Juan Diaz vs. Pipino Cuevas Jr. on April 13th in Texas

By Boxing News - 03/02/2013 - Comments

diaz45344643By Allan Fox: Former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (35-4, 17 KO’s) will be making a comeback after three years out of the ring to face 33-year-old Pipino Cuevas Jr. (16-9, 14 KO’s0 on April 13th in a scheduled 10 round bout in the lightweight division in Corpus Christi, Texas, according to RingTV.

Diaz, 29, hasn’t fought since losing to Juan Manuel Marquez in July 2010 in a 12 round unanimous decision. At one time in his career, Diaz was considered to be the best fighter in the lightweight division.

However, by the time he retired in 2010, Diaz had lost four out of his last six fights, and you can really say he lost five out of his last six fights because one of his wins during the last two years of his career was a controversial victory over Paulie Malignaggi that many boxing fans saw as a hometown decision for Diaz.

Diaz has wins over Michael Katsidis, Acelino Freitas, Julio Diaz, Billy Irwin, Jose Miguel Cotto and Randy Suico. Things kind of fell apart for Diaz after he took a beating in getting stopped by Marquez in 2009. He didn’t look the same after that fight, and he struggled until retiring in 2010.

Cuevas Jr. is the son of the former WBA welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas, who held the WBA title from 1976 to 1980. Cuevas Jr. hasn’t had the same kind of success that his father did, however, and he’s currently lost nine out of his last fourteen fights.
Diaz should have no problems beating Cuevas Jr. because he’s been getting beaten by 2nd tier fighters for a while now.

It’s unclear what Diaz hopes to accomplish by fighting again. I think it might be a little late in the game for him to make a run for one of the lightweight titles. The lightweight division has improved a lot since Diaz last held a title in that weight class, and it’s scary to think of what would happen if you put Diaz in with WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner or IBF champion Miguel Vazquez.



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