Who’s next for boxer Juan Manuel Marquez after his victory Saturday at Desert Diamond Casino?
It appears to be Manny Pacquiao, the self-proclaimed “Mexican Killer” who fought to a draw last time he faced Marquez.
“He considers himself a Mexican Killer but he has to prove that to me,” Marquez said. “He doesn’t have a win over me.” The rematch between the two looks to be a certainty, a “matter of time,” according to Oscar de la Hoya. Golden Boy Promotions officials said March 15, 2008, looks to be the date. No venue has been named. Marquez defeated Rocky Juarez to defend his WBC Super featherweight title Saturday. Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs) won by unanimous decision in a bout that was aired live on Showtime. “I’d give my performance a nine,” Marquez said of his dominating victory. “I know it was a tough fight. We knew it would be.” Marquez used his left hand in the early rounds to keep Juarez (27-4) at a distance. In the later rounds he used his right hand to score impressive shots to the head. “I wanted to fight an intelligent fight,” Marquez said. “My only plan was to make it a smart fight. Once you get into the ring everything changes. I changed styles.” Juarez suffered a cut just above the left eye in an accidental head butt in the first round that started some slow bleeding. “It was a tough fight,” Juarez said. “At times I felt the cut may have affected the fight.” Juarez said it was the first time in his career he had been cut, and his vision became a problem. “A lot of times when I blocked punches with my left hand it was affecting my cut,” Juarez said. “I’d look at him and see blood but I wouldn’t see a cut. It made me wonder how bad (the) cut was.” ? In the other title fight, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero defended his IBF world featherweight title, knocking down Martin Honorio with a quick combination to the head to end the fight 56 seconds into the first round. It was ruled a technical knockout. Guerrero went into the fight after disclosing earlier in the week that his wife, Casey, 23, was diagnosed with leukemia. “She told me to go out and fight my heart out,” he said. More injuries for UCLA UCLA’s sour season continued Saturday in its 34-27 loss at Arizona. The Bruins (5-4, 4-2) were picked to be a top-20 team in the preseason, but injuries have slowed them. Three more UCLA players were injured against UA. “It was an another unfortunate game,” said UCLA coach Karl Dorrell. “We had a couple of more injuries that impacted the game. We had a chance to get back into the game. We just came up short. Quarterback Pat Cowan, running back Christian Ramirez (concussion) and running back Chris Markey (ankle) had to leave the game. Cowan was released from the University Medical Center emergency room late Saturday night after being treated for a concussion and collapsed lung. Cowan, who has been playing hurt most of the season, was removed from the game early in the third quarter. He had hit on 7 of 18 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. “We’ve lost two quarterbacks this year and two starters on both sides of the ball,” said UCLA defensive end Bruce Davis, who had three sacks. “But that doesn’t matter. Whoever comes in has got to go out and strap it up and play ball. “We’re the ones that have to execute and we haven’t done that.” Sophomore Osaar Rasshan gave the Bruins a spark when he replaced Cowan. He engineered three scoring drives to cut into UA’s 34-14 lead. Rasshan ran for 57 yards and passed for 78. The UCLA defense struggled all game, allowing 469 yards. “We had a tough day. We got hit over the top again (on long passes),” Dorrell said. “They made some plays on us the first half and again in the third quarter. The result was it was too much to overcome in the fourth quarter.” UA women’s soccer Arizona’s goal was not to allow an early score to No. 1 UCLA on Sunday, but that’s exactly what happened in the Wildcats’ 3-0 loss. The host Bruins scored in the ninth minute on a goal by Lauren Cheney. “You can’t get down early to the No. 1 team in the nation,” said UA coach Dan Tobias in a news release. The Bruins scored again in the 37th and 51st minutes. UA will host Arizona State at 7 p.m. Friday.
