By Manuel Perez: Former World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight champion Joan Guzman (29-0, 17 KOs), now fighting as a lightweight, defeated Ameth Diaz (25-8, 19 KOs) by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision in an WBA Lightweight Title Eliminator on Saturday night at the Palacio de Deportes, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The final judges’ scores were 120-108, 119-109 and 119-108. Guzman, 32, who was supposed to fight Nate Campbell in September but was unable to make weight and had to cancel the fight.
Guzman, looking like a cross between Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ivan Calderon and Pernell Whitaker, dominated the action in the first round, keeping both of his hands low, ducking under many of Diaz’s shots and making him miss often. Indeed, Guzman was almost unhittable in the round as he made Diaz miss badly with his power shots.
Guzman moved constantly, changing directions often and hitting him with fast left and right hands to the head. On one occasion in the round, Guzman ducked all the way to the canvas, making two of Diaz’s punch fly overhead. The crowd really got into that and cheered loudly for Guzman, applauding his defensive skills.
In the 2nd round, Guzman landed often with single shots, hitting and running and focusing a lot on defense. Diaz, from Panama, continued to miss often with his shots even when Guzman was standing close to him. Diaz did little better in the 3rd round, as Guzman continued to hit him with pot shots, and preventing him from countering him by leaning away and giving angles.
When on the outside, Guzman circled the ring with his left hand down low by his side, as if daring Diaz to throw punches. He obliged, and landed a few jabs in the round, but that was about the extent of it. Each time that Diaz would land something, Guzman often came back with a short two to three punch combinations, ripping him from body to head before Diaz had time to react.
In the 4th round, Guzman began fighting more at a distance, a move made perhaps because he had been hit with a number of jabs while fighting close to Diaz in the previous round. At a distance, Guzman was almost unhittable, too quick for the slower Diaz to hit and too far away for him to predict where Guzman would be next.
By the time that Diaz’s punches would arrive at Guzman, he would be long gone, making the punches hit air. Guzman continued to land mostly one punch at a time, picking his openings carefully and then pecking away at Diaz. Near the end of the round, Guzman darted around him really quickly, staying low as he moved, and then halted suddenly and tagged Diaz with a three punch combination.
It also looked like a wrestling take down move the way in which Guzman scooted around quickly to get to the side of Diaz, who probably had never seen a fighter ever move like that before, and wasn’t the least prepared for it. Diaz fought well in the 5th round, landing a hard left hand late in the round that sent Guzman bouncing off the ropes.
Guzman seemed to be taking the round off, as he threw few punches in the round and mostly was moving and trying to make Diaz miss. Guzman came out bouncing in the 6th round, holding his left hand low and peppering Diaz with jabs to the head.
With Diaz coming after him trying to land big shots, Guzman suddenly stopped moving backwards and fired off a hard combination that hit Diaz cleanly in the head, and then immediately started moving again in the opposite direction. Guzman looked very relaxed in the round, as if he was just getting warmed up.
Diaz was able to find more success with landing his jabs in the 7th round, repeatedly hitting Guzman on the outside. It was made easier for Diaz because Guzman was often standing close to Diaz, and trying to hit him with uppercuts. It worked for the most part, but it left Guzman vulnerable for an occasional jab and right hand from Diaz.
In the 8th round, Guzman began winding up with Bolo punches, threatening to throw them at first in a taunting manner, and then hitting him with them hard to the body and head. Guzman continued bouncing, moving and looking to be playing to the audience.
The 9th round had little action to speak of, mostly jabbing from Diaz, clinches and fast combinations from Guzman. It was another round for Guzman, thought it was close because he didn’t land that many punches. Diaz, at one point in the round, fell to the canvas after throwing a wild left hook, missing badly and falling awkwardly to the canvas.
In rounds ten through twelve, Guzman fought very relaxed, throwing short jabs, combinations and continuing to pick Diaz off with pot shots.