By Keith Idec
Felix Diaz’s record reads 19-1, but the 140-pound contender feels undefeated.
The Dominican Republic’s Diaz disputes the majority decision he dropped to Lamont Peterson in their 12-round fight 19 months ago in Fairfax, Virginia. Peterson won that bout on two scorecards (117-111, 116-112) and a third judge scored it even (114-114).
Diaz doesn’t know what they were watching that night at Fairfax Arena, near Peterson’s hometown of Washington, D.C.
“I don’t feel that I lost the fight,” Diaz said through a translator during a recent conference call. “In my heart, I don’t feel I lost that fight. I did everything possible to win that fight, but the judges weren’t on my side. I don’t know if it’s my style of fighting, but I feel I did enough to beat Peterson. There’s nothing I regret. I wish I could’ve knocked him out.”
Despite the official loss on his record, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist learned plenty by going 12 rounds against Peterson, an experience he is certain will help him Saturday night. That’s when he’ll challenge unbeaten WBC/WBO super lightweight champion Terence Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs) in another scheduled 12-round fight at Madison Square Garden.
“Obviously I learned a lot in that fight against Lamont Peterson, who was considered one of the great fighters as well in that division,” Diaz said. “[It helped] just going 12 rounds and having the experience to go in there with [Peterson], who’s one of the best in the division.”
Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs), a former IBF/WBA 140-pound champion, has since won the WBA world welterweight title. Crawford, however, is generally regarded as one boxing’s top 10 fighters, pound-for-pound.
At least Diaz’s fight against Crawford will be contested in what’s considered neutral territory. While Crawford is represented by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., the promoter of Saturday’s card, Top Rank has contract options on Diaz in the event he pulls off an upset in their HBO “World Championship Boxing” main event.
And Crawford is from Omaha, Nebraska, more than halfway across the United States from Madison Square Garden. The 33-year-old Diaz resides in Brooklyn.
Regarding his lone loss to Peterson, Lou DiBella, Diaz’s promoter, said, “I think we learned that it’s not an ideal situation to fight a Virginia fighter in Virginia.”
Two of the three judges assigned to the Peterson-Diaz fight are from Virginia – Brian Costello (114-114) and Mark D’Attilio (117-111). The third judge, Dorothea Perry (116-112), is from New York.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.