The very instant when a fighter -- be it in the locker room, on the ring walk or in the midst of the action -- noticeably loses focus on the task at hand.

He experienced it as recently as last month, when a long-time charge suddenly wore the look of a man thousands of miles away from where he was -- in the potentially decisive rounds of a close fight under the spotlight in a major Atlantic City venue.

Marquez (51-5-1), who was coming off a loss last September to Floyd Mayweather Jr., won by scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. He connected on nearly 43 percent of his punches to just 27 percent for Diaz (35-4) in the rematch. Diaz, who has lost in four of his last six bouts, was beaten by Marquez on February 28, 2009 via ninth-round TKO.

In the second version, Marquez continued to land big shots as evidenced by a huge right hand/left hook combination near the end of round three and a giant left uppercut to the chin midway through round four.

In the sixth round of the fight, Rosas (32-5, 26 KOs) was dominating Nongqayi (16-1-1, 6 KOs), who went to a knee and the fight was called.

Nongqayi had defeated Francisco Acre on February 28, 2009 to win the belt then defeated Francisco's brother, Jorge, on September 15, 2009 before finishing with a majority draw against Malik Bouziane this past April.

Because as a boxing fan, writer or mildly interested bystander, it's hard not to like Juan Diaz.

He's a good young kid. Articulate. Smart. A great role model.

Because after a seven-day stretch that's included more than 2,000 road miles over four states and two time zones - not to mention a pair of multi-hour plane rides, stays in three hotels and what seemed like 100 hours of convention events - I'm a little short on patience.

So when I began making notes to create this week's column in the lobby of yet another lodging establishment in lovely Macon, Ga. - free wireless coverage at La Quinta Inns & Suites rocks, by the way - I was already on the prowl for someone to tear into.

Instead, the title holder in seven different weight divisions will face, according to multiple sources, the disgraced Antonio Margarito in a bout that has yet to be given a destination.

Margarito (37-8-0) and his trainer, Javier Capetillo, had their boxing licence suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after a substance was found inside the boxer's gloves prior to a fight against "Sugar" Shane Mosley in January 2009.

Shumenov (10-1), in his first title defense, won by scores of 118-108 on two of the scorecards and 117-109 on the other.

Uzelkov (22-1), who was participating in his first championship bout, floored Shumenov in the first round, but was dropped to the canvas in round three. Uzelkov never got momentum the rest of the fight.

Though message-board contributors and e-mailers frequently suggest I take up house painting or grocery bagging for a living, this is really the only legitimate form of work I'm qualified to do.

In fact, I shudder sometimes when pondering the professional path I might have taken had it not been for my seventh-grade English teacher -- Robert Rycombel -- who scribbled a grade onto a 1981 composition with the counsel, "You might want to think of this as a career, pal." To paraphrase Olympic hockey hero Mike Eruzione, one classroom in either direction at Edward Town Junior High School and I've have been selling insurance.

Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs) knocked Concepcion (14-5-1, 8 KOs) down several times prior to the final knockout, at 1:07 in the third round.

The Mayweather camp did not respond to Bob Arum's self-imposed midnight (pt) cutoff to agree to a much-anticipated November 13th showdown.

"Floyd for whatever reason, and I'm sure he's got some valid reason, did not want to commit," said Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, in a press conference.

No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to ignore Zab Judah.

Through the years, the pint-sized loudmouth from Brooklyn has given me myriad reasons to look elsewhere when his act is in town.

We don't hang out together. I'm not on the promotional payroll.

Nor am I expecting Christmas cards this season from either Michigan or Vegas.

Lopez (29-0, 26 KOs) floored his opponent in the first round, but was then amazingly knocked down later in the same round. Lopez pressed the action in round two and sent his opponent to the canvas twice in the second round. The bout was finally stopped with 23 seconds left in the round.

Concepcion (28-4-1, 15 KOs) was coming off a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Mario Santiago in February.

But as it stands, Puerto Rican southpaw Juan Manuel Lopez is already a pretty big deal.

A winner in each and every one of 28 professional bouts, often in brief and violentfashion, the 27-year-old returns to his native island for a performance in front of the home folks Saturday night.

That's nonsense...says Nick Garone.

In fact, not only does the Long Island-based fight promoter dispute that his sport is on the critical list, he points a finger at those vested in mixed martial arts as having falsely cultivated the grave impression in the first place.

Of course, as with most mandates -- be they political, popular or existential -- some dissension exists. Some insist, with varying degrees of civility and grammatical correctness, that time spent initiating a quest for an idyllic organization would be better spent ignoring the practice altogether.

They're simply unnecessary, the naysayers contend. And rather than reassembling the alphabet morass with designs on a better end product, the boards and nails should instead be tossed aside to allow the sport -- particularly the most recognized top-shelf perf

As a means of initiating another discussion about what's wrong with sanctioning bodies and how best to get it fixed, I figure we've got to at least have some agreed-upon foundations upon which to construct points.

So if it pleases the masses, I'll go with computer rankings.

The bout was stopped multiple times after headbutts by both men, but in the end the judges all ruled in favor of Nino (29-3-2, 11 KOs), 115-112, 117-109 and 115-111.

Nino takes over the belt for the second time and first since 2006.

Ward (22-0, 13 KOs) was successful in his first defense of the WBA super middleweight title and advanced to the final four of the modified round-robin tournament with one round to go. He won all 12 rounds from the three judges.

Green (29-2) lost in his first fight after replacing Jermain Taylor, who is out with an injury, in the tournament. Green can still advance to the semifinals by winning in the third round against Mikkel Kessler.

Nearly seven years -- six years, eight months and 19 days, to be exact -- have passed since the Buffalo-area heavyweight made his last working appearance in a Western New York ring.

With a 97-second KO of then-prospect DaVarryl Williamson at the downtown HSBC Arena on Sept. 27, 2003, the unbeaten Mesi became a national name of substance, and warranted breathless billing as the region's "third sports franchise" -- alongside the NHL's Sabres and NFL's Bills.

Calderon (34-0-1) was knocked down in the second round, but controlled the rest of the match, winning by scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 116-111.

Iribe (16-7-5) fell to 0-3 in title bouts.

The belt had previously been held by Omar Narvaez.

Miranda dropped the native of the Philippines in the fourth round and sent him to the canvas twice in the fifth before the fight was stopped. He improved to 32-5-1 in his career, during which he has fought only twice outside of his homeland.

First off, I'm starting to think it's me.

I fly out to Los Angeles a few weeks back, settle in for a competitive main event and instead see one of the combatants stumble to the canvas as the other's momentum carries him into, and ultimately through, the ropes while bringing the fight to a premature end.

A former title-holder at 140 and 147 pounds, Cotto picked up the newest belt when a left hook to the body dropped the previously unbeaten Foreman to the canvas and prompted an immediate stoppage from referee Arthur Mercante Jr. at 42 seconds of the round.

The action before a paid crowd of 20,272 took a dramatic turn in the seventh round when the speedy Foreman, who'd succeeded largely with movement and speed, slipped to the canvas on an AT&T logo along the ropes and apparently re-injured a knee that had been braced entering the fight.

Sylvester (33-3-1, 16 KOs) kept the belt after a bizarre set of scorecards among the judges.

One judge had the fight 117-111 in favor of Karmazin (40-3-2, 26 KOs), while another had it 118-111 in favor of Sylvester. The third scored it 114-114.