Photos: Juan Diaz, Mike Alvarado Return To Get KO Wins

By Cliff Rold, photos by Liz Kreutz

32-year old former lightweight titlist Juan Diaz (41-4, 20 KO) returned successfully to the ring Saturday night at the Arena Theatre in his hometown of Houston, Texas, with a ninth-round stoppage of 29-year old Fernando Garcia (30-8-2, 18 KO). Diaz, 136 ½, won almost every round but took a lot of punches and was forced to work against a Garcia, 136 ½, of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, who didn’t just come to pick up a check.

Diaz reigned nearly four years, from 2004-08, as the WBA lightweight titlist, eventually adding the IBF and WBO belts along the way. Losses to Nate Campbell, Paul Malignaggi, and twice to Juan Manuel Marquez in six fights from 2008-10 saw Diaz leave the ring for three years.  Diaz, returning Saturday from a 17-month layoff, was beginning the second leg of a comeback begun in 2013 and derailed by a reported rotator cuff injury.

The referee was Laurence Cole.

Diaz has lost nothing of the relentlessness that once made him a crowd favorite. He also remains hittable and without single shot finishing power. Garcia, who has been stopped five times and three times in his last six, was in the trenches exchanging with Diaz for the first four rounds. He took tons of leather but gave back enough to make a show and never appeared hurt.

By the fifth, the sheer volume of Diaz’s attack seemed to be breaking Garcia down. Swelling around both eyes, worse around the left, Garcia sunk towards the ropes late in the round from fatigue but got some air and returned to firing. Garcia endured through the sixth and seventh, gamely even taunting Diaz on, but Diaz’s body attack and more accurate punching made it a high contact rout.

In the ninth, it was finally too much for Garcia to stay up. With a continuous assault, Diaz forced him to the floor. Garcia beat the count but Cole would only let him take a little bit more before halting the action at 2:24 of round nine. It was Diaz’s sixth consecutive win dating to his initial 2013 return to the ring.  

In swing action, the son of former Jr. middleweight titlist and US Olympian Raul Marquez made his professional debut in the welterweight division. 19-year old Arturo Marquez (1-0, 1 KO), 146, of Houston, Texas, got off to a winning start with a second round stoppage of 29-year old Justin Henderson (0-2), 146 ½, of Hosuton, Texas. Scoring a knockdown in the second, Marquez followed up with a two-fisted assault to draw the stoppage from referee Laurence Cole at 2:50 of the frame.

Making his ring return after a year-off, 35-year old welterweight Mike Alvarado (35-4, 24 KO), 147 ¼, of Denver, Colorado, shook off the rust with a third round knockout of 29-year old Saul Corral (19-7, 10 KO), 147 ¼, of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. It was only Corral’s second knockout loss. The referee was Jon Schorle.

Alvarado, a former WBO titlist at 140 lbs., was making his first start since leaving fans with a sour taste in a January 2015 rubber match with Brandon Rios. Seemingly underprepared, Alvarado was easily defeated and participated in a televised interview after the fight that did him no favors.

Alvarado opened up pressing and, at first, it looked like Corral might be overwhelmed. Letting his hands go, and reddening the face of Alvarado, Corral went on the offense and made a case for winning the first round. The heavier hands of Alvarado, particularly his right, had him rocking Corral as the second round unfolded.

Corral’s willing effort was upended moments into the third. A lashing right hand knocked Corral off balance near the corner and another had him nearly out on his feet. A final salvo put Corral on the floor. The time of the finish was 1:25 of the third round.

The card televised in the US on UniMas as part of its “Solo Boxeo” series, promoted by Top Rank.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com