Manny Pacquiao’s cyclonic rampage through four weight classes in the past five years has met one obstacle. And although Pacquiao overcame the obstacle, Juan Manuel Marquez placed arguably the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighter in perilous situations unlike any recent opponent did.
Not surprisingly, Marquez still has Pacquiao in his thoughts. even as Marquez prepares for a second bout against Juan Diaz on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Marquez, a lightweight titleholder recognized by two organizations, knocked out Diaz in nine rounds of an exciting bout in Feb. 2009.
“Manny Pacquiao, that’s my desire. I want it so bad,” Marquez said in a recent conference call.
Pacquiao won a tight, split decision against Marquez in 2008, four years after Marquez survived three first-round knockdowns and fought Pacquiao to a draw in their first bout.
“I want that third fight with him before my career ends,” Marquez said. “Right now my concentration is 100 percent on [Saturday] to defend my titles, my belts, against Juan Diaz, and then we’ll look forward.”
Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton are the only fighters who have faced both Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Although Marquez gave Pacquiao fits in their two bouts, he lost a lopsided decision against Mayweather, albeit at an unfamiliar welterweight class for the Mexico native. Saturday’s bout will be Marquez’s first since facing Mayweather in September.
Despite losing by double-digit scorecards to Mayweather, Marquez, 36, is confident of remaining an elite-level fighter.
“The Mayweather fight didn’t really take anything away,” Marquez said. “I’ve always said, and it’s always been my theory, to be the best you have to fight the best, and I’ll never go back on that.
“I feel very well as far as that fight went. Obviously, it could have been better. But as far as this fight with Juan Diaz, he’s going to bring it. He’s trained very well. I’m trained very well, and it’s going to be a very good fight, and, like I said, it could be even better than the first one.”
The pay-per-view tag on Saturday’s bout is based on Marquez’s continued presence within the pound-for-pound rankings and the thrill-a-punch drama of the first Diaz bout. Since his first bout against Marquez, Diaz won and lost decisions in consecutive fights against Paulie Malignaggi.
A 2009 graduate of the University of Houston, Diaz, 26, has aspirations of attending law school but would like to break into Marquez’s level as a fighter. The rematch with Marquez could be Diaz’s final platform for such an opportunity.
“This fight here, a lot of people have been mentioning to me that it’s a do-or-die fight,” Diaz said. “Well, I don’t think it is a do-or-die fight. I think it’s a win-win situation because either I become a world champion once again and become a superstar or it opens up doors for me to do other things and focus on other aspects of my life.”
Saturday’s Marquez-Diaz card also will feature a junior-welterweight fight between Miramar resident Joel Casamayor and Robert Guerrero on the undercard.
A former two-time world champion, Guerrero renounced his second belt last year to care for his wife, Casey, while she underwent treatment for leukemia. Casey Guerrero is now cancer-free, and Robert resumed his career earlier this year.
“My wife is doing great; that’s why I’m taking big fights and getting back in the ring,” Guerrero said. “If she wasn’t doing too good, I wouldn’t be taking any big fights because of the focus you need to be in there. With Joel Casamayor, it has to be 100 percent.
“She’s doing excellent, and the family is stepping up and taking care of what she needs and is giving me the ability to be able to just focus on the fight, train and do what I’ve got to do to be ready.”
BARTHELEMY’S BOUT
Miami resident Rances Barthelemy will be part of a card Friday night in Miami, Oklahoma. Barthelemy’s opponent will be disclosed early this week. A junior lightweight, Barthelemy is 5-0 with three knockouts since his professional debut last August.
Keith Thurman knocked out Miami resident Stalin Lopez in the second round of their junior-middleweight fight Friday night in Temecula, Calif. For Lopez, the loss was his first after starting his professional career with seven consecutive victories
