Photo by HBO
On Saturday, September 17, Joseph Diaz Jr. (22-0, 13 KOs) scored a ninth-round stoppage victory against Andrew Cancio (17-4-2, 13 KOs) at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The fight was part of a three-fight undercard that was headlined by the Junior Middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Liam Smith.
Diaz, a 23-year-old Olympian of Southern California, relied on his speed, strength and high-gaurd defense to outland and eventually stop Cancio.
Diaz controlled distance in the first two rounds with his jab and his hard counter shots.
“This is a great victory, it will open up so many doors for me moving forward,” said Diaz.
Cancio, a 27-year-old of California, did his best to land shots on Diaz, but the younger fighter was too fast and too skilled for Cancio to threaten him.
By Round 3, Cancio was cut by a left uppercut on his nose.
“The cut over my nose didn’t bother me in the first couple of rounds, but when it didn’t stop it blurred my vision and started to distract me,” said Cancio.
By Rounds 4 and 5, Diaz began landing left hands at will, while Cancio desperately tried to change the tide of the fight.
By Round 7, one could have easily stopped the fight without protest, but Cancio’s trainers decided to allow Cancio to continue into Round 9, seeing that Cancio had no chance of winning.
What do you think of Diaz’s performance? Let us know in the comments section.
