Bob Arum and his Top Rank Promotions are in New York City this Saturday for a big night of boxing at Madison Square Garden that sees the features air on HBO. The bottom line is that it is very difficult to pick against Terence Crawford in this one. The all-world Crawford is 30-0 as a pro, and he has now held world titles in two different weight classes. His win in mid-2016 over then undefeated Viktor Postol gave him the WBO and WBC world titles at 140 pounds and sent him shooting up the world pound-for-pound rankings. He is the top-ranked P4P fighter on some lists and normally in the Top 3, so Arum and Top Rank are presenting a special fighter Saturday night at MSG.
But do not tell any of that to Felix Diaz, who is 19-1 as a professional. At 33 years old and out of the Dominican Republic, he has been boxing since his youth. A short, stocky southpaw, Diaz won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and his lone loss as a pro came via a majority decision against crafty veteran Lamont Peterson back in October of 2015. He went 2-0 in 2016, including a controversial win over then undefeated prospect Sammy Vasquez back in July that aired on FOX Sports 1 in support of Deontay Wilder’s title defense against Chris Arreola. He has seen big fights, and he has boxed for this moment, and that is to become a world champion.
Diaz appears neither intimidated nor impressed with the hype behind Crawford. Diaz is looking to prove he is elite as well in this fight, and it may just be that the sportsbooks are selling him short. The problem for Diaz may be a lack of power in that he has just nine knockouts in his pro career, and if he cannot stop Crawford, then the likely result will be Crawford stopping him or out-boxing him. Crawford is so good that Top Rank has struggled to get him credible opposition, and his biggest challenges may come at welterweight.
The co-feature will see hard-luck lightweight Raymundo Beltran (32-7-1) looking for his fourth win in a row as he attempts to work his way back into the title picture. Providing the opposition is Peru’s Johnathan Maicelo (25-2). For Maicelo, he is also trying to build back up to a world title shot after taking a January of 2015 loss to Darlys Perez with the interim WBA belt on the line. Beltran is 0-1-1 in world title shots, with a third fight for a world belt going to a No-Contest so both men are hoping a win here will catapult them back into world title contention.
Madison Square Garden – New York City, New York – HBO
Super Lightweight – 12 rounds
Felix Diaz +1400
Terence Crawford -2500
Lightweight – 12 rounds
Jonathan Maicelo +250
Raymundo Beltran -350
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