Yes that's right, after a month-long Cotto-Margarito hangover, we're finally back with some real boxing action. Let us harken back to March 2008, one of the great boxing months in recent memory. The month was highlighted by 2 mega-fights, which saw both Marquez brothers lose by a single point in split decisions. On March 1, Israel Vazquez beat Rafael Marquez in Part III of their trilogy, thanks to a furious Vazquez rally in the 12th, where he knocked Marquez down with about 10 seconds to go in the fight. That is widely considered to be Fight of the Year so far. A close runner-up in my book took place on March 15, where Manny Pacquiao outpointed Juan Manuel Marquez by the slimmest of margins, in another all action brawl that saw both guys get busted up pretty badly.
But there were 2 other outstanding fights that month, both in the lightweight division. On March 8, Juan Diaz lost his 3 lightweight belts in a split decision upset to Nate Campbell, in which Diaz suffered a gruesome cut over his left eye. Then on March 22, Joel Casamayor got up from being knocked out of the ring by Michael Katsidis to score a 10th round TKO in a great back-and-forth fight (Casa knocked Katsidis down twice in the 1st round, then Katsidis knocked Casa through the ropes in the 8th).
And now, this coming Saturday, we have Diaz vs. Katsidis - the two men coming off their first career losses in those two lightweight fights will square off in what promises to be another Fight of the Year candidate. Not to mention, Diaz represents our own Simply Juanderful, as they try to score their first points of the league.
That's this Saturday, Sept 6, at 10:15pm on HBO, preceded by a junior lightweight clash between rugged veterans Rocky Juarez and Jorge Barrios.
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