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Watch Juan Manuel Marquez’s thrilling KO win over Juan Diaz from 2009.
“What you just saw was a really good young fighter knocked out by a great, old fighter.”
Those were the words of Max Kellerman after Juan Manuel Marquez knocked out Juan Diaz for the unified WBO and WBA lightweight belts. The date was February 28th, 2009 at the Toyota Center in Diaz’s hometown of Houston, Texas.
“Baby Bull” was a rising star in boxing and a unified world champion, but he’d just suffered his first loss two fights prior to Nate Campbell. He got back in the win column with a split decision over Michael Katsidis, setting the stage for a big showdown with the Mexican icon. Marquez was fresh off a KO of Joel Casamayor, but this was a chance to become a champion again.
This was a back-and-forth war for much of the evening, but the 36-year-old Marquez’s outstanding combination punching proved to be too much for the 26-year-old Diaz to handle as the night progressed. The scorecards were close, but Marquez turned the tide for good when he cut up and rocked Diaz late in round eight. Round nine was the point of no return for Diaz, as Marquez knocked him down with another excellent series of punches. Marquez closed the show with an uppercut that put Diaz down for good, ending a truly magnificent contest.
Watch the highlights at the top of the page.
Juan Manuel Marquez is one of my favorite fighters of all-time, regardless of combat sport. There’s so much more to him beyond the Manny Pacquiao rivalry, or the ill-fated fight with with Floyd Mayweather (which was his next bout after KOing Diaz), he is going to be in the International Boxing Hall of Fame once he’s eligible in 2022. He officially announced his retirement in 2017 with a sparkling record of 56-7-1 (40 KOs) and world titles in four weight classes.
As for Diaz, he never really recovered from this defeat. He won a gift decision vs. Paulie Malignaggi, lost the immediate rematch, then lost the rematch to Marquez on the scorecards. Diaz was out of the ring for three years, had some lower-level wins before retiring for good in 2016 with a mark of 42-4 (21 KOs). A former law student with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Diaz is now a fight promoter and is a community activist in his hometown.