Felix Diaz announces arrival with beating of Sammy Vasquez
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Felix Diaz turned in a tremendous performance against Sammy Vasquez on Saturday and announced himself as a player in the welterweight division.
At first, it seemed like the judges at Legacy Arena were set to rob him. The fight was originally declared a majority draw, but it was discovered they failed to add in a point deduction in the final round for Vasquez spitting out his mouthpiece, and the final tally was a unanimous decision for Diaz (96-93, 95-94 and 95-94).
In reality, Diaz laid a beating on Vasquez in a slight upset. Paste BN Sports scored it 99-90 for the late-replacement opponent (as did many other ringside media). Vasquez was originally slated to face veteran Luis Collazo in the 10-round welterweight Fox co-feature, but the Brooklynite withdrew earlier this month with a torn calf muscle.
Diaz (18-1, 8 KOs) was a much tougher assignment on paper and beat Vasquez pillar to post. The 2008 Olympic gold medalist, coming off a controversial decision loss to former champion Lamont Peterson, was in training for an FS1-televised fight scheduled for earlier this week.
"When I first heard it was a split draw, I felt like I was the winner and I got robbed like in my fight against Lamont Peterson," said Diaz, 32. "I definitely feel like the scores should have been wider on the cards, but I understand.
"The first couple of rounds I was feeling him out, but after those first couple I feel like I won every round. … I took this fight on only 15 days notice, and before this I was preparing for a right-handed fighter, so it was a bit of an adjustment. I only had two weeks to make the changes that I needed to."
Diaz clearly was in shape and dialed in from the start. He pummeled Vasquez in the third round as the 30-year-old held on for dear life. Diaz zeroed in with overhand lefts and rights over the top in the clinch.
Vasquez's chin hung out in the open for Diaz to tee off, and he did so again in the fourth. Vasquez ate a number of flush power shots and was wobbled by one of them.
Diaz ratcheted up the pressure the following round and mauled Vasquez of Monessen, Pa., along the ropes, who continued to absorb punches on the inside with nothing in return. Referee Keith Hughes appeared close to stopping it before the round ended.
"I knew in my heart I lost that fight," said Vasquez (21-1, 15 KOs), who topped Aron Martinez in January. "I tried my hardest, but there were things I should have done that I didn't do. We can't look in the past. He's a hell of fighter.
"He's an Olympic gold medalist for a reason. He had a tough decision loss to Lamont Peterson. To me he was an undefeated Olympic gold medalist. … We'll huddle up and start back at the drawing board. I've got to start knocking those names down again."
Diaz did an excellent job of smothering Vasquez's shots in the clinch while connecting with his own compact punches. Diaz shredded the right side of Vasquez's mouth and it was bleeding badly by the seventh. The veteran of two military tours in Iraq showed a ton of mettle, though, and kept marching forward even though he was absorbing a tremendous beating.
A clash of heads in the 10th round created a massive gash over Vasquez's right eye and he began to gush blood over his chest. Vasquez was warned earlier in the fight for purposely spitting out his mouthpiece and did so again in the final round. For the foul, the referee deducted one point - incredibly, the different between a draw and Diaz victory.
"Fighting on a Fox and Fox Deportes prime-time card and looking as good as I did makes me very happy," he said ."I'm ready for anyone at 140 or 147 pounds."