Devin Haney needed a big opponent for his next WBC lightweight championship fight and he got exactly that on Saturday night when he faced Joseph Diaz from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Despite Diaz consistently bringing the fight to Haney, his boxing skills were too sharp and he was able to retain his title by unanimous decision.
Haney got off to a fast start in the early rounds, using his speed and an eight-inch reach advantage to tag Diaz with heavy punches and sharp combinations. The body work of Haney was also effective as he repeatedly cracked Diaz to the ribs, even as his punches drifted low several times, resulting in a number of warnings from the referee.
Diaz was able to get himself back into the fight in the fourth round, finally able to close the distance on his rangy opponent. Fighting fire with fire, Diaz began to work his own heavy punches to the champion’s body and also unloaded overhand lefts that clipped Haney on the chin.
However, for every round Diaz seemed to win, he was never able to maintain momentum. Haney continued to battle his way back with his combination punches and activity levels that allowed him to end the fight with a 154-113 advantage in total punches landed.
Haney has repeatedly been knocked for fights lacking in action but felt that Diaz was the right man to help bring out a more exciting version of himself.
“Like JoJo said, he said he was going to bring the dog out of me and that’s exactly what he did,” Haney said after the fight. “I had to get the dog out.”
The dog truly had to come out in the final round, with Diaz appearing to hurt Haney as he went all-out looking for a late comeback knockout. It was the second fight in a row where Haney was hurt in the championship rounds.
However, all three judges saw the fight as a clear win for Haney after the conclusion of 12 rounds, awarding him the decision by scores of 117-111, 117-111, 116-112.
The fight set Haney up for a potential four-belt unification bout with George Kambosos Jr. who won the IBF, WBO and WBA lightweight titles the previous weekend after a shocking upset of Teofimo Lopez Jr. Asked if he would be willing to travel to Kambosos’ home country of Australia, Haney didn’t hesitate.
“Come on, Kambosos. Let’s do it for all the belts,” Haney said. “The real undisputed. Let’s do it next. I’ll go to Jupiter if I’ve got to.”
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday for both events, so be sure to follow along with the live results and highlights below.
Results, highlights
- Devin Haney (c) def. Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr. via unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 116-112)
- Montana Love def. Carlos Diaz via third-round TKO
- Jessica McCaskill (c) def. Kandi Wyatt via seventh-round TKO
- Filip Hrgovic def. Emir Ahmatovic via third-round TKO
- Marc Castro def. Ronaldo Solis via second-round knockout
