By Dan Ambrose: A fight between former two-time IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) and Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) is possible for April 27th on Showtime on the undercard of the Zab Judah vs. Danny Garcia fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to Steve Kim. Stephen Espinoza of Showtime says the Khan-Diaz fight is being considered for the card.
However, it won’t be the main event. In fact, if the fight takes on the card, it’ll be on the undercard beneath the Peter Quillin vs. Fernando Guerrero middleweight match-up. In other words, it’ll be the third fight on the card in what would be a triple-header.
Khan’s team were reportedly targeting 32-year-old former WBC lightweight champion Humberto Soto, but he failed to take the fight.
Diaz, 33, was at one time a very good lightweight, and he twice held the International Boxing Federation title. He eventually grew out of the division, and had to move up first to light welterweight and now welterweight. Diaz has done a decent job for the most part, beating the 2nd tier opposition he’s been in with. He beat Herman Ngoudjo in 2010 by a 10 round decision. Ngoudjo used to be a major player at 140 at one time many years ago.
In Diaz’s last fight he fought Shawn Porter to a 10 round draw last December. Diaz has struggled, though, when facing quality fighters, as we saw with him getting knocked out in the 3rd round by Kendall Holt in May 2011. Diaz has also suffered losses to Rolando Reyes, Victor Cayo and Juan Diaz.
This is a step up from Khan’s last opponent Carlos Molina, but not much of one. Diaz isn’t ranked at all at welterweight, so Showtime isn’t getting a whole lot for their money for this fight. This is Khan’s second fight of his three-fight contract with Showtime. Having Khan on the undercard of the Garcia-Judah fight will help attract interest in a Khan vs. Garcia rematch later on in 2013.
It’s just too bad that a better opponent can’t be found for Khan because this fight won’t be competitive. Diaz beats 2nd tier guys, but struggles when he faces guys that can fight. Showtime wants to televise the Khan-Garcia rematch, and by letting Khan take an easy fight against Julio Diaz instead of pushing him fight someone that’s actually relevant at 140 or 147, it increases the chances that Khan will win and be available to fight Garcia again.
Julio Diaz is a second tier/non-top 15 ranked welterweight, and probably a safe pick for Khan. He won’t be able to dent Khan’s chin because Diaz didn’t carry his power up from lightweight. He’s someone that Khan can beat and look good against, in other words.
Comments are closed.