Sunday, June 21, 2009

Juan Diaz Will Not Be on Mayweather vs. Marquez

BoxingScene.com was advised that former lightweight champion Juan Diaz will not appear on the July 18 undercard to Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. From what I was told, the opportunity was first present several weeks ago to Diaz by Golden Boy Promotions, and he accepted. Then for whatever reason, Mayweather Promotions did not approve Diaz for the card. After some time had passed, something changed and Diaz was once again approached to appear on the Mayweather-Marquez card against Rolando Reyes. By this time Diaz's camp declined, feeling that his time to prepare for the date was not adequate and they didn't want to rush his camp.

Diaz, as far as he knows right now, is going to appear on August 22 on HBO. The location and the opponent is up in the air. From what I was told, HBO will approve Rolando Reyes for the Mayweather-Marquez undercard but not for the televised card in August. There is also some talk of moving the August show from Houston, Texas to a venue in California, where Robert Guerrero [also slated for the card] would be a bigger draw and the likely headliner. David Diaz was another opponent in the mix to fight Juan. Top Rank [who have David Diaz] plans to put on a show for the same date and they don't want their fighter to go against their card.

Paulie Malignaggi was an opponent who was mentioned early on. At the time he was more interested in fighting Mike Alvarado. That fight fell apart. Now Malignaggi would like to fight Diaz. HBO wants a triple-header for that date but I heard the network is not offering a lot of money to make the card competitive. There have been reports that Michael Katsidis will also see action on the card, but strong sources in Australia tell me that Katsidis will NOT appear on the show.

Source: boxingscene.com