By Scott Gilfoid: Having picked out another 2nd tier fighter to face for his next fight on April 27th in Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s), Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) is going about the hard business of building him to be a world killer to convince boxing fans this is going to be an exciting fight instead of a mismatch like Khan’s last fight against a second tier fighter in Carlos Molina.
Khan said to Sky Sports “Julio Diaz is a former world champion [IBF lightweight champion] and a very dangerous opponent who is coming off an impressive performer [10 round draw against fringe contender Shawn Porter] in his last fight.”
Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya echoed Khan’s feelings, also calling Diaz a “Dangerous fighter”, as if he realizes they’re fighting an uphill battle to try and sell this mismatch.
Dangerous isn’t the word I think of when I picture Diaz. Even in his prime seven years ago, Diaz wasn’t a dangerous fighter. He was someone that would throw a lot of punches and often end up winning a decision, but that was a heck of a long time ago.
Diaz, the dangerous one, has lost three out of his last seven fights, and his only wins have come against lesser fighters during that time. Diaz was soundly beaten by Kendall Holt by a 3rd round knockout, and also schooled by fringe light welterweight contender Victor Cayo.
How Khan can say Diaz is a dangerous fighter after those losses is incredibly funny because I don’t know how he can keep a straight face while saying it.
Golden Boy is trying to keep Khan from losing any more fights until he gets back in the ring with WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia, and unfortunately the only way to ensure that Khan doesn’t keep getting beaten is by matching him against weak opposition from the 2nd tier. I mean, Khan has lost two out of his last three fights, and the win came from Carlos Molina, a fighter that’s not ranked in the top 15 and who fights at 135, the same weight class as Adrien Broner.
Khan and Golden Boy decided to take the fight back to the UK where he’s able draw crowds. No doubt they realized that Khan-Diaz fight wouldn’t flies in the U.S if they decided to stage it there. They’ll be fighting at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
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