By Vanessa McConnell, Photos by Naoki Fukuda: Golden Boy Promotions put on an exciting fight card this weekend at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in front of 7,882 boxing fans. Juan Manuel Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs) won the Ring Magazine lightweight title by TKO against Joel Casamayor when referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight at 2:55 of the eleventh round. He dropped Casamayor twice in the eleventh round before Weeks stepped in.
“It was a great fight,” Marquez said. “We were prepared and did what we had to do to win. We moved up in weight, and I’ll fight anyone my promoters want. I was the more intelligent fighter,” Marquez said. “I was watching out for myself. I knew to neutralize his left hand. I threw a lot of combinations because I knew I couldn’t win with just one punch..”
“I fought as a champion, but Marquez was the best this night,” Casamayor said. “He knew how to control my punches, and I had a bad night. I’m very emotional right now. I want a rematch.”
The main undercard featuring Vernon Forrest (41-3) and Sergio Mora was even more exciting as Forrest regained the WBC Super welterweight title by unanimous decision in the 12 rounder. “Now you see the difference between a contender and a real champion,” Forrest said. “Tonight, it was basic Boxing 101 — jab, jab, jab.”
Mora blames his defeat on his condition; he struggled to make weight on Fridayʼs weigh-in. “My legs weren’t there, and my weight didn’t come out the way it usually does,” said Mora, who dropped to 21-1-1. “I only had six weeks to train, and I usually train 10. It was too short a camp, and I worked too hard.”
The champion parties at Studio 54 after the fight with Playboy Model Brittany Fuchs as she hosted the Casamayor vs. Marquez after fight party and celebrated her 23rd birthday. Forrest was definitely in a celebrating mood, he stopped traffic to dance with me in the walkway between our tables. Visit www.myspace.com/vmclasvegas for full photo gallery of the fight.
In the undercard fight between Victor Ortiz and Roberto Arietta, Ortiz won by a fifth round TKO as referee Jay Nady called the fight off at 2:25. “During the fight he was telling me I was too young and I would never be a world champion and that he was the champion,” Ortiz said. “In that round I dropped him and I said I was the champ. Now I want to get in with some high-profile names.”
In the super middleweight bout between Juilo Cesar Garcia and Troy Browning, Garcia lost the fight by majority decision. Middleweight Daniel Jacobs won an impressive first round knock out of Ramon Espinoza. Junior welterweight prospect Danny Garcia defeated Tyrone Wiggins with a knock out at 1:04 of the first round after a broken thumb injury back in May. Featherweight Carlos Velasquez defeated Jose Navarrete in the fifth round at 1:11.