Joseph Diaz
Joseph "JoJo" Pedroza Diaz Jr. (born November 23, 1992) is an American professional boxer. He has held the IBF super featherweight title since January 2020 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]
Joseph Diaz | |
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Statistics | |
Real name | Joseph Pedroza Diaz Jr. |
Nickname(s) | JoJo |
Weight(s) | |
Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
Reach | 64 in (163 cm) |
Nationality | American |
Born | South El Monte, California, U.S. | November 23, 1992
Stance | Southpaw |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 32 |
Wins | 31 |
Wins by KO | 15 |
Losses | 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
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 February 2, 2013, Diaz would go on to fight Jose Ruiz of Puerto Rico and win by technical knockout (TKO).
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 has since successfully defended his title twice against Jayson Velez and Victor Proa.
Professional boxing record
32 fights | 31 wins | 1 loss |
By knockout | 15 | 0 |
By decision | 16 | 1 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
33 | N/A | N/A | Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov | N/A | – (12) | Feb 13, 2021 | Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S. | Defending IBF super featherweight title |
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. |
References
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120515233338/http://www.nbcolympics.com/team-usa/meet-the-team/news%3Dboxing-u-s-men.html. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2012. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - Corrales, Danny (2016-03-24). "No Hablo Espanol with Boxer Joseph 'Jo Jo' Diaz". ESPN. Espn.com. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
- Kevin Baxter (2012-05-07). "Boxer Joseph Diaz Jr.'s biggest motivation is helping his family - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
- "Joseph Diaz Jr. - Top Amateur Focuses on London - Boxing News". Boxingscene.com. 2011-07-30. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
- "Diaz Becomes First American to Qualify for London - Boxing News". Boxingscene.com. 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
- "California Leaves Its Mark on The Olympic Trials - Boxing News". Boxingscene.com. 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
- "Joseph Diaz Jr. Faces Hugo Partida For NABF Title - Boxing News". Boxingscene.com. 2015-11-24. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
External links
Sporting positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Regional boxing titles | ||||
Vacant Title last held by Marvin Sonsona |
WBC-NABF featherweight champion December 18, 2015 – April 2018 |
Vacant Title next held by Manny Robles III | ||
Vacant Title last held by Miguel Marriaga |
WBO-NABO featherweight champion May 6, 2017 – April 2018 |
Vacant Title next held by Joet Gonzalez | ||
Minor world boxing titles | ||||
Inaugural champion | WBA Gold super featherweight champion May 4, 2019 – December 2019 |
Vacant Title next held by Mark Urbanov | ||
Major world boxing titles | ||||
Preceded by Tevin Farmer |
IBF super featherweight champion January 30, 2020 – present |
Incumbent |