Nate Campbell was unreal. Juan Diaz should not be underrated because of this.

I haven't read the Diaz-Campbell threads yet about the fight tonight, but I'm sure people will be underrating Juan Diaz in the future. They shouldn't. Nate Campbell would have beaten anyone 135 and under tonight.

Holy **** is all I can say. How did Campbell do that? I just watched the HBO card a few hours ago (tivo) and after the first few rounds I thought Campbell would be out of there before 10. But the opposite happened, he got stronger as the fight went on and kept on going like he was 25 years old. At 36, he somehow got enough energy to fight a young man's fight against the best fighter in the division and win. I knew that he gets up for big fights, but I never expected him to throw 1,200 punches while taking a lot of shots and staying extremely focused on his gameplan throughout the fight without breaking down mentally. I guess this really was his dream fight and he got extremely motivated for it to the point where tonight he was an A level fighter and age somehow didn't matter. Damn, after all he's been through.. all those ups and downs, to put on this performance is an amazing accomplishment and something to really admire.

Anyways, on to the second point. Diaz should not be underrated after this. Campbell without question would have stopped Julio Diaz, David Diaz, Casamayor, Katsidis, and Pacquiao in the form he showed up with tonight. Juan Diaz would do the same. Pac nuthuggers are probably going to be laughing at Juan after tonight, saying how there's no point of Pac even facing him because he lost to Campbell and would be destroyed.. but the reality is, Juan is still the best LW (after Campbell) and Pac would still have very little chance against him. Hopefully JMM will own Pac like he should next week and we can forget about Pacmania.. but that's another subject.

I would still say that Juan Diaz beats any LW in the world, even Campbell in a rematch. Campbell, at 36, peaked in this fight mentally and trained incredibly hard for this single match. He will never come in as great as he did tonight or be as motivated to win again. The cut affected Diaz in a big way and the chances of an eye closing like that again aren't very good. But I don't want to take anything away from Campbell though, he was the better man tonight, cut or no cut. The main point is, he clearly prepared for this like it was the fight of his life and I don't think he is capable of getting up for a rematch against Diaz like this again. A lot more people are going to be saying that Pac beats Diaz now, but they will be wrong. A lot of people will be saying that Diaz was exposed or very overrated now, but they'll also be wrong. Diaz is a solid A-/B+(if you're a very strict rater) level pressure fighter who will still give anybody huge problems based on his workrate/stamina, overall solid skills/abilities, iron chin, and great heart. This is not a situation where a fighter was exposed, this is a situation where an old fighter out of nowhere amazingly showed up in elite form and beat the #1 guy in the division.

 

I rate Pac exactly the way he should be rated and I respect/like him greatly. If he beats JMM like all the Pacmaniacs are saying, then I will give him the props he deserves, but still rate him where he should be rated. He would still definitely lose to Guzman and have very little chance against Diaz. A JMM win would do great things for his legacy though and would make me think higher of him as a fighter at 130.

I can't wait until next saturday. The last few weeks have been hard to watch.. old fighters I'm a fan of such as Castillo, Rafael Marquez, and especially now Maskaev have lost. But I'm very confident in JMM, even at 34 years old.. if he wins there are no words to explain how happy I will be. I'm sure you're excited for this match too. It should be great. Don't hide when Pac loses.

 

Wow, and I thought PacDBest was dellusional.. those people should get banned.