By Paul Strauss: The Magic Man wasn’t exactly a fan favorite at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, IL, but as far as he was concerned, it was a lot better than this past August reception he got in Houston, TX when he suffered a controversial loss to the Baby Bull. Paulie wasn’t the only one who cried out about the decision being an outrage, so things were put into the works to get a rematch lined up.
Diaz felt he won the fight and was even willing to go into Paulie’s backyard to prove it.
However, a venue in Paulie’s territory wasn’t available, so the middle ground of Chicago came into play..
As with the first fight, no one expected there would be a stoppage in the rematch, unless it came from a cut. Also, no one really expected any knockdowns with these two relatively light punchers, but one somewhat controversial one did occur in the later rounds, but the replay showed it was more of a “cuff and pull down” than a punch that caused Diaz to touch the canvas with his gloved hand. Regardless, it thankfully didn’t prove to be a factor in the final outcome.
Basically, Paulie was just too fast and mobile for Juan Diaz. Every time Diaz would try to establish his jab with hopes of working in behind it, he would find that either Paulie wasn’t there, or he would be running into Paulie’s jab.
Occasionally, Paulie got in some right hand uppercuts as well, and he did once again open up a cut above the left eye of Diaz. That’s the same general area where he has been cut several times in the past.
Diaz didn’t look like the Diaz of old. He couldn’t (or didn’t) sustain the pressure he has been noted for in the past. There certainly were flashes when he would fire multiple punch combinations, and get that good left hook going, but he just couldn’t keep it up. The only times he was really into the fight were those times when Paulie deliberately would plant his feet and engage with him.
Of course Paulie couldn’t go without his patented mugging to the crowd and to the announcers, and at those times he usually would pay with a stepped up attack on the part of Diaz. But, thankfully for Paulie, there weren’t that many times when he did that, so Diaz couldn’t rack up that many points.
One surprisingly moment came in the fifth round when Paulie caught Diaz with a lead right hand. He actually hurt the Baby Bull, but Paulie obviously has no idea or desire on how to follow up, so Diaz was able to recover without being in any real danger. Mixed signals from trainer Ronnie Shields was another interesting aspect of the fight.
After Juan was hurt, Ronnie told him he wanted him to take the next round off……to just jab and box? That in itself was unusual because it should have been obvious Diaz was already behind by quite a big margin. He did add that they could step things up later. He also told Diaz to put the “bum’s rush” on this guy, but later again would tell him to quit rushing in?
Regardless, Diaz couldn’t get on track with his usually relentless assault, and was often left frustrated with “cocked fists” but no trigger. He might be losing some of the fire he once had because he has other plans………i.e. like law school. Good for him and best of luck. He has already provided boxing fans with some great fights, so onward and upward.
For Paulie, he is recharged and ready to get another big fight as soon as possible. He mentioned possibly fighting Marquez, Hatton, Bradley, Khan or Alexander. The division is certainly loaded, so hopefully for Paulie his loss reversal in tonight’s fight will line him up for yet another big fight. He’s got to stop the stupid mugging antics though if he wants to build any true fan base.