Both of the undefeated prospects (both 2012 Olympians @ bantamweight, representing the USA & Mexico respectively) were stretched a full 10x3 within the last couple of weeks in steps up in class; Valdez by Ruben Tamayo and Diaz by Rene Alvarado. Both took comfortable unanimous decisions but lost a couple of clear rounds each and both had moments where they looked a bit uncertain what to do in the face of persistence & pressure - or how to perform in the late going, period. Diaz Jr. is rated at junior feather and Valdez Fierro at super feather, but the former has fought @ 126lb in his last nine outings (constituting a majority of his pro experience) and the latter routinely weighs in on the low end of the 130lb limit, nearer 127ish. A meeting between them at feather in 2016 is extremely feasible, especially so in light of the recent cooperative overtures between Golden Boy (Diaz Jr.'s promoter) & Top Rank (Valdez Fierro's). I consider this a pick 'em, and have for a while, and the fact that both struggled in about equal measure in comparable steps up only solidifies this opinion. Stylistically they're equipped to put on a hell of a show...wherein someone's 0 must go!
I have always said I would favor Valdez over both Jojo and Diego and I'm still confident in my pick. The last fight for both is what they needed in order to improve imo.
I saw most of their meetings in the amateurs and Valdez seems like a bad style match up for Diego. Diego is of course improving and he was four years younger than Valdez, but I would still take Valdez. That's going to be a great fight in the future. I'll take Valdez and Diego over Jojo. One thing is for sure though, none of these guys are ever going to be ready for Loma. Maybe I'm biased, I'm basically in love with Loma's style lol.
