Joseph Diaz Jr. stops Andrew Cancio in ninth round of featherweight bout

ARLINGTON, Texas - Joseph Diaz Jr., a 2012 U.S. Olympian, continued his rise up the ranks Saturday.

Diaz made easy work of Andrew Cancio and got the win after referee Gregorio Alvarez stopped the contest at 2:27 of the ninth round. There were no knockdowns in the featherweight contest, but Diaz doled out a lot of punishment and had Cancio bleeding profusely from a cut on his nose early in the fight.

"This is a great victory, it will open up so many doors for me moving forward," said Diaz (22-0, 13 KOs). "I felt very comfortable today, I was the better puncher, I was faster and was able to cut the ring more efficiently.

"I knew that Cancio was going to be a strong guy, I knew he was going to be tough and try to push me around, so I had to be the better fighter tonight. I was able to display my defense and my power."

Cancio (17-4-2, 13 KOs) was no match for Diaz, a top-10 contender at 126 pounds. The journeyman landed just 16.6% of his power punches (50 of 302); Diaz connected on 58.9% 192 of 326).

Diaz clearly is ready for better opposition, and now that he had his showcase fight on a Canelo Alvarez undercard, it's time for him to step up.

(Photo of Diaz, left, and Cancio by Jerome Miron, Paste BN Sports)