Nick Diaz vs Jeff Lacy Off the Table: Georges St-Pierre Fight Almost Done for Diaz
by Scott Christ on May 23, 2011 2:59 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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Nick Diaz won't be venturing into professional boxing against Jeff Lacy, as the Strikeforce welterweight (170 lbs) champion plans to focus on his mixed martial arts career.
On Saturday, it was reported that Diaz is very close to official as the next opponent for UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, whicn many felt was what the MMA star was really chasing by "exploring" the option to fight the washed-up Lacy in a boxing ring.
Today, Diaz's team sent out a press release saying that the 28-year-old won't be boxing any time soon. Veteran promoter Don Chargin expressed disappointment, but excitement for Diaz's MMA career:
"Nick is a good kid and a very exciting fighter. Right now he has an opportunity of a lifetime as it pertains to his MMA career. While I don't doubt that Nick and his team were serious about taking the big step into boxing, it only makes sense for him to finish what he started and see how far he can go in MMA before he does anything in boxing. It's all about timing... we began these discussions over two years ago and nobody would have imagined the type of demand that there currently is for Nick as a mixed martial artist."
... "I've had a long promotional career filled with numerous big events dating back the 1960s. Taking Nick Diaz into boxing would have undoubtedly been a big one but this is Nick's career and his legacy as a MMA fighter needs to be solidified now. I wish him all the luck going forward and know that Zuffa will have itself one very exciting fighter for many years to come."
Here's what Diaz's manager Cesar Gracie added:
"Nick's been working really hard to get to this point in his MMA career and it wouldn't make sense for us to make that transition into boxing right now. If this were a couple months ago or if certain fights had played out differently, we'd definitely be ready to go into boxing, but that's not how it played out. Don Chargin is a great boxing promoter and he understood our dilemma completely and I thank him for that."
This was all fairly predictable. Lacy is a non-factor in boxing and without TV for the bout, he and Diaz would have had to go to independent PPV, which likely would have bombed and given its promoters quite a bath to take overall. It's probably unlikely that Diaz ever was seriously hoping to enter boxing, but I think he'd definitely have done it had he not gotten a fight with St-Pierre, which is really big money and a huge fight for him. But the hope all along was surely that Diaz could use this as leverage to land the St-Pierre fight, which makes sense for him, for St-Pierre, and for UFC's business.
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Dissappointed
Was looking forward to this. Diaz has some of the best boxing in MMA, and it would of been interesting to see how his style translated over into boxing… he’s quite unorthodox with his punching; punches n’ bunches, too.
As to GSP-Diaz: GSP wins hands down. Diaz has the tools to make it exciting, but that’s it. GSP will take him down at will and punish him for 5 rounds, or stop him on cuts.
And I’m a Diaz fan btw, just being realistic.
I don't think it will be that easy
GSP will take him down cuz that’s what he does, he fights “safe”. But I think Diaz has the best tools to fight off his back. Nick Diaz isn’t like Jake Shields or Dan Hardy, Diaz is a NATURAL BORN FIGHTER. You can say Hardy is natural fighter but he never bothered to learn how to effectively defend himself against wrestlers. I believe Diaz will get taken down but never stop fighting off his back, using a combination of strikes & submission attempts to keep GSP from just holding him down for 5 rounds.
If this fight is exciting it’s because Diaz made it exciting cuz I’m sure GSP will just try to make it a boring wrestling match, he doesn’t have the balls to stand with Nick even tho SUPPOSEDLY GSP is one of the best stand up fighters in MMA. That’s why I’m not a GSP fan, if you have the skills to finish a fight then use them. Some people call it fighting safe, I call it fighting scared. I would totally understand if GSP didn’t have the stand-up skills, then & only then would it make sense for him to not stand with Diaz.
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by Benny Blanco from the BriX on May 23, 2011 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Benny
Yeah, Diaz will make it exciting, but that’s it. GSP will stand with him for the first min. or so of every round then mix up his strikes into TD’s and it will be like that on repeat for 5 rds. I could actually see GSP getting a doctors stoppage win, via elbows, remember; Nick cuts easy.
Diaz has a chance, but a punchers chance only. I like both guys tbh, maybe Diaz more-so. But when’s the last time Nick even fought a decent wrestler? And GSP is arguably the best wrestler in MMA right now.
by Prize-fighter on May 23, 2011 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions
While I agree with this, I could also ask when’s the last time GSP fought a guy who was a threat on the feet and on the ground. I mean, maybe Koscheck, but certainly only from top position. Diaz has a nasty guard.
All that said, if this fight happens I expect GSP to win. I expect Diaz to make GSP fight his ass off though, and that will be nice to see. And now that I think about it, I expected Gomi to plaster Diaz way back when. I was wrong then, and I hope I’m wrong now.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
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