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It’s just been announced that a fight between former lightweight champion Juan ‘Baby Bull’ Diaz and Ray Beltran has been scheduled as the HBO co-feature for the Terence Crawford vs John Molina card on Dec. 1. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum released the word to RingTV in a telephone conversation this morning.
“It’s going to be Juan Diaz against Ray Beltran. I was with Juan at the Manny-Vargas fight (on Saturday in Las Vegas) in the press room. He seems primed and ready, so I look forward to a good fight. It’s a very good co-feature.”
Diaz (42-4, 21 KOs) has seven straight wins since his last loss against Juan Manuel Marquez back in 2010. He had briefly retired after that fight but has slowly made his way back, albeit facing pretty soft opposition over the last few years.
Beltran (31-7-1, 19 KOs) is best known as the longtime cheif sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao. He’s won two straight fights by stoppage since a May 2015 fight with Takahiro Ao was declared a No Contest after Beltran tested positive for anabolic steroid stanozolol.