Chris John vs. Rocky Juarez II: Round By Round

We're set for the co-feature of tonight's pay-per-view, which is the rematch between Chris John and Rocky Juarez, who fought to a draw in February. Michael Buffer is on hand to do the introductions, and Joe Cortez is the referee in charge of the action.

Juarez is 28-4-1 with 20 KOs, while John is 42-0-2 with 22 KOs. This is scheduled for 12 rounds for John's WBA featherweight title. And away we go...

Round 1

Rocky is stalking early and both men are cautious. John tests Juarez's defense. Juarez charges but John backs off. Both men try hooks and they tie up. Rocky goes to the body and John flicks his jab. John's movement is very sharp. Cortez steps in as they wrestle. Uppercut by John and more jabs. Right hand by John and they do more holding. Juarez tries to work his left hand free for hooks.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 Juarez
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 2

Juarez landed less than 10 percent of his punches in Round 1. John finds the range early with a few right hands. He smacks the body too before backing up, but Juarez connects with a right hand over the top. Right-left combo by John before they tie up. John sticks and moves; Rocky is trying hard to land his left hook. John's accuracy is really good right now. He doesn't waste many shots. Left-right by John as Juarez tries to establish his jab. Good right hand counter by Rocky.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 John
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 3

More combo punching by John and he's quick to hold when Juarez moves in. He scores and slides back again. Both men club each other inside, and John smacks home a left. Juarez just isn't busy enough, as Emanuel Steward thinks John is there to be hit. John's wide right almost lands behind Rocky's head. John uses jabs to set up a body shot, and Juarez lands his own in response. Juarez has his best moment so far with a left hook.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 Juarez
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 4

Lederman did give that last round to Juarez. Rocky gets inside but John covers up well. Juarez is doing a good job dodging more punches in this frame. Nice one-two combo by John, and Rocky's left eye is starting to swell. John is racking up plenty of light punches and Juarez still can't find any consistency.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 John
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 5

We see the instructions in Floyd Mayweather's locker room between rounds. More of the same here with John controlling the distance from the outside. Right-left combo by John and more wrestling. John is great at holding whenever Rocky gets too close. Three-punch combo by John and Cortez has his hands full.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 Juarez
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 6

Jim Lampley discusses the weigh-in deal from yesterday. Rocky comes out with a little more aggression, but John is still staying mobile. An interesting side note to the main event is that Mayweather would not allow HBO to weigh him today. JMM put on six pounds overnight. The crowd isn't feeling the action right now. The fighters work their way free, and John delivers wide shots around Rocky's guard. Nice left by John coming out of a break.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 John
Uatu: 10-9 Juarez

Round 7

This is where Rocky started to come on back in February. John is still outworking his foe by a wide margin. If he had any power, Rocky would be in big trouble. John scores on the inside and circles all the way around the ring. More combo punching by John as he bounces in both directions. Multiple jabs by John keep Rocky at bay. Juarez shows some bravado in the closing seconds but he's almost definitely losing by a lot on the cards.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 John
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 8

Juarez lands a left hook to the body right off the bat. He will need a knockdown or KO to win if Lederman's card is close to the official scores. Rocky jabs and makes John miss a bunch of punches. Two rights and a left land for John. Juarez goes to the body but eats some to the head from close range. Both men miss some big swings in the center of the ring.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 John
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 9

Juarez is actually having some success with his jab; he may have wanted to try that earlier. John is staying busy but his accuracy has decreased somewhat. John's head is snapped back but he's still landing some light punches. Juarez bulls forward and continues attacking the body. Juarez pays for missing a home run swing as John's counters find the mark.

Franchise: 10-9 Juarez
Spartan117: 10-9 John
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 10

It's never good when the announcers have been talking about the main event for the last three or four rounds of this one. Lederman has Rocky down eight rounds to one. John is having a much easier round here, still sticking and moving. Juarez ducks inside and gets his left hand working, but John is landing two punches to one even at that range. John's left eye is still swelling but he should be able to make it to the end.

Franchise: 10-9 John
Spartan117: 10-9 John
Uatu: 10-9 John

Round 11

Rocky's corner tries to spur him on for the final six minutes. John works the head and body; Juarez seems to be stuck with a single plan that just hasn't worked tonight. They lean on each other and trade shots, with John getting the best of it until Rocky lands a short left hook. John may be tiring a bit but he doesn't have far to go.

Franchise: 10-9 Juarez
Spartan117: 10-9 Juarez
Uatu: 10-9 Juarez

Round 12

I don't see how Rocky can win this fight without a KO. Juarez lands a left hook but John fires right back. Rocky complains about a head butt and they get back to work. Nice uppercut by John inside. Ninety seconds to go. Juarez lets his hands go and John retaliates with another uppercut. They slug it out along the ropes and Cortex has to stand in. Rocky lands a mean left hook and John is wobbly. The fans finally wake up with 20 seconds to go. Rocky with an uppercut but John makes it to the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Juarez
Spartan117: 10-9 Juarez
Uatu: 10-9 Juarez

Franchise: 117-111 John
Spartan117: 115-113 John
Uatu: 117-111 John

The judges score it 114-113, 119-109 and 117-111, all for the winner by unanimous decision... and still WBA featherweight champion... Chris "The Dragon" John.

Posted by The Franchise