Marquez Vs. Diaz February 28, 2009
it's official, ESPN - Marquez agrees to defend lightweight title in Diaz's hometown Feb. 28
Marquez agrees to defend lightweight title in Diaz's hometown Feb. 28
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: December 22, 2008, 10:01 PM ET
Lightweight world champion Juan Manuel Marquez and former unified titleholder Juan Diaz signed Monday to meet in a much anticipated fight.
They'll meet for Marquez's title Feb. 28 in the main event of an HBO "World Championship Boxing" card at the Toyota Center in Houston, Diaz's hometown.
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has been working on the fight for weeks and finally closed with the fighters.
"The loser of this fight won't really be a loser because it's going to be such an unbelievable fight," Schaefer said of a bout that matches fighters who are regularly in crowd-pleasing matches. "And the winner has a tremendous opportunity to move into an even bigger fight, maybe to move up [in weight] to fight the winner of Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao or even Floyd Mayweather if he decides to come back."
Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs), a former featherweight and junior lightweight titleholder, will be making the first defense of the championship he claimed when he knocked out Joel Casamayor in the 11th round on Sept. 13 in his first bout at 135 pounds.
"Juan Diaz is a talented young fighter with a bright future," Marquez said. "But this is still my time and I am not about to let Diaz take my belt away from me."
Diaz (34-1, 17 KOs), 25, lost his three alphabet belts to Nate Campbell in March but bounced back for a decision victory against Michael Katsidis at the Toyota Center on Sept. 6.
"Juan Manuel is one of the greats in the game and it's an honor to fight him, but I will be victorious," Diaz said.
Marquez, 35, had been reluctant to fight Diaz in Houston but Schaefer said, "We made it worth his while."
Schaefer also said that Texas officials agreed to use neutral judges for the bout.
"That is what convinced Marquez to go there," Schaefer said.
"This fight between Marquez and Diaz will shake the lightweight division to its core and truly determine the best 135-pounder in the world," said Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya. "As a fan, I can't wait to see this fight."
Schaefer said he is working to finalize the HBO co-feature between Top Rank-promoted featherweight titleholder Steven Luevano (36-1-1, 15 KOs) and Houston's Rocky Juarez (28-4, 20 KOs), the mandatory challenger.
Aside from an even matchup on paper, Luevano-Juarez has a built in storyline -- Juarez defeated him in the U.S. Olympic trials to secure a spot in the 2000 Sydney Games, where he went on to win a silver medal.
Schaefer said he had already made a deal with Juarez and has an agreement with Top Rank's Bob Arum.
"Now, it's up to Bob to convince [Luevano manager] Cameron [Dunkin] and Luevano to take it," Schaefer said. "I hope Bob can convince them."
If Luevano-Juarez is finalized, Schaefer said Texas officials had also agreed to use neutral judges for the bout.
Luevano has defended his title four times. Juarez, who would drop from junior lightweight to featherweight, rebounded from a loss to Marquez to stop former junior lightweight titleholder Jorge Barrios in the 11th round on the Diaz-Katsidis undercard.
