Felix Diaz: record, next fight and profile →
By Keith Idec - NEW YORK – Felix Diaz didn’t do anything that a faction of boxing fans and media thought he could accomplish against Terence Crawford. The undefeated Crawford boxed exclusively out of a southpaw stance and mostly befuddled and battered Diaz during their 140-pound title fight Saturday nig...
Crawford vs. Diaz Scorecard BoxingScene Live - Terence Crawford and Felix Diaz made weight Friday for their super lightweight title fight Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The 29-year-old Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, weighed in at 139.2 pounds for their 12-round fight. The official weight for the 33-year-old Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs), a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, was 139.4 pounds.
More than any current champion that typically fights right-handed, Terence Crawford has had sustained success switching to a southpaw stance. The undefeated Crawford is completely comfortable fighting left-handed and his ability to switch back and forth has regularly presented problems his opponents couldn’t overcome. Sometimes southpaws have difficulty fighting one another, but Crawford can’t envision any such issues prohibiting from defeating Felix Diaz on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
WBA, WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford's +14.1 plus/minus rating ranks #5. Opponents land just 20% of their total punches (#5 on CompuBox Category Leaders list) and land just 7.1 punches per round (#3 on Cat. Leaders list & 10 fewer than the jr. welter avg.).
New York - After Felix Diaz (19-1, 9 KO’s) lost a controversial decision to Lamont Peterson, he went forward to secure what at the time was a mild upset of Sammy Vasquez. Now the Dominican fighter will face his toughest test to date when he tries to dethrone unified WBO and WBC junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford (30-1, 20 KO’s) later tonight in an HBO televised fight.
After a bit of a slower week, boxing is all over the place this weekend. Where one won’t find a single mega-event, there are a slew of good, meaningful fights in multiple divisions across multiple continents. Arguably the most meaningful will take place on HBO (10:15 PM EST/PST). One of the sports clearest divisional kings, Jr. welterweight Terence Crawford, makes his 2017 debut and he could have his hands full.
Crawford-Diaz Weigh-In Photos Gallery - Terence Crawford and Felix Diaz made weight Friday for their super lightweight title fight Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank. The 29-year-old Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, weighed in at 139.2 pounds for their 12-round fight. The official weight for the 33-year-old Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs), a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, was 139.4 pounds.
Terence Crawford and Felix Diaz made weight Friday for their super lightweight title fight Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The 29-year-old Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, weighed in at 139.2 pounds for their 12-round fight. The official weight for the 33-year-old Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs), a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, was 139.4 pounds. HBO will televise Crawford-Diaz as the main event of a “World Championship Boxing” doubleheader. The telecast is scheduled to begin at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.
NEW YORK – Terence Crawford’s advice to Felix Diaz is to ask any of the 30 opponents the undefeated Crawford has fought. No matter how it might appear from the outside, looking in, beating him is a lot harder than it looks. “It’s crazy because on the onside it looks easy,” Crawford said during an informal press conference Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
The undefeated champion will defend his titles Saturday against Felix Diaz, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist from the Dominican Republic. It's Crawford's first bout in the main arena at Madison Square Garden, another step in his rise to becoming one of boxing's marquee fighters. But the bigger fights are at bigger weights, and moving up to welterweight could give him lucrative opportunities against the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman.