The undercard to HBO PPV’s Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez middleweight championship bout is in the books. In the co-main event, top featherweight prospect JoJo Diaz picked up a win over late replacement Rafael Rivera. Diego De La Hoya also put together a career best performance against Randy Caballero while Ryan Martin won as well.
Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (25-0, 13 KOs) rolled to a near shut out decision over a talented and very game late replacement opponent in Rafael Rivera (25-1-2, 16 KOs). While Diaz won very wide, Rivera acquitted himself quite well, especially in the first half of the fight. He is a very talented prospect in his own right. What Rivera is not, however, is yet polished enough for JoJo Diaz. Diaz used a calm, pressuring approach that by the end resulted in quite the beating. I hope it doesn’t set back Rivera’s promising career too much. JoJo Diaz is ready for his featherweight title fight.
Diego De La Hoya (20-0, 9 KOs) looked his best in a huge win for his career over unbeaten former titleholder Randy Caballero (24-1, 14 KOs in the middle fight of the undercard. 23 year old Diego controlled this fight from start to finish. While he still lacks the power that he might need at the very top of the super bantamweight division, he proved that his overall skill set is definitely there to compete. For Caballero, this was a tough set back in his return to top competition. He was thoroughly outclassed here start to finish.
In the opener, junior welterweight prospect Ryan Martin (20-0, 14 KOs) overcame a slow start to rally and beat up Francisco Rojo (20-3, 13 KOs). I thought Rojo won three of the first four rounds, but afterward he faded a bit while Martin picked up the intensity of his attack. Ryan Martin still doesn’t strike me as a top prospect, really, but he did well to overcome a pretty slow start here.
