Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Juan Díaz

Marquez vs. Diaz

Date	February 28, 2009
Venue	Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, United States
Title(s) on the line	WBO Lightweight Championship, WBA Super World Lightweight Championship, The Ring Lightweight Championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer Juan Manuel Marquez Juan Diaz Nickname Dinamita Baby Bull Hometown Mexico City, Mexico Houston, Texas Pre-fight record 49–4–1 (36 KO) 34–1–0 (17 KO) Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) Recognition Ring Magazine pound for pound No. 2 Former unified WBA , WBO , IBF and IBO world lightweight champion.
Result
Marquez via TKO

Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Juan Diaz was a boxing lightweight title superfight, for the vacant WBO/WBA lightweight championship, and Marquez's The Ring lightweight title. The bout was held on February 28, 2009, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. Marquez won the fight via technical knockout in the ninth round.

The match was named the 2009 Fight of the Year.

The fight

Díaz controlled the fight early in the bout as the two boxers exchanged punches. Díaz opened a cut above Márquez's right eye in the fifth round, and looked to control the bout, but Márquez responded by opening a gash above Diaz's right eye, and stunning him with a left hook before the end of the eighth round. Márquez landed two hard rights to Díaz's face in a three-punch combination that knocked Díaz down with 35 seconds remaining in the ninth round. Díaz rose, but seconds later, Márquez followed with a right uppercut to the chin that knocked Díaz down for a second time. Referee Rafael Ramos waved an end to the fight after two minutes and 40 seconds of the ninth round.

Aftermath

With the victory, Márquez defended his Ring Lightweight title, and claimed the WBO, the WBA, and the IBO Lightweight championship titles.