The search for the next opponent for Terence Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs) for his next fight has narrowed down to the former decorated Olympian from the Caribbean country of the Dominican Republic. To challenge Crawford for his WBC, WBO, The Ring, and lineal light welterweight titles is the 33-year-old Felix Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs) who won a gold medal for his country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The fight is to be held on May 20 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Terence Crawford became a world champion (WBO) for the first time, at lightweight, at the expense of Ricky Burns in 2013. A calculating fighter who has the uncanny ability to switch from southpaw to orthodox and vice versa augmented with crashing hand power, the native of Omaha, Nebraska repelled all of his previous foes with great ease. Included in his list of victims are Yuriorkis Gamboa, a former unified featherweight champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist for his native Cuba; Victor Postol, former WBC super lightweight title holder; and John Molina, Jr. Today, Terence Crawford, 29, is generally regarded as the next big thing in US boxing after the retirement of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in 2015. Advertisement
In contrast to Terence Crawford, Felix Diaz, a southpaw and speedy brawler, is lacking in marquee names of opponents in his resume but he did demonstrate he can compete against world class fighters like former world champion Lamont Peterson. Diaz lost to Peterson on debated unanimous decision but he would bounced back from Peterson defeat by handily defeating Sammy Vasquez. Vasquez wan undefeated then.
Regardless, it looks like May 20 is going to be most difficult night for the Dominican. Diaz His brawling and aggressive style of fighting that lacks the reinforcement of power punches is really a recipe for disaster going up against a very crafty, calculating and bomb-throwing Crawford. Diaz has nothing to lose in this fight, though, that even in defeat – albeit in a competitive fight – his face value in the boxing market is going to rise significantly.
