In a tightly contested contest, hometown hero Juan Diaz took a questionably wide unanimous decision victory (116-112, 115-113, and 118-110) from Pauli Malignaggi in Houston, Texas’ Toyota Center.
The bout was hard fought between both men, with Diaz (35-2) pushing the action, but not landing many punches, and Malignaggi (26-4) controlling the tempo from the outside with a steady jab and solid right hand.
Diaz has to overcome early cuts over his left eye created by a butt and blow.
The fight was close and either man could of won a close decision, but scores of judge David Sutherland 116-112 and Gale Van Hoy 118-110 are clearly ridiculous. This scribe had the fight a draw, six rounds per fighter.
Following the fight, Malignaggi stated, “boxing is full of s*it,” clearly upset by the decision
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On the undercard middleweight prospect Daniel Jacobs took a unanimous decision over Ishe Smith and lightweight Robert Guerrero scored a unanimous decision over Malcom Klassen.
