Joseph Diaz

Joseph "JoJo" Pedroza Diaz Jr. (born November 23, 1992) is an American professional boxer who held the WBC interim lightweight title from July 2021 to December 2021. He also held the IBF super featherweight title from 2020 to February 2021 and challenged once for the WBC featherweight title in 2018. At regional level, he held the WBC-NABF, and WBO-NABO featherweight titles between 2015 and 2018. As an amateur he competed at the 2012 Olympics as a bantamweight.^[1]

Early life and education[]

Joseph is of Mexican descent.^[2] He attended Kranz Intermediate at the age of 12-14. He is left-handed and fights southpaw. As a child he played baseball but took up boxing to learn self-defense. He is coached by his father.^[3] He attended South El Monte High School.

Amateur career[]

Prior to the Olympic Trials, he was the two-time reigning national champion at bantamweight that included a win over Antonio Nieves.^[4] Diaz became the first American boxer to qualify for the 2012 Olympics by becoming a quarter-finalist at the 2011 World Championships, where he defeated both 2004 Olympic silver medalist Worapoj Petchkoom of Thailand and former world championship bronze medalist Óscar Valdez of Mexico but lost to Lázaro Álvarez.^[5] Díaz was the 2011 U.S. National Champion at featherweight at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.^[6] He fought in the 2010-11 World Series of Boxing

At the 2012 Summer Olympics he beat Pavlo Ishchenko, but ran into Alvarez in his second fight and lost again.

World Series of Boxing record[]

1 Win, 1 Loss
Result	Record	Team	Opponent (Team)	Score	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	1–1	Los Angeles Matadors	Braulio Ávila (Mexico Guerreros)	0-3	2011-04-13	Los Angeles, U.S.
Win	1–0	Los Angeles Matadors	Ronny Beblik (Memphis Force)	3-0	2011-02-28	Memphis, U.S.

Professional career[]

Featherweight[]

Diaz made his professional debut in 2012 against Vincent Alfaro, winning by unanimous decision over four rounds and also scored a knockdown in the fourth. On May 9, 2015, Diaz defeated Giovanni Delgado via unanimous decision on the undercard of the Canelo Álvarez vs James Kirkland fight. He stepped up competition against veteran Rene Alvarado in a fight televised on HBO Latino in July 2015 and on December 18, Diaz Jr. defeated Hugo Partida and earned the WBC-NABF featherweight title.^[7] He went on to defend the title multiple times, before challenging Gary Russell Jr. for the WBC featherweight title on May 19, 2018 at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Diaz was unsuccessful, losing a unanimous decision to scores of 117–111, 117–111, 115–113.^[8]

Super featherweight[]

On January 30, 2020, Diaz defeated IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer by unanimous decision with scores of 115–113, 115–113, and 116–112 to claim his first world title. After the fight, Diaz praised his opponent, saying "Tevin Farmer is a hell of a fighter, guys. I thank him for giving me this opportunity."^[9]

Diaz's first defense of his IBF super featherweight title was scheduled for February 13, 2021 against Shavkat Rakhimov. However, he was stripped of the title when he missed weight, weighing 3.6 lbs over the 130 lb limit. As a result, the fight still went ahead, but Diaz was fined $100,000 for missing weight, which represented 20% of his purse. The money was split evenly between Rakhimov and the California State Athletic Commission.^[10] They fought to a majority draw, with scores of 115–113 Diaz, 114–114, 114–114.^[11]

Lightweight[]

Diaz vs. Fortuna[]

Following his draw with Shavkat Rakhimov, Diaz moved up to the lightweight division which he promised would be his best weight, where he fought Javier Fortuna for the vacant WBC interim lightweight title on July 9, 2021. Diaz was docked a point in the fourth round for hitting behind the head, but nonetheless emerged as the victor via unanimous decision, with scores of 117–110, 116–111 and 115–112.^[12]

Diaz vs. Haney[]

On October 8, 2021, it was announced that Diaz would be defending his WBC interim lightweight title against its previous owner, undefeated Ryan García, in Los Angeles on November 27.^[13] However, on October 15, Mike Coppinger of ESPN revealed that García had suffered a hand injury and that the fight would be postponed.^[14] This led to back and forth on social media between Diaz and Devin Haney, the full WBC lightweight champion, culminating in an official announcement on November 3 that Diaz would now be challenging for Haney's full world title on December 4, instead of defending his interim title against García.^[15]

Professional boxing record[]

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
35	Loss	32–2–1	Devin Haney	UD	12	Dec 4, 2021	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	For WBC lightweight title
34	Win	32–1–1	Javier Fortuna	UD	12	Jul 9, 2021	Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	Won vacant WBC interim lightweight title
33	Draw	31–1–1	Shavkat Rakhimov	MD	12	Feb 13, 2021	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
32	Win	31–1	Tevin Farmer	UD	12	Jan 30, 2020	Meridian at Island Gardens, Miami, Florida, U.S.	Won IBF super featherweight title
31	Win	30–1	Jesus Cuadro	MD	12	Sep 21, 2019	Auditorio del Estadio, Mexicali, Mexico
30	Win	29–1	Freddy Fonseca	TKO	7 (12), 2:07	May 4, 2019	T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	Won vacant WBA Gold super featherweight title
29	Win	28–1	Charles Huerta	UD	10	Feb 9, 2019	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
28	Win	27–1	Jesús Rojas	UD	12	Aug 11, 2018	The Avalon, Hollywood, California, U.S.
27	Loss	26–1	Gary Russell Jr.	UD	12	May 19, 2018	MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S.	For WBC featherweight title
26	Win	26–0	Victor Terrazas	KO	3 (10), 3:00	Feb 22, 2018	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.	Retained WBC-NABF, and WBO-NABO featherweight titles
25	Win	25–0	Rafael Rivera	UD	12	Sep 16, 2017	T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	Retained WBO-NABO featherweight title
24	Win	24–0	Manuel Ávila	UD	10	May 6, 2017	T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	Retained WBC-NABF featherweight title; Won WBO-NABO featherweight title
23	Win	23–0	Horacio García	UD	10	Dec 17, 2016	The Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.	Retained WBC-NABF featherweight title
22	Win	22–0	Andrew Cancio	TKO	9 (10), 2:27	Sep 17, 2016	AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, U.S.	Retained WBC-NABF featherweight title
21	Win	21–0	Victor Proa	KO	2 (10), 1:07	Jul 30, 2016	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.	Retained WBC-NABF featherweight title
20	Win	20–0	Jayson Vélez	UD	10	Apr 23, 2016	Oracle Arena, Oakland, California, U.S.	Retained WBC-NABF featherweight title
19	Win	19–0	Hugo Partida	TKO	2 (10), 1:32	Dec 18, 2015	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.	Won vacant WBC-NABF featherweight title
18	Win	18–0	Ruben Tamayo	UD	10	Oct 23, 2015	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
17	Win	17–0	Rene Alvarado	UD	10	Jul 11, 2015	Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
16	Win	16–0	Giovanni Delgado	UD	10	May 9, 2015	Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas, U.S.
15	Win	15–0	Juan Luis Hernandez	TKO	3 (10), 3:00	Mar 6, 2015	Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
14	Win	14–0	Jose Angel Beranza	UD	10	Dec 8, 2014	Cowboys Dance Hall, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
13	Win	13–0	Roberto Castaneda	RTD	4 (10), 3:00	Nov 13, 2014	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
12	Win	12–0	Raul Hidalgo	TKO	7 (10), 2:13	Sep 29, 2014	State Farm Arena, Hidalgo, Texas, U.S.
11	Win	11–0	Ramiro Robles	UD	10	Jul 9, 2014	Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
10	Win	10–0	Luis Maldonado	UD	6	Apr 26, 2014	StubHub Center, Carson, California, U.S.
9	Win	9–0	Joivany Fuentes	TKO	5 (8), 2:59	Mar 8, 2014	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
8	Win	8–0	Carlos Rodriguez	TKO	7 (8), 1:13	Dec 13, 2013	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S
7	Win	7–0	Noel Mendoza	KO	3 (6), 1:54	Aug 24, 2013	StubHub Center, Carson, California, U.S.
6	Win	6–0	Luis Cosme	KO	1 (6), 2:09	Jul 20, 2013	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
5	Win	5–0	Rigoberto Casillas	RTD	3 (6), 3:00	Jun 8, 2013	Home Depot Center, Carson, California, U.S.
4	Win	4–0	Eric Gotay	TKO	3 (6), 2:13	May 3, 2013	Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Alberto Cupido	UD	6	Mar 16, 2013	Grand Oasis, Cancún, Mexico
2	Win	2–0	Jose Ruiz	TKO	2 (4), 2:03	Feb 2, 2013	Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	Vicente Afaro Martinez	UD	4	Dec 15, 2012	Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

See also[]

• List of super-featherweight boxing champions
• List of Mexican boxing world champions

References[]

External links[]

• Boxing record for Joseph Diaz from BoxRec