Marquez wants a third fight with Pacquaio after retaining his titles

The Mexican drew with the Filipino in 2004 and suffered a narrow defeat four years later but will hope to come away with a victory if they meet for a third time.

"The trilogy with Pacquiao is what I want," said Marquez, 51-5-1, (37 KOs). "Everybody wants to see it. It's good for all fight fans, for the Mexicans, the Filipinos. Everyone wants to see it. That's the most important fight for me now."

The fight with Diaz was a rematch of a February 2009 contest, in which Diaz set the pace early before Marquez took control and scored a knockout in the eighth round.

There were no knockdowns this time, but on several occasions Marquez appeared to hurt Diaz with sharp combinations. He landed more than Diaz in every one of the 12 rounds and in total scored with 288 punches, 133 more than his opponent.

Diaz, 35-4 (17 KOs) said he had intended to set a more measured pace than in the previous encounter, but that Marquez had thwarted his plans.

"I fought the best fight I could," he said. "I think I fought a good fight. We were trading punches. I didn't want to stand in front of him.

"The game plan was to get in there, throw combinations, step around him and get out. But it was tough and I got hit with some good punches. He's a great fighter."

On the undercard, unheralded Russian middleweight Dmitry Pirog stopped Daniel Jacobs with a crushing overhand right in the fifth round to win the vacant WBO title. Former featherweight champion Robert Guerrero dominated Joel Casamayor in a lopsided unanimous decision to win his debut at welterweight, and Jorge Linares also earned a comfortable unanimous decision over Rocky Juarez on the undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez's lightweight title rematch with Juan Diaz at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The lively crowd witnessed a landmark win for the 30-year-old Pirog (17-0, 14 KOs), a star amateur in Russia before a solid pro career. Pirog fights with a distinctly Western style, and his Vegas debut fulfilled his lifelong goal to fight in boxing's capital city.

The Russian was a smash hit in Sin City. After four lively rounds, he stopped the favoured Jacobs with one punch in the fifth, putting the previously unbeaten Brooklyn prospect flat on his back. Pirog briefly stood over Jacobs with his arms raised before celebrating his first world title.

Earlier, Guerrero knocked down Casamayor in the second round and barely let up afterward, cruising to his fourth straight victory with superior speed and power. I felt good, and I had a dominant performance," Guerrero said. "He's a lefty, and he's really crafty with a good counterpunch. He's a veteran, and he knows how to survive."

Linares (29-1, 18 KOs) largely dominated his lightweight fight with Juarez (28-7-1), the longtime title contender and US Olympic silver medallist who has won just once in his last six fights.