SAHUARITA – For Juan Manuel Marquez, there were chants. They filled the room like a chorus that asked for more, or at least Manny Pacquiao.
For Rocky Juarez, there was only blood. It filled his eye, blinded him for 12 rounds and left his future stained with only uncertainty.
Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs) left no doubt about his credentials or his rights to a Pacquiao rematch Saturday night by retaining his World Boxing Council super-featherweight title with a decision over Juarez (27-4, 19 KOs) at Desert Diamond Casino.
On the scorecards, it was unanimous. But it was more than that. It was overwhelming.
The judges scored it 118-110, 117-111, 120-108. On the Arizona Republic’s card, it was 119-109.
But the numbers didn’t add up to anything that reflected the carnage.
Although courageous, Juarez never had a chance against Marquez, who pound-for-pound is considered the world’s third-best fighter behind Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao.
“I want to fight Pacquiao,” said Marquez, whose promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, wants him to fight Pacquiao, too. “I hope he wants to fight me.”
There are mixed messages about Pacquiao’s plans. He has said he might move up in weight from super featherweight (130 pounds) to lightweight (135).
Against Juarez, at least, it looked as if Marquez was ready at either weight in what would be a rematch of his dramatic draw in 2004 with the feared Filipino.
He simply dominated the bloodied Juarez with more punches, 2 to 1 and sometimes 3 to 1 throughout 12 rounds.
Juarez’s chances were complicated by nasty cut over his left eye. He suffered it in the first round as the result of head butt.
“It was accidental,” said Juarez, a 2000 Olympic silver medalist from Houston.
The accident continued for the next 11 rounds.
Juarez was the victim, even in the fourth round when a mistake at ringside sounded the bell after two minutes instead of three.
As it turned out, that was the only break Juarez got all night against Marquez, whose jab and combinations left the cut at least an inch wide.
“It made it tough,” Juarez said. “The cut had a lot to do with it.”
In another title fight, Robert Guerrero (21-1-1, 14 KOs) retained the International Boxing Federation’s featherweight title with a first-round knockout of Martin Honorio (24-4-1, 12 KOs).
Guerrero fought after learning a few days ago that his wife has leukemia.
