Juan Manuel Marquez has ascended to the second spot on many pound-for-pound lists, and he’s done it without a single meaningful win against a prime fighter. Marquez is considered the second best fighter in the world because he fought two extremely close fights with Manny Pacquiao, considered by most to be the world’s best fighter.

Tonight, Marquez will face a top-level fighter who’s not past his prime for just the fifth time in his career. In the previous four fights, he’s 0-3-1, with a loss and a draw to Pacquiao and losses to Chris John and Freddie Norwood. He has decent wins over the aged Joel Casamayor and Marco Antonio Barrera, but this will be his biggest non-Pacquiao test in years.

Marquez will step into the ring to face Houston fan favorite Juan Diaz, a 25-year old aspiring lawyer who attends college in Houston by day, and beats people up on the occassional Saturday night.

It’s a fascinating matchup between the slick, smaller counterpuncher in Marquez, and the naturally bigger, rough and physical Diaz.

This is a classic “styles make fights” kind of matchup. Does Marquez’s boxing skill prevail and frustrate the high volume puncher, or does Diaz’s non-stop pressure get to the 35-year old Marquez. Something’s got to give.

There’s a good chance this fight is one-sided — for either man. One of their styles could just dominate the other, and we won’t know which one until they’re in the ring. Or the styles could mesh perfectly and we could be treated to a fantastic boxing match.

Either way, there is a lot on the line in this fight — a handful of alphabet belts and the prestigious Ring Magazine lightweight title.

More importantly though, a showdown with the winner of Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao could be in the cards for the winner of this fight.

These are top level fighters and are sure to put on a great show. The previously mentioned Chris John is on the undercard, a fighter many in the States are not used to seeing as he fights out of Indonesia usually. He’s got a decision win over Marquez and may be boxing’s best kept secret.

I’m taking Diaz as a slight dog to beat the older Marquez, and John to box his way to a comfortable win over Rocky Juarez.

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