The lightweight title action continued on Saturday night as Devin Haney successfully defended his WBC championship with a hard-fought unanimous decision over JoJo Diaz. Haney used superior boxing skills to counter the former 130-lb champion and retain his belt by scores of 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112. InTheCorner.net had it 117-111 for Haney (27-0, 15 KOs).
The plan for Diaz (32-2-1, 15 KOs) appeared to be to pressure the champion but Haney’s sharp-shooting skills made that difficult to sustain. When Diaz was able to get in on the chest of Haney and throw multiple shots, he was able to do damage, mostly with the left hand. But Haney controlled the action from the outside for long stretches of the fight and landed solid shots around the guard of Diaz. He also worked the body faithfully throughout the fight.
Diaz, needing something dramatic, wobbled Haney early in the 12th but was unable to follow it up. The deficit was too big at that point, as Haney had piled up a big points lead.
Haney’s win was the middle piece of back-to-back-to-back lightweight title action. George Kambosos Jr. dethroned Teofimo Lopez the prior weekend and Gervonta Davis won a grueling match against Isaac Cruz on Sunday night. Still to come, Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Richard Commey on Saturday, December 11th.
