Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, United States
In a fast paced light welterweight bout, home town fighter Juan Diaz 35-2(17) got the benefit of a close decision before a sold out home town crowd as he won a unanimous decision over Paulie Malignaggi 26-3(5). Paulie Malignaggi used ring general ship and a fast jab to control much of the twelve round bout, but the home town judges must have felt Juan Diaz' aggression and punching was the deciding factor and scored the fight in favor of the "Baby Bull" by the scores of 115-113, 116-112 and an unbelievable score of 118-110 by judge Gale Van Hoy. After the bout Malignaggi expressed his disappointment with the scoring. For Diaz it is his first fight back after being stopped by Juan M. Marquez in February and is his second win in his last four bouts.
In an entertaining undercard bout, two time IBF featherweight champion Robert Guerrero 25-1-1(17) won the IBF super featherweight title with a unanimous decision over South African and defending champion Malcolm Klassen 24-5-2(14). Guerrero used side to side movement and a high volume of punches to control the bout and bring home the title by the scores of 116-113, 116-112 & 117-111. Klassen applied pressure, especially in the middle rounds but Guerrero finshed the twelve rounder the stronger fighter. With the win Guerrero now has his third world title in two weight classes.
After the fight Guerrero gave praise to the Mosley team for helping him prepare while training at the Big Bear camp in California.
In the opening bout of the show which was televised by HBO, prospect Daniel Jacobs passed a test by outfighting the experianced Ishe Smith 21-4(9) over ten rounds in a middle bout. Smith had some moments and even got Jacob's attention with a few good punches but Jacobs kept his composure and stayed in control. The final scores were 100-89, and twice by 100-89 and 96-93 twice. Jacobs improved his record to 18-0(15) with the win.
By MITCHELL DEFER
