Top Golden Boy contender and mandatory title challenger Joseph “JoJo” Diaz picked up his expected win last night on Golden Boy’s ESPN series over brief former world titleholder Victor Terrazas, putting him away in the third round. He remains Gary Russell Jr’s #1 contender and called the top featherweight out after the fight. 19 year old prospect Vergil Ortiz was also victorious.
Despite Victor Terrazas’s (38-5-2, 21 KOs) credentials as a former world titleholder, this was never expected to be competitive. Former US Olympian “JoJo” Diaz (26-0, 14 KOs) delivered on that promise. The future world title challenger abandoned his usual safe outside boxing style, coming forward aggressively in the first. He put the ex-titleholder down twice in that opening frame, first on a body shot and then on a left upstairs.
Terrazas stabilized a bit in the second and tried to get himself into the fight, but the talent gap was just too much. He seemed to particularly be struggling with the body work of JoJo Diaz and indeed it was a body shot that finished him near the end of the third. The former titleholder stayed down for the count, grimacing in pain. He is now 1-3-1 since winning his belt in an upset of Cristian Mijares. Post-fight, JoJo called out Gary Russell Jr. Despite their competing promotional situations, that fight is actually likely to happen given that the WBC has named Diaz the mandatory challenger for Russell’s belt.
The middle fight of the broadcast brought one loss prospect Christian Gonzalez (18-2, 15 KOs) and Filipino journeyman Rey Perez (22-9, 6 KOs) together for a very fun fight. Perez was not the house fighter or the favorite here, but clearly won the first half of the fight anyway. He was dynamic in the first and then even better in the second, hurting his Mexican opponent and driving him back. He looked visibly tired in the third and fourth rounds, but he still won them thanks to how slow Christian Gonzalez is to react defensively.
“Chimpa” Gonzalez is a steady fighter if nothing else, but he is an extremely limited one as displayed in this fight. All eight rounds he stood in front of Perez moving his hands, but they were often easily avoided as the slow, wide shots that they are. Defensively he is a wreck as well and those two things do not add up to a contender. Gonzalez had a better second half of the fight with his offense against a slower, more tired Rey Perez, but it wasn’t enough to come close to winning. Scores came back 79-73 twice and 78-74, matching my score.
Major 19 year old Golden Boy prospect Vergil Ortiz (9-0, 9 KOs) rolled through club fighter Jesus Alvarez (15-4, 11 KOs) in the show’s opener. Ortiz dropped Alvarez in the first, battered him in the second, and then hurt him to get the standing stoppage in the first third round of his career. Ortiz is a solid young prospect with a dynamic, aggressive style. His combination work off the jab can be particularly impressive. Being 19, however, there is of course plenty of work still to do in his development.
