Marquez Breaks Down Juarez To Retain WBC Featherweight Title
Guerrero Destroys Honorio on Undercard
|
|
|
|
In front of a sold out crowd at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona, WBC Super Featherweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez, 48-3-1 (35), systematically destroyed the #4 contender Rocky Juarez, 27-4 (19), in a twelve round unanimous decision. It was an uneven but very entertaining fight as a rugged Juarez refused to give in despite the numerous reasons that would have had for doing so.
The initial two minutes of the first round saw both fighters jabbing well and feeling each other out, but Marquez set the pace landing the harder shots. When Marquez bent towards the challenger their heads accidentally clashed and it opened a bad gash under the eyebrow of Juarez that would affect his vision for the remainder of the fight.
Throughout the second and third rounds, Marquez began to find his range and started to land hard precise punches to both the head and the body of Juarez. The challenger couldn’t seem to get close enough and appeared to be covering up more than usual due to the cut that continued to gush blood down his face.
The fourth round ended early as the time keeper accidentally rang the bell a full one minute before the round was over. Both fighters retreated to their corners before anyone realized what had happened but the round was officially over when the bell rings.
From rounds six through eight, Juarez’s corner continued to implore that he throw more than one shot at a time. Although he tried to do this in the ninth, his best round of the night, Marquez was too fast and way too sharp for the younger Juarez.
Although the fight probably would have had the same outcome regardless of the cut, it could have possibly been much closer on the scorecards had the cut not occurred. The official scores were 117-111, 118-110 and 120-108. I scored the fight 119-109.
For Marquez, the fight solidified his place among the top of the division and set up a possible rematch with Manny Pacquiao in the upcoming year. But Juarez should not be counted out of any discussion in the featherweight division. He has shown heart and determination in both fights with Barrera and now with Marquez. As many of the elite move up in weight, Juarez could prove to be right back in the mix with a quick turn around win.
The televised undercard was a quick and easy fight for IBF Champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, 21-1-1 (14), as he retained his featherweight title by knocking out the #5 IBF contender Martin Honorio, 24-4-1(12), with a perfect left hand in the first round. Honorio attempted to get to his feet but was unable to steady himself and Referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight at the official time of :56 seconds of round 1.
Following the fight, Guerrero spoke about stepping up with the big boys, mentioning the names of fighters such as Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao and both Marquez and Juarez.
No matter who he steps into the ring with, Guerrero has some pop and could prove troublesome to a number of the top names in the division.