by James Slater – Though neither guy is what you could really call a household name, lightweights Ji Hoon Kim and Ameth Diaz headlined last night’s Friday Night Fights on ESPN, and the two 135-pounders put on a short and sweet, not to mention highly exciting scrap while doing so.
South Korea’s Kim improved to 21-5(18) as he decked Panama’s Diaz with a big right hand to the head in the closing seconds of the opening round of the fight billed as an IBF lightweight title eliminator. The shot hit 26-year-old Diaz flush and he went down hard. Though he bravely beat the count, the man known as “Cloroformo” was deemed to be in no condition to fight on by referee Robert Gonzalez and the fight was stopped at 2-minutes and 59-seconds of the round. Diaz fell to 27-10(19)..
23-year-old Kim, nicknamed “Volcano,” is making a name for himself as a very watch-able fighter, one who always comes to fight hard and score the KO. Not having much care, it seems, for the defensive side of the sport, the puncher has seen his chin tested on a number of occasions. Despite his reluctance to move his head, the South Korean – who lost three of his first five pro outings due to him very much being a work in progress at that time (2004) – has now won thirteen fights in a row, all but one of them by stoppage.
Having made his U.S debut back in August of 2008, with a 1st-round TKO win in Las Vegas, Kim is now being looked at as a potential big name of the future. Certainly, his all-action style makes him fun to watch.
Caught with a number of right hands to the head by Diaz last night, before sensationally ending the promising-looking fight with that tasty right hand of his own, Kim showed once again how he loves to have a “tear up.” At just 23, and with genuine power to go along with his reliable chin (Kim was stopped in a round by Byung Kyung Yoon in 2005, but this fight was just Kim’s fifth in the pro ranks), the warrior from Goyang City is definitely a fighter to keep an eye on. Kim’s wins over Tyrone Harris (TKO 5 last time out) and now Diaz were seen by a sizeable T.V audience and maybe the slugger will face a big name next; perhaps his next bout will be for a world title.
The lightweight division is currently full of good talent, and there are some big punchers atop the 135-pound pile; meaning if he does get as far as challenging for a world title, Kim’s propensity to go to war could lead to his downfall. However, Kim – who has now cracked the top-ten ratings of a number of the governing bodies – will be entertaining to watch whether he wins or loses against the top level guys.
As ESPN commentator Joe Tessitore suggested while calling the fight last night; Kim is a great “T.V fighter.”