Boxing betting fans who follow the sport closely have been anxiously awaiting a rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz, and they will now get one. These fighters not only appeared very closely matched the first time around, they are also looking for redemption, as both are coming off disappointing losses.

The scheduled 12-round fight for the WBO lightweight title is slated to take place on Saturday, July 31 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and will be televised via HBO pay-per-view.

You can bet on Marquez as the favorite at -400. Diaz is priced at +300. The over/under on the fight is 9.5 rounds, with the “over” at -220, and the “under” at +175.

Here are the contestants:

MARQUEZ (50-5-1, 37 KO’s), the -400 favorite in the boxing betting odds, has done pretty well for himself after losing the first fight of his career.

Working his way up the ladder in Mexico and the United States, he went six years without a loss before failing in his first attempt at a world title, when he was beaten on decision by Freddie Norwood for the WBA featherweight title.

He finally won his world title when he stopped Manuel Medina for the vacant IBF crown in February 2003, then added the WBA belt with a technical decision over Derrick Gainer nine months later.

After that, Marquez had his eventful 2004 showdown with Manny Pacquiao, who knocked him down three times in the first round, which looked like disaster. Then Marquez confounded many of PacMan’s betting backers by coming back to outbox Pacquiao the rest of the way, salvaging a draw.

His title reign ended in March 2006 when he traveled to Indonesia and lost a unanimous decision to Chris John that has been disputed quite a bit. Interestingly, the fight was not close on the cards, where Marquez lost by six, six and four points.

He rebounded in August of that year to beat Terdsak Jandaeng to win the vacant WBO featherweight crown then he scored one of his best career wins, beating Marco Antonio Barrera to win the WBC super-featherweight (130-pound) championship. That, plus a spirited decision over Rocky Juarez, got him a rematch with Pacquiao, who beat him on a painful split decision, where he lost the fight on the vote of one judge by one point.

From there it was a move to lightweight. Last February, he had a full-out brawl against Juan Diaz, who in the opinion of many was getting the best of him. Diaz, who was the betting underdog, led on one of the scorecards and was dead even on another when Marquez unleashed a barrage that halted Diaz in the ninth.

Did that fight take a lot out of him? Well, in his last fight, against Floyd Mayweather,he hardly landed a punch on losing a non-combative, near-shutout decision.

DIAZ (35-3, 17 KO’s), the +300 underdog in the boxing betting odds, won 105 out of 110 bouts as an amateur, and in a career where he turned professional at the age of 16, he may or may not have already fulfilled his potential, according to whom you speak.

Like many young prospects, he went through a period of gentle nurturing, but was also fighting veterans before his 18th birthday. Diaz passed his first genuine test in July 2004, scoring a decision over Lavka Sim to win the WBA lightweight title.

There were five title defenses, but none of these were against major threats. He was very impressive in unifying the WBO and WBA versions of the title against Acelino Freitas in April 2007, and simply made Freitas quit.

He then stopped Julio Diaz (no relation) to add the IBF title. The previous fight with Marquez was a good one for him – for a while. He was actually ahead on one of the scorecards, but got nailed and fell victim to a good finisher.

His two fights with Paul Malignaggi, where he was the betting favorite, were duds. He won the first on a hotly disputed decision, but lost the rematch, and there was no excuse for that.

Again, this Saturday, there is redemption on the minds of both these men.