Comments Thread For: Joseph Diaz Has No Excuses: Gary Russell a Tremendous FIghter

[LA_2_Vegas]

Good fight for both I thought.

Thought Diaz might be able to pull it off with his good timing but Russell's nice jab really took command, kept Diaz at home for some long stretches. And without being able to bring a jab of his own, Diaz's offense stagnated after a while. It was looking pretty good for him in those couple early rounds, but Russell was a real pro out there, very consistent

[slimPickings]

I second this. His father should have been trying to get a rise out of Jo Jo. The fight was very close through the first 7 then from 8 to 11 Diaz let Russell Jr. off the hook.
His father was entirely to nice and calm in those high pressure rounds.

This is one of those situations where the father or son say to each other that they have gotten as father as they can and Jo Jo brings in another set of eyes for his corner.

No body let anybody off the hook.
The better man won. His class showed when it mattered ..going down the stretch.

Some times we have to accept reality.

Jo Jo's best was just not good enough..... for Gary.
He can come back.

[techliam]

He's a class act. He's going to learn from this. Hopefully he gets back into the ring again over the summer and keeps working. He'll be a champion soon. He went after the hardest fighter in the division and had his moments.

Russell is far from the best (hardest) Featherweight, but I agree with everything else you’ve said.

It’s a pretty strong division at the moment. Santa Cruz is pretty much universally recognised as the no.1 Featherweight

[Hmabshir]

Not setting up your punches and only using your jab sporadically isn't gonna cut it. That body work was great but after the 7th round Jojo lost the motivation to win the fight.

Also how flat footed he was. He just followed Russell around the ring all night, didn’t cut it off. He smothered his work on the inside, if you follow a guy around the ring instead of cutting him off he will never feel any mental pressure. That’s why Russell never left 2nd gear in the fight. No pressure from Diaz physically or mentally to force Russell to slowly break down Like Hurd did to Lara.

[LOCOMEX89]

No body let anybody off the hook.
The better man won. His class showed when it mattered ..going down the stretch.

Some times we have to accept reality.

Jo Jo's best was just not good enough..... for Gary.
He can come back.

What I meant was Jo Jo didn't adjust his game plan. Didn't mean it as a knock against Russell Jr. because he was the deserved winner.