Earlier today at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, the participants to this weekend?s Fight of the Year: The Rematch event made their grand arrivals. The nine-bout card is headlined by Juan Manuel Marquez facing off with Juan Diaz in an anticipated rematch to last year?s fight of the year. On February 28th at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, Marquez overcame a slow start to eventually break down his then 25-year old foe in brutal fashion, registering a 9th round knockout.
On the undercard Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero will be facing off with former two-division champion Joel Casamayor. Despite his advanced age of 38, Casamayor is the slickest and most experienced fighter Guerrero has faced on a world class level. The battle of southpaws should give us some answers as to where Guerrero stands in his quest to win a title in a third weight class.
A battle of unbeaten fighters will see Brooklyn native Danny Jacobs fight for his first world title when he faces off with Russia?s Dmitry Pirog. While little has been revealed about Pirog up until this point, Jacobs was named ESPN?s prospect of the year in 2009 and has a lot of people pulling for him to bring the belt back home.
Once a can?t-miss star in the sport, Jorge Linares? world came crashing down when he was shockingly stopped by Juan Carlos Salgado in October of last year. Linares has fought once since then and will be facing off with hard-luck Rocky Juarez in a Jr. Lightweight clash. While Linares? skills are a level above his gritty opponent, Juarez? pressure could prove to be a huge asset.
