JUAN DIAZ vs JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ

Fightwriter has been having computer issues but we hope to have some new previews posted by Thursday a.m. This looks like being another great week for fans in the U.S. and elsewhere, with bouts on tap including HBO's 140-pound clash between Victor Ortiz and Mike Arnaoutis and the light-middle sure-thriller between James Kirkland and Joel Julio.

Fights that are eagerly anticipated keep boxing alive and well, and such a fight tops the bill on HBO on Saturday when Juan Manuel Marquez clashes with Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz in a lightweight title bout that seems sure to please.

Diaz, fighting in front of the home fans in Houston, is, at 25, the younger man by a decade, but in Marquez he meets one of the finest ring technicians in recent years, a superb boxer who still seems to be in top form.

Marquez is the betting favourite. In his last fight, Marquez looked strong and punched powerfully in his first bout at 135 pounds when knocking out Joel Casamayor in the 11th round. Diaz, meanwhile, had to work hard to win on points against busy-punching Michael Katsidis in a fight that the judges had much closer than it appeared to have been.

Diaz will likely have the bulk of the crowd on his side but Marquez, the much-respected veteran from Old Mexico, will also enjoy plenty of support.

This is the sort of fight where a strong case can be made for either fighter. Marquez is a masterful boxer whose only losses in the last 10 years were all on close, disputed decisions — against cagey southpaw Freddie Norwood in Las Vegas, Chris John in Indonesia and the two fiercely competitive contests against Manny Pacquiao.

Diaz’s only loss came on a night when nothing really went right for him in Cancun, Mexico, against veteran Nate Campbell. Diaz went into the fight caught up in the middle of a bitter dispute between his then-promoter Don King and his manager and mentor Willie Savannah. He got cut early in the fight and by the later rounds was boxing virtually one-eyed as his left eye began to swell and close from on top. As if this wasn’t enough, he was fighting a Nate Campbell who was at his absolute best after the longest and most intense training camp of his life. The closing rounds were an ordeal for Diaz but, battered and weary, he gritted it out to the finish and even, amazingly, got the vote of one of the judges.

While Campbell fought probably his greatest fight, I don’t think Diaz was at his best that night. He is a young man with a great deal of pride and he wanted the biggest, most challenging fight available to him so he can prove to the boxing world that it was just a bad night when Campbell beat him.

“I know that Juan Manuel Marquez is the type of guy that can push me over the top as far as recognition,” Diaz said over the phone from Houston last week. “Once I beat him, I think I will be recognised as the best lightweight in the world.

“He’s a real smart fighter who doesn’t get hit a lot and he’s improved a lot throughout the years, but I think my youth is going to make him show his age in this fight.

“He’s considered a great counter puncher, but what’s he gonna do when I counter punch his punches. He’s great at counter punching guys, two and three punches at a time and stepping back and moving to the side, but what’s he going to do when I keep coming and coming and counter-punching everything he does?

“I think that he’s gonna start off a little slow and try to box me and obviously I’m going to come in putting pressure because that’s what I do naturally, and I think once I start landing those punches I think that he’s going to realise that all he can do is fight me, and that’s going to make it a fan-friendly fight.”

Marquez, meanwhile, said through an interpreter: “I expect the very best Juan Diaz. He’s a fighter that throws a lot of punches, keeps coming forward, so I must use my experience, use my technique and boxing skill and take care of business.”

Diaz is seen as the naturally bigger man in the fight because he’s has been a lightweight his whole career and even boxed at junior welter whereas Marquez has moved up through through two weight classes.

Marquez, though, says he feels that he has grown into a solid lightweight. “I feel very good,” he said. “I felt very good at featherweight, very good at super featherweight and we’ve done the necessary changes and adjustments to go up to lightweight.

“They say that when you go up in weight it minimises the power of your punching, but we didn’t just go up [in weight] to go up, we didn’t just get heavy, we did a lot of work in strength and conditioning so that we can go up in weight and also be strong.

“Being in Houston he’s going to have a good amount of fans with him, but being 100 per cent Mexican there will be a lot of people out there for me. Once we step in the ring it’s just him and me, and the fans are going to enjoy a great night.”

A great night is indeed what it is likely to be. While both camps are confident, Diaz’s trainer, Ronnie Shields, said that he loves his man’s chances. “I think Juan is the most accurate puncher in boxing right now,” he said. “He throws a lot of punches but the thing is, he lands a lot. He makes guys fight when they don’t want to fight, and that’s the game plan we have to give for this guy. He has the correct style to beat him. I’m really, really looking forward to this.”

It is possible to visualise either man winning. Marquez, with his classical jab, straight right hand, hooks, uppercuts and combinations is capable of doing damage as Diaz brings the fight to him. Diaz, though, plans on setting a relentless pace, round after round, bell to bell. coming right back with his fists pumping away every time Marquez triggers off punches, bobbing his head and slipping punches as he bores in. When Marquez jabs, Diaz plans to jab. Everything Marquez does, Diaz plans to answer. The difference, as the Diaz camp sees it, is that when Marquez wants to take a break or slow things down a bit, the Baby Bull will just keep on punching.

The Diaz tactics could work. Although Marquez impressively knocked out Casamayor he was able to box at a measured pace against the ageing Cuban. He looked brilliant in his win over Rocky Juarez but that was at junior lightweight, and his great fights with Manny Pacquiao were at 126 and 130 pounds. On Saturday he meets a young, strong busy 135-pounder who will be doing his best to keep up a high punch-output. If Marquez cannot land the sort of punches that slow Diaz down, the older man faces a long, hard night.

While Diaz isn’t considered a hard puncher he can wear down opponents with an accumulation of punches. He made Julio Diaz and Acelino want to be someplace else. Marquez will never surrender, but Diaz could outwork him in the home straight.

I have been an admirer of Marquez’s skill and courage for a long time and I thought he won both fights with Pacquiao, close as they were. Sometimes, though, youth is served, and I think that this will be one of those nights. I’m going with Diaz to battle his way to a narrow victory after a fight of the highest quality.