Joseph Diaz wants to fight again after Sept. 17, hopes for a title in 2017

Photo by Tom Hogan

Aug

Photo by: Tom Hogan/Hogan Photos

Former U.S. Olympian Joseph Diaz Jr. wants to fight again in 2016 after his Sept. 17 date with Andrew Cancio on the Canelo undercard and is hoping it’s an eliminator with a title shot in 2017.

“If I don’t (get hurt) and everything turns out well, then of course I’m looking to fight one more time to close out the year with a bang,” Diaz said on a conference call on Monday to hype his fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on HBO PPV. “Hopefully, (I can) fight (a title eliminator) or something and get a title shot by early next year. That’s the game plan.”

Diaz (21-0, 21 knockouts) was hoping a title eliminator took place on Sept. 17 against Josh Warrington (24-0, 5 KOs) for the right to challenge for the WBC featherweight title, currently held by Gary Russell Jr., but it was not to be. Diaz, who has already fought twice this year, said it was a minor letdown not to get that fight but is focused on Cancio (17-3-2, 13 KOs) in the coming weeks.

“It was very unfortunate we couldn’t get that fight to happen,” he said. “But I’m still blessed with this opportunity. I’m still on the Canelo card and I’m still on the pay-per-view portion, so I’m still happy, man. I’ve got a great opponent ahead of me that’s going to bring out the best in me. I’m willing to make a statement September 17th, no matter who the opponent is.”