Julio Diaz training to hurt Khan on 4/27

By Boxing News - 03/12/2013 - Comments

khan11By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) has a pretty good idea what he’s up against by agreeing to fight Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) in his home country in the UK on April 27th at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire.

The 33-year-old Diaz realizes that he’s probably going to have to KO Khan in order to ensure he walks out of the ring with the victory in this fight, and that’s precisely what Diaz plans on doing. He’s not going to let the judges decide who wins this fight; he’s going to stop Khan and put him out of his misery.

A loss for Khan in this fight would be his third defeat in his last four fights, and the writing would be on the wall at that point that Khan needs to retire unless he’s satisfied with being a gatekeeper type of fighter.

Diaz said to the Guardian.co.uk, “I’m training for a knockout. We know that Amir Khan can be hurt and taken out. Honestly, this is the first time in my career I have trained to hurt a guy, with the specific intention of getting an early finish. I’ve been working on extra power.”

That’s interesting that Diaz hasn’t worked on just stopping guys in his career, but I can understand that because he’s been a fighter that has focused more on out-boxing guys rather than destroying them. Against Khan, Diaz sees a fighter with a fragile chin that has been knocked out a couple of times and came close to being knocked out a third time in his fight with Marcos Maidana.

That makes Diaz’s job that much easier because he knows exactly what to do with Khan once he gets him in the ring on April 27th. Diaz doesn’t need to worry about throwing a ton of punches or looking to out-box Khan; the only thing Diaz needs do is brain Khan with a big right hand or left hook, and then if he’s still standing, poleaxe him with a right hand to the head.

It will be a huge victory for Diaz because not too many boxing fans or writers are giving him much of a chance at winning the fight, but he definitely has the talent and the power to pull off the upset. Diaz’s boxing skills are superior to that of Khan’s in my view, and the only thing he doesn’t have is Khan’s speed. However, Diaz can time Khan and stretch him when he starts throwing his wild combinations like he always does.



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