Joseph Diaz slanders the major players at lightweight
In his debut in the lightweight division, Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KO’s) did not disappoint. The former super featherweight world champion fought a hard twelve rounds to defeat Javier Fortuna by unanimous decision. Naturally, Jo Jo would have preferred the knockout that he forecasted, yet he was clearly content with the judge’s ruling. In the direct aftermath of his prizefight, Diaz wasted little time in gruffly calling out some of the resident top dogs in the division.
“Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, let’s go. Let’s make it happen baby! All you pussy ass fighters, get in here and fight!”
The Fortuna win was a solid victory for Jo Jo, who was coming off a majority draw with Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov. The previous fight before Rakhimov was his career defining win over Tevin Farmer to capture the IBF World super featherweight title. Despite the fight being a draw, Diaz lost his belt to the scales in the bout with Rakhimov.
Going into this bout, lightweight Javier Fortuna was ranked #3 (WBC), so it’ll be interesting to see where the sanctioning body places Diaz.
ROYAL RUMBLE ANYONE?!
Only time will tell if the abrasive invitation will result in the dustups that he seeks. Yet, it’s good that Diaz is a new voice in the division with this type of message. While there is a saturation of supreme talent in the division, it is also true that too many of the bigger fights are not happening.
For whatever reason, none of the top brass at 135 want anything to do with WBC World lightweight champion Devin Haney. When asked why this is, typically there are more excuses given than Marvel has colorful superheroes. Teofimo Lopez to date won’t fight Haney, nor rematch Vasiliy Lomachenko. Then there is Ryan Garcia, who doesn’t truly want to fight anybody, it seems.
Ultimately, it’s highly unlikely that this new kid on the block will be the first domino to set off an avalanche of dynamic fights. It’d be nice if he was though. In the meantime, we will just have to sit back and see what’s next on the menu for Joseph Diaz.
By: Bakari Simpson
