One of my best memories in the sport of boxing was chronicling my good friend Nate Campbell's title pursuit of Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz's lightweight crowns in early 2008. Despite being a heavy 5-1 underdog heading into the contest, those close to Campbell's camp down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida seemed to know that something special was on the horizon.
Campbell carried his rough and jovial demeanor with him all the way to Cancun, Mexico, the setting for his date with destiny, as he readied to challenge Diaz on the 8th of March. Serving as the co-feature to and HBO World Championship Boxing telecast, Campbell and Diaz would end up duking it out at the Plaza de Toros, an old, dirty, bullring in the heart of Cancun.
Campbell would end up producing his finest outing as a professional, holding off an early charge from Diaz before turning the tide of the fight and bullying his younger foe around the ring over the final rounds. Nate was awarded a split-decision verdict and I will forever remembering being in the ring with him when he was announced as the newly-crowned champion of the world inside of the Plaza de Toros.
Over three years later and I have come to find out that Juan Manuel Marquez, who now holds the WBA and WBO belts that Campbell captured on that night, will himself be making a visit to the aforementioned bull ring as he meets Columbian Likar Ramos. Marquez must find a way to defeat Ramos in order to pave the way for a huge November meeting with Manny Pacquiao inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Marquez vs. Ramos has flown under the radar a little bit simply because the bout isn't showcased by a major network in America. Still the card is worth note, as Marquez's younger brother Rafael will return to the ring against Nicaragua's Osejo Eusebio while Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez will defend his WBA flyweight title against Mexico's Omar Salado.
David Diaz was originally being considered as a foe for Marquez but the fight fell apart over money issues. The 25-year old Ramos has a decent record at 24-3 with 18 knockouts but is known just as well for his stoppage loss to former champ Jorge Solis last year as he is for any of his wins.
Surely Marquez has respect for Ramos but you can sense he is looking past him and on to Pacquiao.
"This fight is not just for me to prepare, there are a lot of things. It's been five years since I fought next to my brother and that motivates me, and I will probably get better prepared than expected for the third fight with Manny Pacquiao. He knows who beat him twice and this time there will be no controversy. Either I win by knockout or he knocks me out."
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