By Mark Vester
At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Juan Manuel Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs) knocked out linear lightweight champion Joel Casamayor (36-4-1, 22 KOs) in the eleventh-round of an exciting fight.
The first round saw a mirror image of the two. They jabbed and exchanged hard punches, with Casamayor's left-hand landing and Marquez's right-hand counter landing right back. Marquez began to target the body in the second, mixing the shots by using his jab to get inside. The action began to slow down in the third, with both fighters picking their spots from the distance. Casamayor staggered Marquez with a left, and Marquez shook him right back with a three-punch combination.
The fourth-round was another battle between between Casamayor's left and Marquez's right, Casamayor began to load up on the left-hand, landing it well. In the fifth, a cut opened up above the right eye of Casamayor. Marquez began to go to work with hard right hands, trying to make the cut worse and also busted up Casamayor's nose. Marquez would continue to target the right eye of Casamayor in the sixth, also using long rights to hit down the middle.
The seventh was more of the same with Marquez dominating the action with his combinations. Casamayor started to wake up from his slump in the eight, landing a very hard left to the chin of Marquez during one of their exchanges. The left hand of Casamayor would continue to find the target in the ninth. In the tenth, Casamayor started strong with the left, Marquez was the one who finished strong with combinations and straight rights. Casamayor's nose began to flow a river of red.
During the eleventh, an exchange of punches that were punctuated by Marquez's right hand on the chin - sent Casamayor down on his back. He got to his feet in serious trouble and Marquez jumped on him with combinations and endless punches to send him down for the second time, ref Tony Weeks stepped in to stop save Casamayor from further damage. The first time Casamayor has been stopped. The 37-year-old may now retire after this loss.