By Dan Ambrose: Juan Diaz will be fighting tonight against Cesar Vazquez (27-3, 16 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round fight in the lightweight division at the Casino Del Sol, in Tucson, Arizona. The Diaz vs. Vazquez fight will be televised on UniMas tonight at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT. It should be a nice little fight between a couple of quality lightweights.
Diaz was out of the ring in 2015 with a torn left rotator cuff injury that kept him out of the ring. Last March, Diaz beat Fernando Garcia by a 9th round TKO win.
Former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion Diaz (41-4, 20 KOs) is trying to get back to the top where he was when he was world champion from 2007 to 2008. It’s going to be tough for Diaz to get back to where he was in the past because he’s getting up there in age and he’s not ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies at the present time.
It’s probably going to take Diaz a while for him to get a decent ranking. Based on his name and his past accomplishments, it probably won’t be hard for Diaz to get a title shot by one of the champions making a voluntary defense of their titles. However, I don’t like Diaz’s chances against the current batch of world champions at lightweight.
Diaz’s best shot at winning a world title belt at the moment would be against WBA champion Anthony Crolla. He appears to be pretty vulnerable if Diaz could get a fight against him in the near future before he gets beaten by someone else.
Diaz’s career hasn’t been the same since he lost to Nate Campbell in March 2008 in getting beaten by a 12 round split decision. Diaz was then beaten by Pailie Malignaggi and twice by Juan Manuel Marquez. During that time frame, Diaz dodged defeats in his fights against Michael Katsidis and Malignaggi. You can argue that Diaz deserved losses in both of those fights. Malignaiggi beat Diaz in their second fight in December 2009. From 2010 to 2013, Diaz took a break from boxing. He didn’t return until April of 2013, and he’s since won his last six fights against lower level opposition.
“I’m staying very motivated and focused,” Diaz said to RingTV.com “A win over Vazquez brings me closer to a world championship. Beating him and possibly fighting for a championship is what motivates me.”
Diaz will no doubt be winning tonight over Vazquez because this guy isn’t in the same league as him or even close to the same league. Vazquez has lost three out of his last five fights in knockout losses to Jesus Cruz Bibiano, Juan Carlos Burgos and Adrian Estrella.