defenses through

1987 and go 31-0 (28 KOs). Among his KO victims during this streak were

feared power puncher Julian Jackson (TKO2), Milton McCrory (TKO10), and

former welterweight star Donald Curry (KO5).

In 1988, McCallum suffered his first loss courtesy of Sumbu Kalambay, who outpointed him over 12 rounds.

He

bounced back the following year to capture the middleweight title from

Herol Graham with a split decision. He went on to defeat Steve Collins

(UD12) and Michael Watson (KO11).

After avenging his loss to Kalambay with a 1991 points win, McCallum was held to a disputed draw with a young James Toney.

In the 1992 rematch, Toney escaped with a majority decision in a bout that again split critics on who won.

By

1994, McCallum had moved up to the light-heavyweight division, and made

two defenses before being dropped and losing a unanimous decision to

Fabrice Tiozzo in 1995.

After losing clear decisions to a prime Roy Jones and a rubbermatch James Toney, Mc Callum retired in 1997.

Renowned

for his lethal body punching, Mike McCallum was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003. Many today still speculate

on how McCallum would’ve fared against his famous contemporaries in

Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, and Marvin Hagler.

Mike McCallum’s final record stands at 49-5-1, 36 KOs.  

Highlights, Part 1Highlights, Part 2