Joseph Diaz Jr. graduates to contender with clear decision win over Jayson Velez

OAKLAND, Calif. - Joseph Diaz Jr. can now call himself a contender.

The 2012 Olympian announced the next stage of his blossoming career with a wide unanimous decision victory over Jayson Velez in a 10-round featherweight bout Saturday at Oracle Arena.

The 23-year-old Mexican-American prevailed by scores of 100-91, 99-91 and 98-92 in the HBO co-feature to hand Velez his second consecutive loss.

"Jayson is a warrior and I expected 110% and that's what he gave," Diaz said. "But ultimately I was in better shape, I was a more effective boxer and I landed more power combinations

"I feel like I put up a great performance and I couldn't be happier."

It was a big step-up in class for Diaz, but he handled the new competition well and proved he belongs on this stage. He suffered a small gash under his right eye in Round 1 but never let it affect him.

The southpaw was able to hammer Velez with overhand lefts time and time again, but he didn't head-hunt. Diaz (20-0, 11 KOs) also did nice body work and kept up the pressure.

He seemed to lose some steam on his punches in the late rounds, but that's to be expected for a fighter in his first big fight.

According to CompuBox, Diaz landed 220 of 429 shots (51.3%), while Velez connected on 155 of 527 (29.4%).

Velez (23-2-1, 16 KOs) once challenged for a world title, a draw with Evgeny Gradovich in 2014, a decision many felt should have went the Russian's way. Velez tested Diaz at times in the fight, but is clearly a gatekeeper at this juncture.

The 28-year-old native of Puerto Rico was coming off a defeat to Golden Boy prospect Ronny Rios in November.

"It was a tough fight, tougher than I thought," Velez said. "I anticipated stopping him in the fifth or sixth round. It was a great fight by both of us."

(Photo of Joseph Diaz Jr., right, vs. Jayson Velez by Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)