Martin Gethin vs. Ammeth Diaz

Main eventing tomorrow on BoxNation, card running from 8pm-midnight UK time (3pm-7pm EST).

On the line is a chance to dethrone Miguel Vazquez.

 

Gethin, not outside the UK.

Ammeth "Cloroformo" Diaz (whose given name I swear used to be spelled "Ameth" :huh) is a respectable veteran of the world scene, a longtime contender with power in both hands but the all too frequent puncher's curse of a flimsy mandible. He is a former challenger, actually, so for him it would be a somewhat unappealing rematch as he lost a shutout in Vazquez's 3rd defense last January.

Fans outside his native Panama would know him mostly for the UD loss to Vazquez, a previous UD loss to prime Joan Guzman in 2008, and for the improbable turn of events that led to his title shot with Vazquez (he was KTFO in 1 by Ji Hoon Kim in an eliminator on ESPN2 FNF; then after Kim fought Vazquez for the IBF title and lost he was himself KTFO in 1 by Lenny Zappavigna...and Diaz, having worked his way back up the rankings in the meantime, then brutalized Zappavigna in another eliminator to once more completely unravel A>B>C logic)

 

Well, it's kind of like when Tony Thompson got decisively put away by Wladimir Klitschko, but then earned his way back into a rematch by sweeping aside the refuse ahead of him on the IBF conveyor belt.

The only people higher ranked than Diaz in the IBF are:

Darley Perez (about to get in with Gamboa next week)
Raymundo Beltran (over whom Diaz has a h2h victory)
Marvin Quintero (inactive and coming directly off his loss to Vazquez last October)

So if he keeps beating who he is supposed to and claws his way up through eliminators, you can't really be salty with him for getting the rewards even though as fans it might not be ideal as we've already seen a rather uneventful 12 rounds of it.

That said, despite the shutout, and despite Vazquez's excellent defense, Ammeth Diaz is ALWAYS in there with a big puncher's chance. The same can't be said of Gethin, who's done nothing past domestic level and even there has only racked up 11 stoppages in 28 days out - and some of those were quick "British" ref stoppages.

 

Sadly, this is the ONLY significant boxing event of the weekend other than a clash of erstwhile flyweight champs (Hernan "Tyson" Marquez vs. Carlos "Remember when I beat Viloria? " Tamara in Mexico on Saturday night)


:verysad

 

I'm all for unification, but Ricky Burns has other business to sort out (Jose Gonzalez deserves a rematch) and in the meantime I hate to see guys jump through organization's hoops and earn shots only to be left hanging. If Vazquez's plans involve anything other than Burner, Abril, or Broner as his next opponent to unify - he needs to honor the mandatory commitment against Diaz or Gethin, whichever.

I'm more interested in fairness than "big fights" for their own sake (although obviously unification is a boon for the division & sport on the whole so it always takes precedence)

 

Does Hearns want that unification bout specifically?

As formidable as Broner is (and likely unwilling to fly), that leaves two spoilers nobody looks good against: Miguel Vazquez with the IBF and Richar Abril with the WBA.

Pick your poison, but they're not impossible to separate.

Vazquez is better than Abril. Worse risk for reward ratio.

I can easily see Burns getting a (maybe unpopular) decision over Abril, especially at home. Vazquez would be very difficult.

 

I've been hearing rumblings about it for a long time now, but suspect it to just be lip service. There's dosh to be made keeping Ricky in Glasgow importing foil after foil culled from the WBO top 10.