What happened to Juan Diaz?

[PRIDE OF BOSTON]

There's nothing wrong with Diaz. He likes to wing away once he traps his prey which he was unable to do with the crafty Magic Man.

Bilbo, you mentioned that you wonder where the Diaz that beat up Julio Diaz and Acelino Freitas went... Well, Freitas's legs are nowhere near Paulie's and Julio Diaz sat in Juan's wheelhouse and allowed him to wing away. Diaz was never allowed to get set against Paulie yet he still put forth a good effort.

Juan Diaz should stay at 135 and continue his canpaign. He's a good, solid come forward fighter that can throw punches for days. He way not have a whole lot of pop but he makes up for it with a nonstop swarming attack.

The Juan Diaz of old is still there. He's just fighting the Elite now. Freitas was at the ass end of his career and Julio Diaz was not a good boxer. He crashed the Elite with Campbell who forced him to fight through advercity, then he fought and aging ATG in Marquez who went to the body once Diaz was hurt to finish the show and now he fought a guy with speed and agility that is gone before Juan can set his feet. The days of him fighting the Jose Cottos of the world are over. He's world class... and he's fighting world class fighters now. It's not as easy as it used to be.

[Kev]

There's nothing wrong with Diaz. He likes to wing away once he traps his prey which he was unable to do with the crafty Magic Man.

Bilbo, you mentioned that you wonder where the Diaz that beat up Julio Diaz and Acelino Freitas went... Well, Freitas's legs are nowhere near Paulie's and Julio Diaz sat in Juan's wheelhouse and allowed him to wing away. Diaz was never allowed to get set against Paulie yet he still put forth a good effort.

Juan Diaz should stay at 135 and continue his canpaign. He's a good, solid come forward fighter that can throw punches for days. He way not have a whole lot of pop but he makes up for it with a nonstop swarming attack.

The Juan Diaz of old is still there. He's just fighting the Elite now. Freitas was at the ass end of his career and Julio Diaz was not a good boxer. He crashed the Elite with Campbell who forced him to fight through advercity, then he fought and aging ATG in Marquez who went to the body once Diaz was hurt to finish the show and now he fought a guy with speed and agility that is gone before Juan can set his feet. The days of him fighting the Jose Cottos of the world are over. He's world class... and he's fighting world class fighters now. It's not as easy as it used to be.

Hold on a second, when did Malignaggi become elite all of a sudden?

Are we talking about the same guy who was dominated by Ricky Hatton, and barely scraped by Herman Ngoudjo and Lovemore Ndou, a fighter even Ricky's club fighter brother Matthew looked better against?

Paulie has looked great in two fights, one in showing heart in losing to Cotto and Saturday night against Juan Diaz.

Aside from that there's been no performances at all that I've seen that would qualify him as elite. Apart from against Cotto and Diaz what other great Paulie performances have their been? Ednar Cherry?

Freitas may have been old but he was a much more respected fighter than Malignaggi, and Juan Diaz looked great against J M Marquez early whilst he was in some people's eyes the worlds best p4p fighter.

He looked great against Katsidis too.

You can't seriously say Diaz looks as good as he did, he's just lifeless now, he seems to be on a Jeff Lacy style decline.

Paulie fought well last night but if guys like Ngoudjo and Ndou can make him look as bad as they did a prime Juan should have been to aggressive for him.

Remember when he used to have blazing handspeed, it's a shame really.

[Pugilistic]

I think the Campbell and Marquez losses have caught up with him.

After his loss to Campbell, he was impressive against Katsidis but ever since Marquez layed him out for the first time and added to the punishment he got against Campbell, he hasn't looked the same.

The aggression, workrate and determination doesn't seem to be there anymore.

[DaxxKahn]

Diaz has one mode all out or nothing,,,,Problem is if he can't catch a guy he is in trouble...Plus he can't fight going backwards....

IMO Diaz was rushed along too quickly...He should have been groomed a bit more....Too much too soon overwhelming....Especially since the kid is going to school so he has no intention to be in the sport too long....

Juan needs to be groomed a bit more on Defense, some counter punching and Patience for sure...

Other then that he is ok...I think they need to slow down a bit with him take a step back on caliber of opp so they can work on those things and he will be a force again...

Plus if he was in a bit better shape shed a few pounds he could fight at 130 easy where his power would be much more effective

[salty trunks]

His style is based on activity and getting close. His lack of power makes that more difficult at a higher weight. Its also a style thats very hard to keep up your entire career. Same thing with Paul Williams as he moves up in weight his style is going to be less effective as it already was in the Martinez fight.

[HattonTheHammer]

If diaz was english he`d now be mocked on here as an average fighter who`s been found out (completely true)

Diaz is a good fighter, just not that good. Paulies a quality fighter. Diaz isnt all of a sudden "washed up"

He`s a good fighter than can go on to win world titles at light/welter - just please stop with this "he`d beat marquez/hatton" shit. If you honestly believe that you just dont know very much about boxing!

[milmascaras1]

there is nothing wrong with diaz. he is what he is! and to say he wasn't that good to begin with is preposterous because as lightweight champion he did have seven successful defenses, which by today's standards, is pretty impressive. the problem with diaz is he's a one dimensional fighter. he loves to engage toe to toe. paulie's style was all wrong for him. for one, he's flatfooted, has no lateral movement and is just there to slug it out. if he goes back down to lightweight he might have a better chance to win a title there. too bad he has very little power because just imagine if he did have alot of power, he would be devastating!

[nyc champ]

i think for diaz to be a top light weight again he has to beat a good lightweight, such as ortiz, maidana, khan, rematch with marquez