Diaz vs Rakhimov: Joseph Diaz Jr badly misses weight, will be stripped of title

Joseph Diaz Jr’s junior lightweight title reign appears to be over without a single defense. as “JoJo” missed the 130-pound limit by nearly four pounds ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with mandatory challenger Shavkat Rakhimov; Keith Idec reports that he’s “not expected” to try and shed the weight, meaning he’ll be stripped of his belt.

Rakhimov (15-0, 12 KO), who came in comfortably under the limit at 129.8, can still claim the vacant title with a victory.

This marks Diaz’s second scale fail since an unsuccessful bid for Gary Russell Jr’s featherweight title in 2018. Immediately after that defeat, he challenged Jesus Rojas for the WBA “world” title, only to hit the scale half a pound heavy and leave empty-handed despite a unanimous decision win. He had no apparent issues making weight in his subsequent four super featherweight appearances, including his upset of Tevin Farmer for the belt, but he’s now choked when it mattered

WBO junior middleweight titleholder Patrick Teixeira and mandatory challenger Brian Castano, meanwhile, were on point for the co-feature.