Marquez-Diaz Undercard Preview: Jacobs vs Pirog, Linares vs Juarez & Guerrero vs Casamayor

Joseph R. Holzer previews Saturday night's HBO PPV undercard.

The televised undercards of Saturday night's lightweight championship rematch will be fought with heavy hands as well as heavy hearts.

After a series of injuries that amounted to Jorge Linares stepping between the ropes just four times since 2007, the Tokyo-based Venezuelan will face hard-hitting Rocky Juarez in a lightweight bout.

Linares (28-1, 18 KOs), once a red-hot prospect and now a legitimate title contender, is seeking his second-consecutive victory since his lone defeat, a shocking first-round knockout at the hands of Juan Carlos Salgado in October. A victory could put the 24-year-old in place to vie for the 135-pound strap on the line in the main event between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz.

Juarez, on the other hand, is boxing's equivalent of the bridesmaid. The soft-spoken Houston native (28-6-1, 20 KOs) is a perennial title-challenger who is 0-4-1 in major championship bouts. He is seemingly at the plateau of his career if not in decline but remains a dangerous opponent with his thunderous right hand.

In a matchup of contrasting styles, this opening bout has the potential to be as entertaining as the anticipated main event.

One of the sport's most heart-wrenching stories has been Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero's outside-the-ring battle . Before a March 2009 bout that resulted in a no-contest, Guerrero learned his wife, Casey, was diagnosed with leukemia.

Guerrero (26-1-1, 18) has been on a tear since, racking three consecutive wins in the junior lightweight and lightweight divisions. On Saturday, the 27-year-old hopes to improve upon that streak in a junior welterweight showdown with former lightweight champion Joel Casamayor.

Casamayor, long in the tooth at 12 years his opponent's senior, is tapping into his fuel reserve at this point in his impressive career. The Cuban (37-4-1, 22 KOs) stated he wants a rematch with Marquez -- who knocked out Casamayor in round 11 of their 2008 fight -- assuming each older boxer exits the arena with a W.

Daniel Jacobs, the crowd-pleasing middleweight prospect/contender, faces two of the greatest challenges in his young career. Jacobs recently lost his grandmother -- just six days before squaring off against the undefeated Dmitry Pirog.

The 23-year-old Jacobs (20-0, 17 KOs) appears in great condition -- both physically and mentally -- according to his twitter feed. It is yet unknown how prepared Jacobs is to challenge the likes of the class of 154 and 160 (Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams, to name a couple), but depending on if and how impressively he beats Pirog, intriguing matchups against the likes of Alfredo Angulo, Kermit Cintron or Cory Spinks may be on his horizon.

Pirog (16-0, 13 KOs) makes his US debut, with all but one of his bouts taking place in his homeland of Russia. The most impressive victory on his resume is a shutout against gatekeeper Kofi Jantuah last year. Pirog brings obscurity and a high-KO percentage, which could make this interesting. It is the first 12-rounder for Jacobs and the sixth for Pirog, but it would be a surprise if this went the distance.

Many HBO pay-per-views have been stigmatized by lackluster undercards. The rematch of 2009's fight of the year has been done right in the promoters giving fans seemingly quality preliminary fights.

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