Indonesia's Chris "The Dragon" John (picture) retained his title and remained undefeated by fighting to a draw with United States' hometown hero Rocky Juarez in the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherwight title bout at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.All three judges scored the fight 114-114 after all three gave the 11th and 12th round to Juarez, calling it a draw to leave Chris John unbeaten with the crown after his American debut and Juarez still winless in his world title bouts.
"I thought I won the fight," Chris John said. "What can I say? I won by points, but, what can I say? He's a tough fighter. He showed his strength in the last rounds."
Chris John went to 42-0 with two draws while Juarez had his first draw after 28 wins and four losses, his only losses and the draw coming in his title bouts.
Juarez staggered Chris John in the last seconds of the 11th round and tagged the champion with a left hook one minute into the last round and the two traded hard punches to the final bell as the crowd screamed in delight.
"I knew in the later rounds I had to pick it up. I went hard in the later rounds," Juarez said. "I thought I won the fight."
Chris John threw almost 400 more punches but the 29-year-old Semarang, Central Java, resident was denied a ninth win in a row.
"I thought I won the fight. I gave up the middle rounds, but it was a great show," Juarez said. "I wanted to bring the title to my hometown. He fought a good smart fight, but it was my fault in the middle rounds that I lost."
Both fighters began with a fast, intense pace. Juarez worked to Chris John's body while the Indonesian answered with a variety of jabs and solid rights, swelling Juarez's left eye in a third round where Chris John picked up the pace.
Chris John opened a cut over Juarez's left eye in the fifth round and used superior footwork to elude the Sydney Olympic silver medalist time and again, coming at Juarez from different angles and asserting control of the fight.
Juarez pressed the attack in the eighth round but John answered in the ninth with great flurries, hammering the challenger with an inside right to the head and a powerful left uppercut in his best combination. Before the closing rounds, Chris John seems to be a clear winner, but in the last two rounds, all three judges awarded Juarez with victories in their scores causing Juarez and "The Dragon" to tie in one of Juarez's best fights of his career.
"I might have given up some of the middle rounds. That's my fault," Juarez said. "The cut had a little to do with it. I just laid back in the middle rounds."
Chris John, who's also a former member of Indonesian national wushu team, would not rule out a rematch but served notice, "I'm ready for all."
In the main event match, Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez defeated reigning International Boxing Organization (IBO) Lightweight Champion and former WBA, International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) Lightweight Champion Juan Diaz by knockout.
Diaz pressed the action early in the bout as the two exchanged punches at a rapid pace. Diaz opened a cut above Marquez's right eye in the fifth round and looked to be wearing down the elder Marquez, but Marquez responded by opening a gash above Diaz's right eye and stunning him with a left hook before the end of the eighth round.
Marquez landed two hard rights to Diaz's face in a three-punch combination that knocked Diaz to the canvas with 35 seconds remaining in the ninth round. Diaz rose, but seconds later, Marquez followed with a right uppercut to the chin that knocked him down for the second time.
Referee Rafael Ramos waved an end to the fight after two minutes and 40 seconds of the ninth round. With the victory, Marquez defended his Ring Magazine lightweight title and claimed the IBO, WBO, and WBA lightweight titles.
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