Devin Haney vs. ‘Jojo’ Diaz – live results

By Boxing News - 12/04/2021 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: WBC lightweight champion Devon ‘The Dream’ Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) outworked challenger Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr (32-2-1, 15 KOs0 in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Jojo Diaz looked slow, sluggish, and unable to throw enough punches to win the rounds. In the 12th, Jojo finally opened up and seemed to have Haney stunned early, but then punched himself out. Haney finished the round strong, as Diaz Jr was too tired to throw at the end.

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The scores were: 117-111, x 2, and 116-112.

Haney’s performance was arguably too defense and lackluster for him to earn the fight against undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. in early 2022. It’ll be surprising if Kambosos picks Haney as his next opponent because he wasn’t exciting.

Boxing News 24 will be giving live updates below of tonight’s action on the Haney vs. Jojo Diaz card:

  • Light welterweight contender Montana Love (17-0-1, 9 KOs) made easy work of Carlos Diaz (29-2, 14 KOs) in stopping him in the third round. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the fight at 1:22 of the third round due to Diaz, 26, getting hit with too many clean shots. It was arguably a premature stoppage, but it’s understandable why the referee halted the fight. Diaz was getting hit too cleanly at the end and he likely would have been dropped for the fourth time. Love, 26, knocked Diaz down three times in the second round with left counter shots. “I agree with the stoppage,” said Love, who had come in 3 3/4 pounds over the 140-lb limit at 143 3/4 lbs during Friday’s weigh-in. “Eventually he was going to get broken down,” Montana continued. “I sit down on my shots more and picking them wisely. 2022 is going to be a very big year. Next year, me and Eddie are taking over the 140-lb division,” said love. It would be interesting to see Love challenge undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor.
  • IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC/WBO female welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill (11-2, 4 KOs) had a tougher time than expected in defeating replacement opponent Kandi Wyatt (10-4, 3 KOs) by a seventh round stoppage. McCaskill wore down Wyatt and was hitting her at will with shots, which resulted in the referee stepping in to stop the contest in the opening seconds of the seventh. The referee had warned the 30-year-old Canadian Wyatt to show him something more after the sixth round or he’d stop it. Wyatt landed a lot of shots as well, but she lacked the power on her punches and she couldn’t compete with the much busier McCaskill.
  • Heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KOs) destroyed the serviceable Emir Ahmatovic (10-1, 7 KOs) by a third round knockout. The 2016 Olympic super heavyweight bronze medalist Hrgovic dropped Ahmatovic with two rabbit shots in the third round. The fight was then waived off by the referee at 0:40 of the round. In round two, the 29-year-old Hrgovic dropped Ahmatovic with a left to the head for the first knockdown. Late in the round, the 6’6″ Hrgovic knocked Ahmatovic with two hard right hands to the back of the head. It wasn’t that Hrgovic was targeting the back of Ahmatovic’s head. The Serbian was bending over and exposing the back of the head, leaving an inviting target for Hrgovic to land his chopping shots. With this victory, Hrgovic is trying to get a title eliminator for a world title shot. On the negative side, Hrgovic was getting hit a lot by Ahmatovic to the head and body. If Hrgovic is going to have any chance against the top rung heavyweights, he’s going to need to work on his defense. Also, the rabbit punches that Hrgovic was throwing tonight, he won’t get away with against the upper-level heavyweights like Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, or Deontay Wilder.
  • Highly respected unbeaten super featherweight prospect Marc Castro (5-0, 5 KOs) obliterated the hapless Ronaldo Solis ((4-3-1, 3 KOs) by a second round knockout. Castro knocked Solis down twice in the contest before the bout was stopped in the second round. In round one, Castro knocked Solis down with a monstrous right hand. To his credit, Solis peeled himself up off the canvas and made it through the round. In the second round, Castro knocked Solis down once again. This time the referee stopped the bout. It’s fair to say that Castro’s promoters need to consider matching him against better opposition because his fights have been too one-sided for him to develop.
  • Hard-hitting middleweight prospect Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams (8-0, 7 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a second round stoppage victory over Quantavious Cash (14-2, 8 KOs). The southpaw Austin, 25, hurt Cash with a left to the head in the second round and then unloaded with a blizzard of power shots that resulted in referee Raul Caiz Jr. halting the contest. It was an excellent victory for the former U.S amateur standout Williams.
  • Undefeated super middleweight prospect Alexis Espino (9-0-1, 6 KOs) battled the always tough Rodolfo Gomez (14-5-1, 10 KOs) to a grueling weight round draw. The scores were 77-75 for Gomez, 76-76, and 76-76.
  • Middleweight prospect Amari Jones (5-0, 5 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a sixth round knockout win over Timothy Lee (5-2, 4 KOs) in a scheduled six round fight. The 19-year-old Amari unloaded on Lee in the sixth round, resulting in the referee stepping in to halt the contest. In the opening round, Jones dropped Lee with a hard uppercut to the head. The time of the stoppage was at 2:40 of the sixth.
  • Flyweight Ricardo Rafael Sandoval (20-1, 15 KOs) defeated Carlos Buitrago (32-7-1, 18 KOs) by a seventh round knockout. In the seventh round, Sandoval, 22, tagged Buitrago at will with shots that caused the referee to stop the contest.

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“My main job is to perform and take care of business,” said Joseph Diaz Jr. to Fight Hub TV on his clash with Haney.

“I think this is the biggest moment of my career for myself because since I was 13-years-old, I used to watch Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Lennox Lewis, all these guys fight here in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.

“For me to make that accomplishment for myself is truly amazing, it’s a blessing,” said Jojo Diaz. “I don’t think it’s the hardest fight of my career. I’ve already had a lot of tough fights in my career.

“I think it’s just my adapting to my opponent and taking care of business once I adapt,” Jojo Diaz Jr. said of his fight against Devin Haney. “Coming in with the right game plan to execute and get him out of there.

“He’s defensive like Tevin Farmer, and he’s kind of long and has the same reach as Tevin Farmer as well,” said Jojo Diaz when asked how Haney compared to his past opponents.

“I think the speed, he’s [Haney] not as fast as Gary Russell Jr. and I don’t think he has the power of Javier Fortuna and Andrew Cancio.

“Like I said, all these guys I’ve fought in the past have made me the fighter I am today, and I’m ready for whatever Devin Haney brings. If he wants to try and be elusive and utilize his jab, I’m going to be able to adapt and overcome that and get on the inside and land my blows to be effective.

“But if he wants to bang on the inside, that’s wrong as well because I’m ready for that as well,” Diaz said.

Haney won’t bring any surprises

“Nah, I’ve seen a lot of people try and use the pick and rolls and a lot of people try and do that uppercut roll, that right-hand roll, the jab to the body, the step back hook,” said Diaz when asked if Haney will present things he hasn’t seen before.

“It’s all the same thing. It’s just basically what tall guys try to utilize and capitalize off a smaller dude. And it’s just a matter of whether he’s going to be able to keep that pace and keep that off me because I’m going to keep coming and make sure I get my execution and my solid shots in.

“I’m going to fill him out first and see what kind of things he wants to do,” said Diaz on the pace of the fight with Haney.

“I want to see what kind of game plan he has to try and offer because it’s always good to look at tapes, but everyone has a different game plan going into the fight and he might come in with a whole different game plan.

“He might try and surprise me by banging it out. You never know. he might and try and do that. If he tries to do that, I’m going to have to come with a different game plan and adjust.

Diaz plans on throwing 120 punches per round

“I’ve tried for a high-action packed fight, I’ve trained for to at least throw 120 punches a round,” said Jojo Diaz.

“That’s where I’m conditioned at. I’ve been sparring 14, 13, 12 rounds, so I’m ready to go the distance and throw as many punches as possible to make sure I win the fight.

“I think he [Haney] got hit flush and I think he got hurt, and I think if I catch him with a shot like that, I’m going to hurt him too and I’m going to try and get him out of there,” said Diaz Jr. on Haney being hurt by his last opponent Jorge Linares.

“I’m not going to let him hug me. And I’m going to be throwing a lot of shots and force myself on him.

“I’m also going to be dictating to the body to make sure his body is getting broken down. I’m going to break him down physically and mentally the whole fight,” said Jojo Diaz.

WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney will be taking on the toughest opponent of his young six-year professional career tonight against 2012 U.S Olympian and former IBF super featherweight champion Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  DAZN will be streaming the action LIVE beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.