By Mark Vester
WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs) retained his title with a unanimous twelve-round decision over a game Rocky Juarez (27-4, 19 KOs) at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona.
A clash of heads in the first round opened a nasty cut above the left eye of Juarez, and the result was a bloody bout that saw Juarez fighting with practically one eye. Juarez was able to land a few good punches during the bout, not nearly enough to win more than a round at best. Marquez's right eye began to swell by the eleventh round, but not enough to cause concern. The scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 120-108.
In the co-feature, IBF featherweight champion Robert Guerrero (21-1-1, 14 KOs) destroyed Martin Honorio (24-4-1, 12 KOs) in 56-seconds of the first round. Honorio was never able to recover from a crushing left that hit him right on the chin.
Undercard Results By Jake Donovan at ringside:
In a fight that didn't garner much attention from the crowd (distracted by Oscar de la Hoya's arena entrance) or press row (distracted by live online streams of Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler), undefeated Mexican junior middleweight Gabriel Martinez (16-0-1, KO) grinded out a split decision over Vegas-based Juan Pablo Montes de Oca (9-13-2, 6KO). The six-round battle was an awkward affair, with more fouls than clean punches. Martinez was docked a point for a flagrant low blow, but appeared to otherwise dominate. One judge disagreed, scoring the fight 58-55 for Montes de Oca. Luckily, common sense made its way to the other two ringside judges, who scored it 58-55 and 59-54 for Martinez.
Undefeated cruiserweight prospect Carlos "Chocolate" Duarte made the most of his rematch with .500 clubfighter Terrance Smith, pounding him into submission 1:00 into the 4th and final round. Smith spent all of the 3rd and all of the shortened 4th round offering no offense, instead offering earmuff defense, allowing Duarte to unload at will. Why referee Nico Perez didn't intervene earlier is for a future discussion with Arizona commish John Montano. Luckily, Smith's cornerman had the wherewithal to recognize a beaten fighter, climbing on the ring apron to throw in the towel. Duarte, Cuban born but now training with Nacho Beristain in Mexico, improves to 8-0 (6KO), including his second straight win over Smith in a four-month span. Oklahoma City (OK)-based Smith, who dropped a razor thin decision in their previous fight, dips below .500 (4-5-1-2 NC, 3KO) for the first time in his six-year career.
Local middleweight Joshua "Kid Bacon" Renteria was sizzling in his return to the ring after an eight-year hiatus, pounding out a third-round TKO over hapless Texan journeyman Abdias Castillo. Renteria scored three knockdowns, two in the first and once in the second, and poured it on in the third round before referee Wes Melton mercifully halted the contest. Official time was 1:07 of the third round. Renteria, whose last fight was a 3 rd round TKO loss in 1999, improves to 15-2 (8KO). Castillo falls to 10-22-1 (7KO) with the loss, his third straight, and 12 out of his last 13 fights.
Undefeated Mexican junior welterweight prospect Jesus Selig opened up the show with a workmanlike four-round unanimous decision over Billings (MT) journeyman Daniel Gonzales. Selig dominated the first two rounds, before Gonzales made a fight of it in the third and fourth. The only round Gonzales won was the fourth and final, which became a two-point round after Selig was docked a point for low blows. The late rally by Gonzales was too little too late, though, once the final scores were announced. Scores were 39-37 and 38-37 (2x) for Selig, who improves to 5-0-1 (3KO). Gonzales falls to 7-11-2 (2KO), dropping his eighth straight dating back to 2005.
