Joseph Rios upsets Miguel Diaz to win WBC USNBC Flyweight title

By ESB - 09/22/2012 - Comments

By Joseph Herron – On Friday, September 21st, at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California, rugged fight veteran Joseph Rios (12-7, 4 KOs) upset previously undefeated Flyweight prospect Miguel Diaz (9-1, 4 KOs) in the main event of an entertaining five bout fight card, presented by Thompson Boxing Promotions.

Both fighters were coming into the eight round featured bout with two big respective wins on their resumes.

Diaz originally won the vacant WBC minor Flyweight title by beating formerly undefeated Mexican prospect Austreberto Juarez (10-1, 2 KOs) in March of this year, and Joseph Rios bested previously unbeaten Joel Garcia (5-1, 1 KO) on June 23rd in a gritty, six round slugfest.

To begin the contest, Rios immediately pressed the action; working the body of the Allentown, PA, resident. The San Antonio native cut off the ring effectively and threw in combination to the body and head, while Diaz attempted to float around the canvas.

Midway through the third round, Rios caught Diaz with a hard left hook that staggered the highly touted prospect. After tasting Rios’ power, the incumbent title holder elected to stay far away from the ring savvy veteran and danced his way to his first professional loss.

After recently dropping two hard fought decisions to top level opposition, Joseph Rios has now put together two very impressive wins in a row against previously undefeated and highly regarded young fighters.

With the well deserved victory, the 30 year old fight veteran also captured his first piece of Championship hardware.

Rios was excited to win his first minor world title.

“It was an unbelievable feeling to win a portion of the WBC Flyweight title,” admits the San Antonio, Texas based fighter. “At age 30, I feel like I’m just getting started. I’m having fun in boxing right now, and I feel like all of the adversity I’ve had to fight through is finally starting to pay off.”

When asked if he would be willing to give Diaz a rematch, Joseph had much to say.

“I am very thankful for Miguel Diaz and Thompson Promotions for giving me this opportunity, and I will definitely give him a rematch…but, not immediately. I’ve given a lot to the sport of boxing and I want to fight the best in the Flyweight division.”

“I would love the opportunity to challenge the winner of the upcoming bout between Viloria and Marquez. I would also love to fight Segura, Nino, or Sosa. After paying my dues and learning on the job for so many years, I feel that I can take on all of the top Flyweights at this time. I just need the opportunity to show that I can compete at the highest level against the best fighters at 112 pounds.”