Now-former junior lightweight titlist Joseph Diaz Jr had a bit of a rough weekend, losing his IBF belt on the scales Friday, and then going to a draw with Shavkat Rakhimov in their Saturday night fight on DAZN.
But Diaz (31-1-1, 15 KO) isn’t planning to move up from 130 pounds, and has called out some of the top names at the weight, still hoping for a big fight next, posting a call-out on Instagram that names Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Miguel Berchelt, Jamel Herring, and Oscar Valdez.
“No matter what I still want this my next fight,” he said while tagging those four fighters.
Berchelt and Valdez are set to meet this weekend for Berchelt’s WBC title, and that’s a fight everyone has been looking forward to since it was first scheduled for December.
Herring, who holds the WBO title, will defend against Carl Frampton on Feb. 27 in the United Kingdom. Davis holds the WBA title, but has options at 130 or 135, and is also a PBC and Mayweather Promotions fighter, while the other names are all with Top Rank. Top Rank and Golden Boy work together pretty easily anymore, and Golden Boy and PBC can work together, but it mostly only happens when it absolutely has to, like this past weekend’s Teixeira-Castano fight, because Golden Boy won the purse bid for that fight.
Given that I thought Diaz did enough to beat Rakhimov on Saturday, and the fact I’m not ready to completely write Diaz off as a weight issue at 130 for missing once, even if he missed by a lot, I’m honestly up for these fights. I totally understand not wanting to see “JoJo” get that type of fight after missing weight, but Diaz is a good fighter, brings action, and could be a really fun matchup for any of those guys.
That said, the weight thing will be a concern for the people putting the fights together, too. Even if you don’t actually lose the fight — Diaz-Rakhimov went on, most fights go on with missed weight — it’s a bad look for everyone and sours the experience for fans.
Do you think Diaz should have to take something of a lesser fight, prove he can still make the weight, before getting a big one? Or are you good with rolling the dice and putting him right back in with a name if it’s available?