By Jake Donovan
It was a very good night for the home team in Houston, Texas, even if not a very good performance by the officials or even the HBO broadcast crew. In the end, Juan Diaz and Rocky Juarez scored huge wins not just for their home town crowd, but the type of victories that remind the boxing world they are still major players in their respective weight classes.
Juan Diaz bounced back strong from his first career loss to outwork Michael Katsidis, handing the free-swinging Australian-based lightweight his second straight defeat, though with a surprising split decision verdict in the evening’s main event.
The win for Diaz came about an hour after stable mate and fellow H-Town pugilist Rocky Juarez scored the biggest win of his career with a thrilling 11th round stoppage over faded former junior lightweight titlist Jorge Barrios.
Many figured the main event to be a can’t miss Fight of the Year contender given the relentless styles of the combatants, both of whom were coming off of the first loss of their respective careers. The end result didn’t even come close to living up to that level of hype, but still proved entertaining, particularly to the 15,000 or so on hand at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas to cheer on the hometown kid.
Diaz didn’t disappoint, setting the tone early by burying his jab in Katsidis’ grill. It was suggested early on that the action was serving as a prelude to a war waiting to erupt, but Diaz never allowed it. His jab was working, and was also targeting the body of Katsidis, who could rarely land more than one punch at a time for much of the fight.
Plasma was promised, with both fighters showing tendencies to cut early and often in fights past. Katsidis delivered on that front, with a cut around the inside of his left eye developing in round two, a round that saw Diaz’ emphatic answer to Katsidis’ assumed power advantage – combination and volume punching.
It was Diaz’ superior workrate that would turn a close fight into a rout midway through the fight, or so the viewing audience assumed. Round by round, Diaz was picking up steam, always remaining in position to get off first and offer a response any time Katsidis tried to mount an attack.
Things appeared to change course in the fifth, when Katsidis came out to a strong start. That was before Diaz would land a momentum-shifting right uppercut and left hook midway through the round. The rest of the frame was more of the same, Diaz mounting an assault while picking off or avoiding most of the return fire, though Katsidis was able to finish strong.
Surprisingly, Katsidis’ corner was pleased with their fighter’s performance, asking their charge to remain patient. Katsidis obliged, almost to a fault as Diaz dominated the sixth and seventh rounds. By the end of seven, Katsidis had cuts around both eyes, with swelling developing below his right eye.
Regardless of how you scored the first seven rounds, the eighth was the first that Katsidis clearly won, no questions asked. Diaz still had answers for almost everything Katsidis threw or landed, but for the first time in the fight was forced to throw for the sake of keeping up with his opponent, rather than controlling the tempo.
The momentum spilled over into the ninth as well, though momentarily halted for loose tape on Katsidis’ glove, the first of three times over the final four rounds that it would force the clock to stop.
The break worked to Katsidis’ benefit, who came out charged up for the remainder of the round, letting his hands go while Diaz was in an unfamiliar position – playing defense and not able to get off in return. That changed by round’s end, when Diaz landed a right uppercut as Katsidis overcommitted with a left hook to the body. Diaz remained on the attack, forcing Katsidis into a rare clinch.
More loose tape was how the 11th round started, which followed a sloppy 10th round that showed the initial effects of a grueling fight fought at a phone booth’s distance. Diaz was the busier fighter, while Katsidis had few answers other than to plod forward with his head down.
Both fighters were instructed to box entering the final round. Trainer Ronnie Shields offered this advice to Diaz in efforts to avoid Katsidis landing “anything lucky.” Across the ring, trainer Brendan Smith believed Katsidis was well within a win, believing one more round would seal the deal.
They were both correct, to a degree.
Diaz began the round with a jab, while Katsidis went head hunting. He found his target, but not without Diaz responding to the head and body. Katsidis attempted to turn up the volume, but Diaz wisely played defense, picking off most of the incoming.
Considering the buildup and the outcome, the ending to the fight was almost fitting – Diaz slipping to the canvas at the ten second mark, his gloves wiped by referee Laurence Cole but the fight ending without another punch being thrown.
In the end, it was a hard fought battle on both sides, but one with few momentum shifts and certainly not a candidate for the year’s best fights.
But it wasn’t without drama.
The reading of Glenn Hamada’s scorecard provided the first collective gasp, coming in at 115-113 for Katsidis, much to the dismay of the crowd. Their worst fears would be alleviated, after scores of 116-112 (Gale Van Hoye) and 115-113 (Levi Martinez) were announced in favor of Diaz, who escaped with a split decision in a fight he seemingly won with room to spare.
With the win, Diaz improves to 34-1 (17KO). Left way in the rearview are the bad but now faded memories of what went down six months ago in Cancun, when Diaz fell apart in the second half of the fight, forfeiting his multiple lightweight titles to Nate Campbell in another bout where the final split decision verdict didn’t come close to telling the story.
What was left behind was the fact that Diaz would love to have legitimate lightweight hardware around his waist, as opposed to the spurious title he collected tonight.
“I want to re-establish myself as the lightweight champion of the world,” said Diaz, who fought at home for the first time in more than three years. “So with that, I’d like (Juan Manuel) Marquez or (Joel) Casamayor. Whoever wins (next week), whoever they bring, I’m ready.”
Despite losing his second straight and in such a rough fight, Katsidis insists he’s still ready for prime time, with taking a step backwards an implausible scenario.
“I’m a long way from Australia,” quipped Katsidis, alluding to the fact that he plans to make the most of his time in the states and in his prime. In the meantime, he falls to 23-2 (2KO), with this defeat following a crushing 10th round knockout to Joel Casamayor in a March fight he was winning at the time of the stoppage.
He also believed he won this fight as well, though bit his tongue when prompted for a response, instead handling the post-fight interview with class.
“You can’t let these things get to your heart. I did my best and put my heart and soul into it.”
Both fighters did, and still delivered a heck of a fight, even if for different reasons than most figured going in.
Also suggested before the opening bell was that the co-feature had the potential to outshine the main event. It most certainly accomplished that, as former Olympic silver medalist Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez rallied to stop Jorge Barrios late in the 11th round.
The only negative to hang on the fight was its suspect officiating. Referee Rafael Ramos docked two questionable points from Jorge Barrios’ scorecards for low blows, with neither shot appearing to land much lower than the beltline.
Beyond that, how the fight was playing out prior to the stoppage depended on your preference. By his own admission, Juarez was far too complacent for much of the fight, but was landing at a higher percentage, and effective with a sustained body attack.
On the opposite end of the equation, Barrios plowed forward with a game plan of throw it all against the wall and see what sticks. The former titlist, who entered this fight coming off of retina surgery to both eyes, threw more than twice as many punches, but saw few rounds where he landed more than 20% of his blows.
The HBO announcers believed that Barrios was way ahead in the fight; so too did Juarez’ corner, who insisted heading into the championship rounds (a fringe title was at stake) that their guy needed a knockout.
Barrios’ corner seemed to believe the opposite to be true, telling their guy they needed more in order to pull out the fight. It turned out to be correct advice in regards to the scorecards, but failed to recognize the fact that Barrios’ stamina was rapidly declining.
It was Barrios’ willingness to fight with his heart instead of his head that led to the best two rounds of the fight – even if resulting in the worst possible outcome. Juarez let his hands go for the first time in the fight in a spirited 10th round. Both fighters threw everything and the kitchen sink, but it was Juarez repeatedly landing the more telling blows in the round.
The same could be said in the 11th, with the only difference being that neither fighter would make it back to their corner. Chants of “Rocky” filled the arena, the crowd sensing that their guy was creeping closer and closer toward something dramatic.
Juarez delivered in a big way, landing a left hook and right hand that rocked Barrios. The ensuing volley sent the Argentinean to the canvas for the bout’s – and telecast’s – lone knockdown. Barrios made it to his feet and took the mandatory eight count, but was literally gushing blood from a cut in his lip.
The ringside physician was summoned to the ring apron to examine the cut, but had no choice other than to stop the contest, which came at 2:55 of round eleven.
Hopes of perhaps one last title run were resurrected for Juarez, who advances to 28-4 (20KO) with the win, his first in well over a year. He entered the fight coming off of a 10-month layoff, his last fight a disappointing performance last November against Juan Manuel Marquez.
Barrios now loses for the second time in his past three fights, though in a span spread out over two years. He falls to 47-4-1 (34KO) with the loss.
Both bouts were presented by Golden Boy Promotions, and aired live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark (save for the West Coast feed).
Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .