Juan Manuel Marquez has agreed to a lightweight rematch with Juan Diaz on July 31, securing a sequel to one of 2009's best fights.
Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs) stopped Diaz in the ninth round when they met in February 2009 in Houston, Diaz's hometown. Marquez hasn't been back in the ring since his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September, but the Mexican star is widely considered the world's top lightweight despite fighting just twice in his career at 135 pounds.
"I challenged at another weight, and now I'm going back to my real weight,'' Marquez said Saturday. "I'm forgetting that first fight (against Diaz). I have to prove myself again in this fight.''
Marquez-Diaz II will be held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and seen on HBO pay-per-view. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who promotes both fighters, promises a loaded undercard.
Although the 36-year-old Marquez still holds out hope of enticing Manny Pacquiao into a third fight, he's content to take on another bout with Diaz, the budding lawyer who will take his LSAT exams next month.
Diaz appeared to be winning the fighters' first bout until Marquez rallied in the last two rounds, cutting Diaz near his right eye and eventually landing two spectacular uppercuts to earn the stoppage.
"This is going to be a great summer for me,'' Diaz said. "I can feel it. Come July 31, I'm going to pick up from the ninth round, which is where I left off beating him.''
Diaz (35-3, 17 KOs), who hasn't fought in boxing's capital city since 2006, was once the undisputed lightweight champion before losing three of his last five fights. Even Diaz's two victories, over Paulie Malignaggi and Michael Katsidis, weren't exactly clear-cut.
Yet the University of Houston graduate thinks he figured out what's been wrong: He had too much time to focus on boxing.
Diaz rose to prominence, winning his first 33 fights and claiming his first title in 2004, while simultaneously studying for his degree in political science. After graduating last year, he spent most of his down time after training in front of the television, playing video games.
"I didn't look good in my last two fights (against Malignaggi at 140 pounds) because I wasn't in my weight class and I wasn't doing anything else,'' Diaz said. ``Studying after the gym, it keeps my body in shape and my mind in shape. Video games don't take much brain power.''
That won't be a problem for this fight, what with a month of LSAT preparation looming. The 26-year-old Diaz hasn't decided when he'll attend law school, but doesn't plan to fight past 30.
Diaz also weighed in on Arizona's tough new immigration law, which prompted the WBC to refuse to schedule Mexican fighters for bouts in the state.
"It's violating a lot of rights,'' Diaz said. "It's stereotyping people. I don't think states should take it into their own hands to enact those types of laws. From just a few incidents in Arizona, they're labeling the whole Hispanic population as going in there and causing trouble. It's going too far when it comes to 10th Amendment powers.''
