Julio Diaz

By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) is still convinced that he’ll be cleaning up the light welterweight division and then moving up in weight to 147 to go after Floyd Mayweather Jr. and all of the straps up there. However, Khan’s lack of success recently suggests otherwise.

Khan said on his social media site, “100% we all know I’ll clean up the division before I move up to 147.”

The plan that Khan’s promoter Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions has for Khan is for him to face eventual winner of a pair of bouts between Danny Garcia vs. Zab Judah and Lucas Matthysse vs. Lamont Peterson.

By Scott Gilfoid: Virgil Hunter, the trainer for former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 18 KO’s), doesn’t think Khan should be getting criticized for getting blasted out and facing soft touches ever since. Hunter believes that Khan is a huge, huge talent, and that’s been through a gauntlet to get where he is today.

Khan faces 2nd tier fighter Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) on April 27th in the second fight of Khan’s three-fight contract with Showtime at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. This fight might not count as part of Khan’s three-fight contract, even though Showtime will still be televising it.

Hunter said to the telegraph.co.uk “Leave the kid [Khan] alone…watch him flourish under me.”

By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) is ecstatic about getting a high visible fight against former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) on April 27th in a fight that will be televised on Showtime in the United States in front of what could be a huge audience. The fight will be held at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

While Diaz was never considered a huge puncher in the past, he does seem to have picked up a little power as he’s aged a little. At 33, Diaz is sitting down on his shots a little more now, and it’s paid off for him because he’s knocked out three out of his last five opponents he’s faced in the last two years. That’s pretty impressive.

By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) doesn’t see any other way of beating Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) on April 27th other than to knock him out in their fight at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Diaz, 33, lives in the United States and he’ll be the visiting fighter when he faces Khan in the UK in front of what will likely be a sold out Motorpoint Arena filled with nothing but Khan fans from top to bottom.

By Mark Havey: This week Amir Khan announced that his next fight will be staged in Britain and will be against the veteran Julio Diaz. Diaz is the former IBF lightweight champion. After hearing the news of this fight, I had one question, why?

I have nothing against Diaz. In fact I was once a big fan of his, but that was 6 or 7 years ago. Since then he has gone massively downhill and hasn’t had any elite fights recently. 2 years ago Kendall Holt stopped Diaz in 3 rounds. So what does Khan have to gain?

By Scott Gilfoid: Having picked out another 2nd tier fighter to face for his next fight on April 27th in Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s), Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) is going about the hard business of building him to be a world killer to convince boxing fans this is going to be an exciting fight instead of a mismatch like Khan’s last fight against a second tier fighter in Carlos Molina.

Khan said to Sky Sports “Julio Diaz is a former world champion [IBF lightweight champion] and a very dangerous opponent who is coming off an impressive performer [10 round draw against fringe contender Shawn Porter] in his last fight.”

Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya echoed Khan’s feelings, also calling Diaz a “Dangerous fighter”, as if he realizes they’re fighting an uphill battle to try and sell this mismatch.

By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) has already figured out how to beat Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) in their catchweight right on April 20th in the UK. Diaz sees Khan’s lack of a chin and his tendency for panic as an avenue for beating the struggling ex-light welterweight champion.

The 33-year-old Diaz said to thesun.co.uk “There are a lot of weaknesses [in Khan’s game]. He can’t take a punch and when he gets overwhelmed he tends to panic too much. I aim to make it a brawl…It will be a real fight.”

Diaz fights at welterweight now and will have to come down to 143 lb. in order to make the catchweight that Khan wants. Whether that will weaken Diaz or not remains to be seen. I suspect it’ll hurt him a little, but he’s already up against it in this fight because he’s not had a real challenge in quite some time.

By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) will be continuing with his rebuilding of his once promising career when he faces 33-year-old Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) on April 27th in the UK at a still to be determined venue.

Diaz said to thesun.co.uk “We are waiting for official confirmation from the Khan Camp but as of now they have my contract which I have signed. We have reached an agreement on a deal and everything is secure.”

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.