By Mark Vester

Junior welterweight Antonio Diaz (46-5-1, 29 KOs) has stepped forward to fight Victor Ortiz (24-2-1, 19 KOs) on December 12 in Chicago. The fight is the co-feature to the Juan Diaz-Paulie Malignaggi rematch on HBO. Diaz was going to fight Zab Judah on the Mayweather-Marquez pay-per-view undercard in Septemebr. Judah withdrew over money and Diaz was left out in the cold. Now he gets a chance at another big fight and says a win over Ortiz means more than a win over Judah.

“And the good thing is it's coming a couple days before Christmas,” Diaz told The Desert Sun. “I just pray everything goes as it's planned. We planned some stuff before the other fight and things didn't go as we wanted. A victory against (Ortiz) would be a lot better. Zab Judah is a name fighter, but as you know, he's already on the downside. He's not what he used to be when he was younger. This guy is a young puppy, a young prospect coming up.”

Diaz feels Ortiz was exposed in his last bout, when he was stopped by Marcos Maidana in six rounds. He doesn't think Ortiz is the same fighter. He plans to pressure him in the same manner as Maidana.

“What can I say, he was a tough fighter until his last fight, when he was exposed,” Diaz said. “Now we know exactly what to do to stop him. He can't take pressure, he can't fight under pressure. He's a tough kid, but he doesn't have the experience yet to be or beat a top fighter.”

Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingvester@gmail.com