By Matt Lieberman: WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. have agreed to a fight on December 3rd/4th on DAZN in Las Vegas. The fighter still hasn’t inked the contract for the fight, but it’s being finalized now.
Part of the contract is a rematch clause in case WBC champion Haney were to lose. That’s a wise move on Matchroom Boxing to include a rematch clause, as there’s an excellent chance Jojo Diaz will win this fight.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reports the news of the unbeaten Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) agreeing to a fight against interim WBC 135-lb champion Diaz Jr (32-1-1, 15 KOs).
With this fight on the verge of getting made, Haney won’t be able to use the excuse that the top fighters at lightweight are avoiding him. This is an opportunity for Haney to show whether he’s the real deal or just a pretender.
The Haney-Diaz Jr. fight was made possible with Ryan Garcia suffering a wrist injury recently, which wiped out his November 27th fight against Jojo Diaz Jr. on DAZN.
Immediately after the news of King Ryan’s wrist injury broke, Haney began calling out Jojo Diaz Jr. to get him to step up to the plate and face him.
Soon after, Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn said he would match the $1.5 million that Jojo Diaz Jr. was supposed to get for the Ryan Garcia fight.
Once Hearn made that move, it was only a matter of time before Jojo Diaz agreed to the fight. It would have looked like Diaz Jr. was ducking Haney if he hadn’t agreed to the battle.
Diaz Jr. and Haney were both trash-talking after Ryan’s injury, but it seemed apparent that they would eventually agree to a deal.
Haney wasn’t pleased about the former IBF super featherweight champion Jojo Diaz Jr. choosing not to challenge him for his belt after defeating Javier Fortuna by a 12 round unanimous decision in a WBC 135-lb title eliminator on July 9th.
At the time, one couldn’t blame Jojo Diaz for choosing not to face Haney because his promoters at Golden Boy gave him a great deal to meet the popular Ryan Garcia on November 27th on DAZN. Ryan had successful hand surgery last Money, and he won’t be back inside anytime soon.
Now that Ryan is out of the picture for the remainder of 2021, Jojo Diaz is free to go in the direction of a title shot against the unbeaten 22-year-old ‘The Dream’ Haney.
Haney is coming off of a 12 round unanimous decision win over former three-division world champion Jorge Linares on May 29th in a more challenging than expected fight.
Linares lit Haney up like a Christmas tree repeatedly in the championship rounds, having him hurt and holding on for the last four rounds.
It was fortunate that Haney was able to survive the last quarter of the fight because Linares had him teetering on the brink of a stoppage. A better finisher would have likely done the job on Haney.
For his part, Jojo Diaz Jr. looked much better in his last fight, beating former WBA super featherweight champion Javier Fortuna by a 12 round unanimous decision on DAZN on July 9th in a WBC lightweight title eliminator.
The 2012 U.S Olympian Jojo Diaz Jr. looked exceptional in his first fight at 135 with his victory over Fortuna. Before that, Jojo Diaz has campaigned at 130 and 126.
In January 2020, Diaz beat IBF super featherweight champion Tev Farmer by a 12 round unanimous decision to capture his title.
However, in Jojo Diaz’s first defense of his IBF title, he came in a total of 3 lbs over the weigh-in limit at 133 1/2 lbs for his title defense against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov, losing his title on the scales.
The fight was a back and forth one that was ruled a 12 round draw. Some boxing fans believe Diaz had done more than enough to deserve the victory with the way he finished strong in the second half of the contest.
Before moving up to 130 in 2019, Jojo Diaz Jr campaigned at featherweight from 2012 to 2018. In May 2018, Diaz successfully challenged WBO featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. for his title but lost a 12 round
This match-up gives Eddie Hearn and his promotional company a one-two punch in consecutive weeks on DAZN with the November 27th lightweight clash between IBF/WBA/WBO champion Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos Jr. and now Haney vs. Joseph Diaz Jr. Hearn will have his fingerprints on both fight events, as Matchroom will be promoting both.
Sources: @Realdevinhaney and @JosephDiazJr have agreed to a lightweight title fight Dec. 3 or 4 in Las Vegas. Contracts not signed but should be completed in coming days. Massive two-week stretch for Eddie Hearn/DAZN in loaded 135-pound division. Teofimo-Kambosos on Nov. 27
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) October 22, 2021