Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz will challenge Devin Haney for the WBC lightweight title this Saturday night. The bout will go down inside MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The significance of the match-up has increased exponentially after the shocking results of the George Kambosos and Teófimo López fight. The winner of the Saturday night main event will most probably fight Kambosos next year for the unification of the lightweight title.
Haney(26-0) is currently the world’s fourth-best active lightweight according to The Ring Magazine and BoxRec. It all started in 2019 when Haney defeated Zaur Abdullaev and won the vacant WBC Interim lightweight title.
In the same year, He was promoted as the WBC lightweight champion as the previous champion was promoted to Franchise Champion. Since then, Haney has successfully retained his WBC title on three occasions.
Diaz (32-1) is the current holder of the WBC Interim lightweight title which he won earlier this year by defeating Javier Fortuna. The former IBF super featherweight Champion has now set his eyes on the lightweight division and will be forward to continuing his domination.
Devin Haney vs Joseph Diaz physical difference and Comparisons
In terms of record, Diaz has a draw and has lost once in his professional career. The loss came against Gary Russell when he fought for the WBC featherweight title back in 2018. On the contrary, Haney has a perfect record and has remained undefeated throughout his six years of professional career.
On physical aspects, Diaz is 5 ft 6 in and has a reach of 64 Inches. Haney on the other hand has a height advantage. He stands at 5 ft 8 in along with a reach of 71 Inches. This gives him a massive reach advantage of 7 inches. Which can help him in maintaining distance and give damage with that jab. Coming to their weights, both the fighters are of similar sizes, 135 pounds for Haney and 134.5 pounds for Diaz.
Haney is a very talented and skillful fighter but being only 23 years old he has a lot to learn. Especially against someone like Diaz who is highly experienced and has the potential to survive a lot of beating inside the ring. If JoJo remains calm and determined and puts constant pressure on Haney he might defeat the young champion.