Joseph Diaz Jr. defeats Tino Avila by unanimous decision to stay unbeaten

LAS VEGAS — Joseph Diaz Jr. did what he needed to do Saturday night, defeating previously unbeaten Manuel "Tino" Avila by unanimous decision to remain unbeaten and put himself in position to get a title fight in the loaded featherweight division.

Diaz won by scores of 100-90, and 99-91 twice.

"My plan going in was to feel him out and be smart,” said Diaz, Jr. “Once I had him figured him out, I knew I could keep digging at him with my jab and do work. In the last few rounds, I kept throwing body shots to hurt him, which worked. Next up, I’m looking for a world title shot."

Diaz (24-0, 13 KOs) put his quickness on display and boxed throughout the 10-round featherweight fight. There were few meaningful shots exchanged between the two fighters, who seemed to lack the power to hurt each other. The crowd grew restless with the lack of toe-to-toe action and the first boos and whistles could be heard after the fifth round.

By the sixth round, Avila tried to press the action, but his awkward style was unable to get to Diaz, who went into defensive mode. In the ninth round, Diaz put his quickness on display, unloading a rapid-fire eight-punch combination on Avila in the corner that, if nothing else, must have impressed the judges. More than a third of Diaz's 113 landed power punches went to the body of Avila.

Diaz, a 24-year-old southpaw from El Monte, Calif., and a former U.S. Olympian who trained by his father, is ranked No. 1 at featherweight by the WBO and No. 2 by the WBA  and hopes to gain a title shot with a victory against Avila.

Avila fell to 22-1 (8 KOs) with the loss.

“My timing wasn’t there; I felt like this was a learning experience,” said Avila. "I need to learn how to pick up the pace in between rounds. Our styles were off and I felt like it could have been a better fight."