Tuesday night on ESPN, former IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz proved he's still interested in being a threat in the 135lb. division. "The Kid" wasted no time in finishing off veteran Marco Angel Perez on the ESPN Tuesday Night Fights headliner from El Cajon, California. Diaz landed two punches in the fight's one minute and six seconds of action, the second shot, a neutron bomb of a right uppercut, leveled Perez at the moment of impact. Perez, a boxer by trade and inclination, actually came forward looking to get some respect from the twenty-five year-old Mexican-American Diaz. All he got for his tactical bravery was a sonic blast from an unloaded knockout shot.
No question, the 5'9" Diaz, 31-3 (24), had trained well for the fight and was intent on making a statement, just three months after his title losing TKO defeat to Jose Luis Castillo, in March.
With this win, his fifth career first round knockout, Diaz, at the very least, proved his professional discipline to train and resolve to get the result he needed to be considered a top flight contender, in a division deep with talent and pedigree. Sometimes when fighters tell fans they have learned lessons from critical defeats, it comes out more as rationalization than wisdom. Diaz certainly seemed to have learned something about his resolve and hunger to get back to the summit of the lightweights; this fight, clearly, proved his words of renewal have steel behind them.
Off this performance - fought two and a half pounds over the lightweight limit - die hard fight fans will want to see more of the lanky bomber Diaz, if only to give the kid another chance at a career defining championship contest.
Lightweights Gonzalez and Cisneros: In a six rounder, Larry "The Pit Bull" Gonzales remained undefeated with a six round unanimous decision over Cisneros. The Denver, Colorado lightweight attacked often enough to convince all three judges of his winning ways.
The scores were 59-54 (twice) and 60-53, though to be fair Cisneros deserved a closer card, given his solid counter punching. The thirty year-old Gonzalez certainly has a long way to go to merit being named in such company as Julio Diaz and at his age it's going to be an uphill struggle.
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