Rios vs Katsidis or Juan Diaz???

Thats what I'm talking about......

If Rios is the goods, he'll beat both Kats and Diaz, then up onto a much higher echelon thats much more difficult in a Marquez or Khan matchup.....

......but certainly you dont feed Rios to the Wolves at this point and match him with either Marquez or Khan.

You should know about this Kirk, Rios being matched with Marquez would be a whole lot worse than a real talent like Fernando Vargas being thrown in with a real Lion like Felix Trinidad before he should have been.

 

Let me add about Juan Diaz. He was I felt overrated by many here on ESB before he lost to Nate Campbell.
.....back then I was of the opinion that Diaz was'nt versatile enough to fight at distance and be able to beat the likes of Pacquiao and Marquez.
.....this I stated before either Pacquiao or Marquez had moved up from 130 lbs.......

Now I believe that because of Diaz' losses to Marquez and Malignaggi, Marquez just being a superior fighter that beats him boxing or slugging.......and Malignaggi just a styles clash nightmare for Diaz, a fighter that in that rematch would'nt stand still for the exchanges.

.....Now I believe Diaz is being underated by many and simply being dismissed because of those losses.

What Diaz showed prior to the Marquez fight was that he could take a less dimensionable fighter like with punching power like Freitas and Katsidis, and diffuse their power by smothering them on the inside.

Diaz is an outstanding inside fighter. One that practices angles and defense in fighting in a close box.
.....and his workrate makes him superb in his fighting style.

Diaz imo is superior to both Kats and Rios in the art of infighting.
Yes, there are nuances to be practiced for good infighters.
Both Kats and Rios have better punching power, but I could definitely see Diaz diffuse them on the inside by bobbing, weaving, and using the proper angles there as he does to get his shots off and not let them get theirs.

.......and guess what, if Diaz handles Kats and Rios on the inside, those guys cant turn it into a boxing match, Diaz is better than them at distance as well.

You guys are dismissing Diaz way to early.:bbb

 

This summer it would be a year off since his last fight and loss to Marquez for Diaz.
A year off that could do him good and come back rejuvinated and readly to be matched up with better style clashes for him.:thumbsup

 

For as much as any of these brawler types takes to improving their boxing skill, they can never match x's and o's vs a fighter thats done exactly that since they've put on boxing gloves.

I've been posting in the Pacquiao thread that talks about his boxing improvement since he was a featherweight.
Even a top tier fighter like Pacquiao cant begin to match x's and o's with an x's and o's master. That type of knowleadge just is'nt acquired and ingrained within a span of just a couple or even a few years.

So for Katsidis' improvement, that improvement may work for him against say Brandon Rios, but as we saw, it was useless to depend on that improvement against a master at it.

 

Excuse me for asking, but how old are you?

In boxing its just not about power. There are so many nuances that enter into it.......


For those of you old enough to remember Chavez vs Rosario......alot of boxing journalist thought the same that you did about Rios vs Diaz.

Let me tell you, Rosario was by far a much bigger puncher than Chavez. In fact many feel Rosario may have been the biggest punching lightweight in history.


The consensus was that Rosario moving up was too strong and powerful for Chavez.

.....it turned out that Chavez beat the snot out of Rosario in a total masterclass.
A masterclass in the art of infighting that smothered Rosario's power, and ended up sapping him of his strenghth to the point he was helpless being beaten to a bloody pulp before it was stopped.

Power is not always the key to victory. Any boxing fan thats followed the sport long enough knows this.