- 5/27/2025
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00:30It's time for the bound you've all been waiting for.
00:00:34There's a crowd going wild.
00:00:38He is in trouble.
00:00:39Look at his legs.
00:00:41Oh, they're all going at it.
00:00:43Lays it.
00:00:44Laying it on.
00:00:45Pouring it on.
00:00:46Down goes Bruno.
00:00:47Into the rope.
00:00:48The weight by 15 hertz is down.
00:00:50Oh, down goes Chavez for the first time in his career.
00:00:53A shot for the remainder of Holyfield.
00:00:55Castillo's in trouble.
00:01:01What a fight!
00:01:05It's showtime!
00:01:08The Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, England,
00:01:10is the site for this Showtime Boxing Special Edition.
00:01:13Amir Khan versus Julio Diaz in a 12-round welterweight bout.
00:01:17We take a look at how these two former champions
00:01:20match up here tonight.
00:01:21Khan fighting at over 140 for the first time in his career,
00:01:24looking for another title shot
00:01:26as he clashes with the former two-time lightweight champion.
00:01:30Ladies and gentlemen,
00:01:32Manny Brevin for Golden Boy
00:01:34and Asif Vali for Khan Promotions.
00:01:38Sponsored by J.D., Tasha, and Maxi Muscle.
00:01:42Live and exclusive on BoxNation,
00:01:46Britain's dedicated boxing channel,
00:01:49and in the USA on Showtime.
00:01:53Proud to present this, the main event
00:01:58of the evening!
00:02:02Twelve three-minute rounds of an international welterweight contest.
00:02:07The officials have been appointed by the
00:02:09British Boxing Board of Control,
00:02:11student charge, Charles Giles.
00:02:13Matchmakers Robert Diaz and Jason McLaurin.
00:02:17Timekeeper at the belt, Colin Roberts from Halifax.
00:02:20The three scoring judges at ringside are
00:02:24Finn Edwards from Breston, Steve Gray from Fleetwood,
00:02:27and Terry O'Connor from Birmingham.
00:02:30Finally, when the action commences,
00:02:32the star referee in charge of the action,
00:02:35the incomparable Marcus McDonnell from Twickenham, England.
00:02:40And so, people of Sheffield, England,
00:02:44from the Mounted Point Arena,
00:02:47this is the Return of the King!
00:03:02Introducing to you firstly, boxing out of the blue corner,
00:03:06wearing the blue shirt trimmed with white and red.
00:03:10At the weigh-in yesterday, he scaled
00:03:1210, 7, 2 pounds, 3 ounces, or 142,
00:03:17excuse me, 142.3 pounds.
00:03:20From 48 contests, he has 40 wins.
00:03:2329 of those wins coming by way of knockouts,
00:03:267 defeats, and 1 draw.
00:03:29Presenting the former two-time IBF
00:03:33lightweight champion of the world,
00:03:36from Coachella, California, USA,
00:03:39via his homeland of Mexico,
00:03:42Julio the King Diaz!
00:03:49And opposing him, boxing out of the red corner,
00:03:52wearing the orange-coloured shorts trimmed with black and green.
00:03:56At the weigh-in yesterday, he scaled 10, 7, 2 pounds, 2 ounces,
00:03:59or 142.2 pounds.
00:04:02His excellent ring record beats 30 contests,
00:04:0627 wins,
00:04:0819 of those wins coming by way of knockouts,
00:04:12with only 3 defeats.
00:04:14Presenting the former WBA, Super, and IBM
00:04:20lightweight champion of the world,
00:04:24presenting from Balsam, England,
00:04:29Amir King Khan!
00:04:37Mr. McDonald with his final instructions,
00:04:4012 three-minute rounds.
00:04:42Guys, it's finally time to address you.
00:04:44You know what I expect.
00:04:45I'm a professor at all times.
00:04:46I'm Baylor's president.
00:04:47What's your age?
00:04:48Any questions?
00:04:49Let's go to work.
00:04:52Referee Marcus McDonald with the final instructions.
00:04:55We are set for 12 rounds or less.
00:04:58The return of the King, as they say,
00:05:00to the UK Amir Khan,
00:05:02looking to continue his winning ways
00:05:04under new trainer Virgil Hunter.
00:05:06He is in the orange with black and green.
00:05:09He will face Julio Diaz,
00:05:11the former lightweight champion out of Coachella, California,
00:05:14the site of the music festival last weekend.
00:05:16He hopes to hit all the right notes in the upset
00:05:19in the making here tonight
00:05:20if he's successful wearing the blue with red and white.
00:05:24Khan, a typically fast starter,
00:05:26so let's see how he gets off this fight here in his hometown.
00:05:30Great crowd on hand in Sheffield, England,
00:05:33and we are underway with round one.
00:05:35Or home country, should I say.
00:05:38You know, Diaz switches a lot,
00:05:41so we may see him go from righty to lefty
00:05:43during the course of this fight,
00:05:45though he always starts out as a righty.
00:05:57You know, a little bit of a patient approach again.
00:05:59We saw a little bit of it in Khan's last fight
00:06:01against Molina.
00:06:03It seems like the Virgil Hunter approach,
00:06:05set up everything off the jab,
00:06:06don't just jump right into combinations,
00:06:08and I think it's intelligent.
00:06:09You know, Khan's chin is a little shaky,
00:06:11so he has a great jab.
00:06:12Why not start measuring your opponent first with a jab
00:06:14before starting to put those blistering combinations?
00:06:16You keep yourself out of harm's way that way.
00:06:18In San Antonio, Texas, last weekend,
00:06:20had a chance to talk to Diaz's trainer
00:06:22and his brother Joel Diaz,
00:06:23who told me that he was hoping that Diaz
00:06:26would get to check Khan's chin early,
00:06:29feeling that that would be a key in this fight.
00:06:32Khan started boxing when he was 8 years of age,
00:06:35went 101 in 8 as an amateur,
00:06:37and at 17 was a silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics,
00:06:41the youngest British boxer ever to win a medal.
00:06:44He's certainly a very talented fighter,
00:06:46a talented athlete.
00:06:47It's just a matter of keeping the right game plan for him,
00:06:50and I think he's been his own worst enemy.
00:06:52We see already the hand speed of Amir Khan.
00:06:54He's thrown some very good combinations.
00:06:56Diaz touched some of the right,
00:06:57but he hasn't been able to get anything off yet.
00:06:59Midway through the opening round,
00:07:02Khan working under Virgil Hunter,
00:07:04wanting to establish the jab more, as we saw there,
00:07:06the triple jab, and really be more patient.
00:07:09You know, and Julio Diaz is gonna have to start
00:07:11finding some kind of counter for that jab
00:07:13or some kind of decoy or something.
00:07:15You know, it's either your turn, my turn.
00:07:17This is what I call this right now.
00:07:18There's no countering.
00:07:19It's either Khan goes or Julio goes.
00:07:21And right now, Khan is going first many more times.
00:07:25Final 60 seconds of the opening round.
00:07:28A methodical start here in front of a raucous crowd
00:07:31in Sheffield, England.
00:07:33Khan able to get the jab through the guard of Diaz
00:07:36along the ropes.
00:07:37And again, notice him cutting the ring off there on Diaz.
00:07:39You know, it's the little subtle things
00:07:40Khan is starting to pick up.
00:07:41You know, you don't usually think of Khan
00:07:42as a pressure fighter, but there on the ropes,
00:07:44Diaz tried to get away.
00:07:46Amir cut him off.
00:07:47And Al really finding a home for that jab early in this fight.
00:07:51It's a staple of his attack.
00:07:54And Paulie made the point to use that jab,
00:07:56but not always follow it in with the right hand
00:07:58that may make you lunge.
00:08:01Final 30 seconds of the opening round.
00:08:03Overhand right delivered by Khan.
00:08:05And again, being in the United Kingdom,
00:08:07any kind of shot that Khan throws,
00:08:10the crowd will react favorably.
00:08:12And we'll have to wait and see if that impacts the judges.
00:08:18Final 10 seconds of the opening round
00:08:21between Amir King Khan and Julio Kid Diaz
00:08:24at a catch weight of 143 pounds.
00:08:41Hey, folks.
00:08:42There you go, Carlos.
00:08:44If you're having a problem with the speed already,
00:08:47keep it like that.
00:08:49Keep it like that.
00:08:51Don't pick it up in a while.
00:08:52You just keep beating him up.
00:08:54Now, he's already looking for one punch.
00:08:57Keep your left hands up.
00:08:58Keep your hands up.
00:08:59And stay focused, okay?
00:09:01Keep working in the same way.
00:09:03The fighter naturally comes to you, okay?
00:09:06Beautiful job.
00:09:08The hand speed of Khan,
00:09:10we talked about it in round one,
00:09:11combination punching, not everything landing perfectly,
00:09:14but he's keeping Julio Diaz busy
00:09:16and not allowing Diaz to get any offense going.
00:09:24I thought there were some great instructions
00:09:26by Virgil Hunter there.
00:09:27Keep being patient,
00:09:28and the fight will naturally come to you.
00:09:30Don't lose your patience.
00:09:31You're winning. You're doing good,
00:09:33is basically what he's trying to say.
00:09:35You don't need to look for something that's not there.
00:09:38Julio Diaz will naturally become frustrated
00:09:40with the attack behind your jab.
00:09:42And he said Diaz is already looking for one shot.
00:09:44Pretty much, that's what he did in round one.
00:09:46Let's see if it was just the kind of round
00:09:47where he's just looking to test out Khan,
00:09:49or if he...
00:09:50That talk connects by Khan,
00:09:51and, of course, listening to the sage advice
00:09:54of reigning trainer of the year Virgil Hunter,
00:09:56we talked about Khan's illustrious amateur background.
00:09:58Julio Diaz started boxing at the age of 6,
00:10:01had over 100 amateur fights.
00:10:05Diaz needs to get something started here in round 2.
00:10:08It's gonna give him something to think about.
00:10:11Both these men have tasted the canvas.
00:10:13Khan's been down 8 times in his career,
00:10:15and Diaz down 9 times,
00:10:17so both have the tendency to go down, but...
00:10:22No strangers to the canvas, huh?
00:10:24Yeah.
00:10:25The last time Khan went down
00:10:26was against Danny Garcia,
00:10:27losing his junior welterweight title
00:10:29and forcing him to make some changes in his camp.
00:10:32Firing Freddie Roach, bringing on Virgil Hunter,
00:10:34was really worked on making him more patient,
00:10:37better defensive fighter,
00:10:38and, again, working behind that jab,
00:10:40as we've seen early in this contest.
00:10:46As Diaz along the ropes, Diaz moving laterally.
00:10:49The one punch that Diaz has been able to get...
00:10:51Left hook to the body
00:10:52and a right hand to the top of the head.
00:10:54The one punch that Diaz has been able to get in
00:10:57is the overhand right from time to time.
00:11:03And it's a shot that can at least make Amir
00:11:06think about throwing his jab,
00:11:07as opposed to just doing it naturally,
00:11:09but it needs... Oh!
00:11:10Lead left hook connects by Diaz.
00:11:12Does that look familiar?
00:11:13Somebody's landed that a couple times against Khan.
00:11:26Paulie talked about the tit-for-tat,
00:11:28nobody countering.
00:11:29That's changed in this round,
00:11:30where now they are punching with each other.
00:11:32Final minute of the second stanza.
00:11:35Diaz wanting to clinch, close the gap.
00:11:38Khan content to keep the fight at distance,
00:11:41work behind the jab.
00:11:42He's been successful.
00:11:44There's the jab, double, triple jab.
00:11:47But doesn't follow with the right hand.
00:11:49There's a lead left hook to the body
00:11:51and a right hand to the body by Khan.
00:11:53Sneaky shots.
00:11:54Amir, an underrated body puncher.
00:11:57Diaz comes back with a right to the midsection.
00:12:0030 seconds left in the frame.
00:12:05Oh, there's the right hand again.
00:12:08By Julio Diaz.
00:12:09He's found a home for that punch,
00:12:11and, you know,
00:12:12Khan doesn't get hit with that as much as he does the hook,
00:12:15but he has found an answer there for himself,
00:12:18even if he's not landing it enough to win rounds.
00:12:21Well, Khan is utilizing the jab, Paulie,
00:12:23as we head into the final few seconds.
00:12:25When we get to the third round,
00:12:26I want to ask you about the follow-up.
00:12:28The jab's been there,
00:12:29but not much in terms of the follow-up
00:12:31as we go to the next round.
00:12:36♪
00:12:41In the last round,
00:12:42Khan using the left hook,
00:12:45a double left hook, in fact,
00:12:47against Diaz,
00:12:49and you see, though, Amir Khan,
00:12:52look at how he did not jump in.
00:12:54He is now programmed by Virgil Hunter
00:12:57not to jump in after he lands big power punches.
00:13:00The Diaz overhand right,
00:13:01that is a punch that, as we said in the first couple rounds,
00:13:04has made a difference for him.
00:13:06That's Joel Diaz in the corner with his brother.
00:13:19Joel Diaz calling for the uppercut,
00:13:21and Paulie going on what Al Bernstein even had to say,
00:13:24being patient, not jumping in,
00:13:25but when he's been effective with the jab,
00:13:27would you like to see the follow-up with the right hand?
00:13:29Well, I think it'll come as the fight progresses.
00:13:31I think right now he's sort of marinating Julio Diaz
00:13:33and seeing what kind of reaction he gets.
00:13:35You see, things like that,
00:13:36he's gonna start to catch on to the fact
00:13:38that Julio's trying to throw a right hand
00:13:39over the top of the jab,
00:13:40and these are things you start to catch on to
00:13:42when you're patient.
00:13:43You know, you start to see what the other guy's
00:13:44trying to do to you as well.
00:13:45You know, the problem I had in the Danny Garcia fight
00:13:47is he didn't catch on to the fact
00:13:48that Danny was punching with him.
00:13:49By being a jabber in the beginning of the fight,
00:13:51he can kind of take away what Julio does as well.
00:13:55In the total, we see that Amir Khan's
00:13:57so much busier than Diaz.
00:13:59They're landing at a similar percentage,
00:14:01but Khan throwing so many more
00:14:03that clearly he's controlled these first two rounds
00:14:06as we continue to update it live.
00:14:11It's the 3-to-1 ratio in favor of Khan.
00:14:14And Khan has averaged 35 jabs per round,
00:14:17so that's pretty good.
00:14:20One minute gone here in the third round.
00:14:29We haven't seen Diaz switch to lefty yet.
00:14:31That may not be part of his game plan tonight.
00:14:33We'll see.
00:14:34Block that left hook by Khan.
00:14:36Khan circling in the center of the ring.
00:14:38Unleashes a three-punch combination.
00:14:40I'd like to see Diaz switch to lefty,
00:14:42but I don't think that's going to happen.
00:14:44I think he's going to be able to
00:14:47I'd like to see, you know,
00:14:49he's speaking of combination punching.
00:14:51I'd like to see Julio try to get into a couple combinations.
00:14:54It seems like, you know, Virgil Hunter was right.
00:14:56There's a good uppercut by Amir Khan.
00:14:58Virgil Hunter was right in that when he told Amir
00:15:00Julio's looking for one shot.
00:15:02And maybe Julio will be better or well off more
00:15:05to try to throw some combinations in there.
00:15:07Maybe he'll land that one good shot he wants to
00:15:09if he tries a combination.
00:15:11Defense exhibited by Khan as he sidestepped
00:15:13the right hand from Diaz.
00:15:15He's attacking the body again with that left hook.
00:15:18There's a nice one-two combination.
00:15:20So Khan putting together the combinations
00:15:22and beginning to take the fight to Julio Diaz
00:15:27with one minute remaining here in the third.
00:15:32Diaz is not a monstrous puncher,
00:15:35and so those overhand rights are not,
00:15:37so far, not bothering Khan.
00:15:39But he has got them in over a couple of those jabs by Khan.
00:15:43That was a good hook.
00:15:45Well, that's the punch that we know Khan has issues with.
00:15:50Again, just one at a time.
00:15:52You'd like to see Julio try to be able to follow up.
00:15:54But you know what it is, too.
00:15:55Unless you hurt Khan, his fast feet get him out of there.
00:15:57To the right hand by Diaz.
00:15:59Flurry of punches in close.
00:16:01Referee calls for the break.
00:16:03There's his hands moving finally there on the inside.
00:16:05That's what you want to see from Julio Diaz.
00:16:07Under 30 seconds remaining in the third round
00:16:09with the majority of this fight taking place
00:16:11in the center of the ring.
00:16:13Diaz coming forward. Khan backs up.
00:16:1515 seconds now left in the round.
00:16:18Khan using the jab as a range finder.
00:16:27We're headed to round four here in Sheffield.
00:16:30Let's go.
00:16:51Okay.
00:16:52Now when he starts coming to you,
00:16:54start looking to turn him and catch him on the ankle.
00:16:58Watch it from here, okay?
00:17:01When he comes to you, just look to turn him
00:17:04and punch him on the ankle.
00:17:06Keep your jaw inside his shoulder.
00:17:08Punch him on the ankle.
00:17:09Beautiful body shot. They working.
00:17:13Don't worry. Just don't pick up.
00:17:15You stay focused.
00:17:17Khan attacking and using a variety of punches.
00:17:20Landing the left hook.
00:17:21He's been using the leadoff left hook a lot.
00:17:24And that time, however, the left hook got him in trouble
00:17:27because Diaz was able to counter that punch
00:17:30and did so very effectively.
00:17:32The bell in round four underway.
00:17:35Amir King Khan in the orange with black and green
00:17:39versus Julio Diaz sporting the blue with red and white.
00:17:42It is a welterweight bout
00:17:44fought at a contract weight of 143 pounds.
00:17:48And Julio Diaz thinks of himself now as a welterweight.
00:17:51Khan thinks of himself, I think, more as a 140-pounder.
00:17:56And that's why they met halfway.
00:17:57Yeah, exactly.
00:17:58But he would go to 147 if there was a major fight out there.
00:18:02Right now, more focused, perhaps, on the 140-pound division.
00:18:06Yeah, one of the deepest in the sport.
00:18:08Diaz along the ropes.
00:18:09Khan flashes the jab, has him in the corner.
00:18:12Comes in, puts together a three-punch combination,
00:18:15culminating with a left hook to the side of the head.
00:18:18Ooh, nice three-punch combo from Diaz.
00:18:21He pops Khan's head back
00:18:23as we take a look at the unofficial scoring
00:18:25for this fight, courtesy of our Showtime crew.
00:18:28We all completely agree, and that's not shocking,
00:18:31that those first three rounds all went to Khan.
00:18:33I don't think there was one close enough
00:18:35to even think about giving to Diaz.
00:18:37I agree there.
00:18:39Julio has a couple of seconds here and there
00:18:41where he does okay, but for the most part,
00:18:43it's Amir controlling the rounds.
00:18:45A hard guy to win rounds against, Amir Khan,
00:18:47because he's busy, he knows how to use his jab,
00:18:49he knows how to set the pace at the pace he wants it.
00:18:52And he's got that height.
00:18:53Trainer Virgil Hunter wants him to punch
00:18:55coming off the angles,
00:18:57utilizes footwork more, wanting to befuddle Diaz.
00:19:00One of the headlines in this fight
00:19:02is that Khan, I think, has thrown a better left hook
00:19:05than we've seen in some other fights.
00:19:07It's short, it's compact, and it's landing very well.
00:19:09There's a left hook, and down goes Khan!
00:19:12It's a lunging left hook out, like you said.
00:19:14A lunging left hook by Diaz, and...
00:19:176, 7, 8.
00:19:206, 7, 8.
00:19:26Khan goes down for the ninth time in his career
00:19:29here in round 4.
00:19:31His Achilles healed, the left hook by Diaz.
00:19:37Now, like I said, that's the punch he does get hit with,
00:19:39and it lands again, and you can tell Diaz
00:19:41was looking for it the whole fight.
00:19:42He had lunged it a couple of times with that.
00:19:51And the crowd in Sheffield beginning to rally behind Khan.
00:19:55Nervous moments for Amir Khan.
00:20:00His career could ill afford a misstep.
00:20:03Diaz, an 8-to-1 underdog, coming into this fight.
00:20:07A loss against Diaz would most likely end his career
00:20:11as an elite fighter.
00:20:13He has been on the canvas here in round 4,
00:20:15and with 15 seconds left,
00:20:17wants to ride out the rest of the frame
00:20:19before regrouping in between rounds.
00:20:21Diaz on the attack.
00:20:23And he doesn't seem terribly hurt.
00:20:25He definitely felt the shot, obviously.
00:20:37You look like you've been tripped.
00:20:42Did you trip on his foot?
00:20:44How you feel?
00:20:46Go right back to boxing, okay?
00:20:48We gonna stop him.
00:20:50You just go right back to boxing, okay?
00:20:53Remember next time what I told you.
00:20:55Keep it in here, keep him away.
00:20:58He's trying to look for one shot.
00:21:00What was it, a hook?
00:21:02Right hand hook.
00:21:03Here's where the left hook landed.
00:21:06Now, there was a lot of off-balance activity there.
00:21:10It wasn't the first left hook.
00:21:12Well, that one was a good one.
00:21:13And then following up with the left hook after.
00:21:16So the fact that there were two that landed well
00:21:18is part of what did the damage.
00:21:20That one landed good, though.
00:21:21That second one didn't land as clean,
00:21:22but that first one was a good hook.
00:21:23And we shouldn't underestimate the right hand
00:21:25that landed on the side of the head as well.
00:21:27But I give Amir credit.
00:21:28He rolls on better legs than he tends to rise up from
00:21:31when he gets up from a knockdown.
00:21:32Very good point.
00:21:34Fifth round underway here in Sheffield, England.
00:21:38Well-to-weight action between Amir Khan,
00:21:40who went down for the ninth time in his career
00:21:42in round four,
00:21:43and Julio Diaz looking to build on that round.
00:21:48The plot has thickened.
00:21:49Yes, it has.
00:21:50Mauro Ranallo, Al Bernstein, and Wally Malignaggi
00:21:52calling the action on this special edition
00:21:55of Showtime Boxing Con
00:21:57with the right hand through the guard.
00:22:00Pops the jab twice.
00:22:06Taking a look at the unofficial scoring
00:22:08after four rounds of action.
00:22:10As expected, we all scored that a two-point round
00:22:13for Julio Diaz.
00:22:16And I didn't see it.
00:22:17Paulie, I wouldn't think you could score that
00:22:19as a one-point round.
00:22:20No, no, no.
00:22:21I agree with everyone else here.
00:22:23I want to see how Julio Diaz follows up the round
00:22:26after a knockdown,
00:22:27and I want to see how Amir Khan comes back this round.
00:22:29So far, so good for Amir Khan in the opening minute
00:22:31as he's taking the fight back to Diaz
00:22:34as we take a look at the show stats.
00:22:36Total power punches in the fight.
00:22:39At Diaz, of course, still to Khan,
00:22:41but the two or three that made a difference
00:22:44were those ones that knocked him down.
00:22:48And Khan himself has landed many good left hooks
00:22:50in this fight.
00:22:52Very aggressive here in round 5
00:22:54after being down in the previous round.
00:22:58One thing I don't like Julio Diaz,
00:22:59when Khan goes for his walks,
00:23:00Julio is not cutting him off.
00:23:02He should at least put that mental pressure on him
00:23:03to cut him off.
00:23:06See, as you can see, Khan can circle as he wants to.
00:23:08Julio Diaz should be cutting him off.
00:23:09Even if he's not throwing,
00:23:10cut him off and kind of give him that panic.
00:23:12And there he did a little bit.
00:23:13There he did, yeah.
00:23:14He heard you, Paulie,
00:23:15all the way from across the pond.
00:23:21Left hook by Khan.
00:23:23And Amir Khan won all those first three rounds,
00:23:26and he is boxing effectively,
00:23:27so this isn't the panic mode,
00:23:30but he knows that this young man
00:23:32can send him to the canvas
00:23:34and he knows Julio Diaz is very serious here
00:23:37about getting this win.
00:23:38He's recovered quite well thus far
00:23:40in the final minute of the fifth round,
00:23:42and Khan now clenching with Diaz.
00:23:46And that's a great point, Al.
00:23:48You know, I wouldn't say he's panicking,
00:23:49but Julio Diaz can bring some panic out of him
00:23:52if he can continue the momentum.
00:23:53Khan digging away at Diaz's body
00:23:55with the right hand.
00:23:58And this round has not been
00:24:00a monstrously big round for Khan.
00:24:02He's probably winning this round,
00:24:03and there's a good example of why,
00:24:05but he's not, he hasn't dominated it completely
00:24:08like he did the first three.
00:24:09Again, Julio not cutting the ring off.
00:24:11He's trying to pressure to come forward,
00:24:13but he'd be well advised to cut the ring off,
00:24:15and it's allowing Amir to find the corners and turn.
00:24:18Very good point.
00:24:19Khan keeping his right hand,
00:24:22Very cognizant of that left hook
00:24:24as we are through five in Sheffield, England.
00:24:37Breathe deep.
00:24:38He had to work hard that round.
00:24:40He had to work hard that round.
00:24:42Now, you could see he had to work hard,
00:24:44and you heard him.
00:24:45I ain't putting the threes together.
00:24:47I ain't putting the threes together.
00:24:49And you heard him.
00:24:50I ain't putting the threes together.
00:24:52I'll have to quick jab.
00:24:54Punch in here, Amir.
00:24:56Jab it like this, and you're leaving this up.
00:24:59You gotta get down and punch into him, okay?
00:25:03You're not gonna get tired.
00:25:04You're feeling great, huh?
00:25:06I told you you were strong.
00:25:09Stay smart.
00:25:10Do not stop in the corner.
00:25:14And on the inside,
00:25:17Khan throwing some hellacious body shots.
00:25:19And Virgil Hunter thinking that he hurt Diaz.
00:25:21It might have been with that straight right hand there.
00:25:24And Khan certainly getting back on the winning side
00:25:27in that round.
00:25:28Yeah, and it could just be Virgil Hunter
00:25:30trying to give him some positive reinforcement
00:25:32to believe in what he's doing.
00:25:33Don't lose sight of the game plan.
00:25:34That's conceivable.
00:25:3621 of Diaz's 29 knockouts
00:25:39have come within the first five rounds.
00:25:41He's scored two in the sixth for Khan.
00:25:4417 of his 19 KOs have occurred inside eight rounds.
00:25:48We are in the sixth
00:25:49as Khan catches him with another left hand,
00:25:52circling away.
00:25:55Doubles up on the jab.
00:25:59Diaz standing right in front of him,
00:26:00gets tacked with the right hand.
00:26:01Now along the ropes,
00:26:02does a good job of avoiding the left by Khan.
00:26:06There's a sequence where you can feel Amir Khan thinking,
00:26:10and that's what they want him to do.
00:26:12He landed that barrage of punches,
00:26:14wheeled away, and said,
00:26:15okay, we're going to restart everything
00:26:17and push the restart button.
00:26:18And it's also something that happens
00:26:19when you land a consistent jab,
00:26:21when you have a good jab.
00:26:22You can start leading with the right hand.
00:26:24The guy won't really see it coming.
00:26:26He won't anticipate it.
00:26:36The jab from Diaz has been absolutely non-existent.
00:26:39They're welcome.
00:26:41And follows up with an overhead right.
00:26:43I think Julio's hearing us from across the pond tonight.
00:26:45Yes, he is.
00:26:46We have ESP going on.
00:26:49But it has been an underused weapon for him.
00:26:53Left hook raises the chin.
00:26:56There's a double jab by Khan.
00:26:59Counter left hook by Diaz.
00:27:01Minute and a half remaining in the sixth round.
00:27:05But again, Khan able to get on his bicycle,
00:27:08move laterally.
00:27:09Paulie, as you were mentioning,
00:27:10really utilizing the real estate.
00:27:13That's one of his better weapons.
00:27:14Amir has great legs,
00:27:15so why not use them if you can?
00:27:17And especially at Julio,
00:27:18a lot of times,
00:27:19he only cuts the ring off in spurts.
00:27:21He allows Amir to turn the corner.
00:27:23So if you have the real estate and you can use it,
00:27:25and you have the legs for it,
00:27:26go ahead.
00:27:27Combination there by Khan.
00:27:28Nice one-two combo
00:27:29and finish it off with a left hook
00:27:31to the side of the head.
00:27:32Under a minute remaining now in the round.
00:27:36Diaz just plodding forward,
00:27:37goes downstairs with the left, fades.
00:27:42Not a lot of counter-punching
00:27:44in effect either so far.
00:27:56Khan leaving the left hand hanging
00:28:00in front of Diaz.
00:28:01There's the one-two combination
00:28:02and shoots out a nice left hand,
00:28:05catches Diaz on the face
00:28:07with 20 seconds remaining in the round.
00:28:09The difference in hand speed
00:28:10is the difference in this fight right now
00:28:13with Khan having the big edge.
00:28:19And yet it has been Khan
00:28:20who has been down in round four of this fight,
00:28:25yet doing well for the majority of the round.
00:28:28For the majority of the rest of this bout.
00:28:53That was an excellent combination
00:28:55by Julio Diaz in the last round.
00:28:57That was the moment we talked about
00:28:58early in the round,
00:28:59but it was probably his only really good sequence
00:29:02in the round.
00:29:03Khan coming back with his own combination work,
00:29:06missing with the first two there,
00:29:08but then following with the third jab.
00:29:10And so, good job there for him.
00:29:13And you're gonna get your head, okay?
00:29:16Just combinations.
00:29:18Put your jaw inside your shoulders, okay?
00:29:20Thanks with the feet.
00:29:28Round two.
00:29:29We are at the halfway point of this 12-round
00:29:32welterweight battle between Amir King Khan
00:29:35and Julio the Kid Diaz
00:29:37as Khan has been down 140 into round four
00:29:40from two left hooks that landed cleanly.
00:29:43But save for that dramatic moment,
00:29:45Khan has done what is necessary, Pauly,
00:29:48to build up the points.
00:29:51Yeah.
00:29:52And though he gets touched there again
00:29:53with another left hook from Diaz,
00:29:54he has to be very leery of that punch.
00:29:57Well, yeah, Julio is definitely a live underdog.
00:29:59He's showing himself to...
00:30:00He's not going over there just for a paycheck.
00:30:02He's trying to win.
00:30:06For Amir Khan, this fight,
00:30:08we talked about the significance of this.
00:30:11A win here is imperative for him.
00:30:13The idea that down the road later this year,
00:30:16he's getting married,
00:30:17then he will celebrate Ramadan
00:30:19where he will not fight,
00:30:20and the idea is he may fight against
00:30:22one of those 140-pounders
00:30:25that will be fighting not only tonight
00:30:28but also when Lucas Matisse fights Peterson,
00:30:31Lamont Peterson,
00:30:32and the winner of those two fights
00:30:34will fight, possibly,
00:30:35and Khan may face the winner.
00:30:37So there's a lot at stake here for Amir Khan.
00:30:40Clash of heads there.
00:30:41Diaz trying to counter with the right hand.
00:30:53Khan tags him with the right hand.
00:30:55Minute and a half remaining in the seventh round.
00:30:58Seems to be a cut on Diaz's right eye.
00:31:00Gets tagged with the left,
00:31:02which can only exacerbate the cut
00:31:05on the right eye of Diaz.
00:31:08And when you have as good a jab as Khan,
00:31:10when you are cut, that's not good
00:31:13because he's gonna keep packing away.
00:31:15Unofficial scores at the minute and a half.
00:31:18Not surprising that we're in total agreement
00:31:20because the rounds Khan has won
00:31:22have been pretty definitive,
00:31:24and, of course, the 1-10-8 round in round four
00:31:27in which Diaz scored a knockdown.
00:31:30Left hook connects by Khan.
00:31:33The counter left from Diaz.
00:31:36Now, the one thing Amir Khan can't do
00:31:38is get in love with that left hook
00:31:40because right there, Diaz tried to counter.
00:31:42Oh, right hand and a left hook.
00:31:45You shouldn't hook with a hooker.
00:31:47Yes.
00:31:48I'm not saying that Diaz is a hooker,
00:31:50but Khan shouldn't be putting himself at risk too much.
00:31:52No, he's not known for that,
00:31:54but tonight he's throwing that punch,
00:31:56and it's the one punch that has done damage.
00:32:1515 seconds left in the seventh round.
00:32:19Diaz coming forward, gets popped with the straight right
00:32:21through the high defense.
00:32:23Three-punch combination by Diaz.
00:32:25Khan circles away from the ropes to avoid any further attack.
00:32:28Hey.
00:32:45Diaz ripping the body on the inside
00:32:48and a nice left hook.
00:32:50This is a demonstration.
00:32:52This was a sequence in the middle of the round
00:32:54where Diaz gave as good as he got,
00:32:56and it shows again that he is a dangerous opponent in there.
00:32:59Khan with the hand speed
00:33:01landing over the lazy jab of Diaz.
00:33:04Right here again, hook right hand.
00:33:07Another shot.
00:33:10Right here again, hook right hand.
00:33:12Another shot by Khan,
00:33:14and when you have a good jab,
00:33:16Khan tends to set up everything off the jab,
00:33:18and then once in a while, he'll leave with that left hook right hand.
00:33:20I just need you to stop fucking raking him from the body to the head.
00:33:23Let's go.
00:33:25Diaz has a cut just underneath the right eyebrow
00:33:28as we head to round number eight,
00:33:31and with Khan having already been down in round four,
00:33:34knowing what's at stake,
00:33:36knowing the future of Amir Khan as a premier fighter,
00:33:40do you anticipate any adjustment in strategy,
00:33:43knowing that he's building up points?
00:33:45Do you think he's going to go to even more of a defensive shell here, Paulie?
00:33:49I wouldn't say defensive shell, but I don't expect him to change.
00:33:52If it's not broke, don't fix it.
00:33:54He went down, but he's regaining control of the fight.
00:33:56Some people might say it's a bit too patient of an approach.
00:33:59He should go for the kill here,
00:34:01but this is a learning process for Amir Khan
00:34:04that he's learning to become more patient with Virgil Hunter.
00:34:07It may not serve him so great here in that he can go for the kill,
00:34:10but in the future, being more patient will help him,
00:34:12because if he was fighting a deadlier fighter, he may get hurt.
00:34:15Well, he just got in with a left hook.
00:34:17There's a left hook by Khan in return,
00:34:19and puts together a one-two combination.
00:34:21Of course, being back on U.K. soil for the first time in two years,
00:34:24I'm sure he wants to put on a bit of a show for his home country,
00:34:28but his career at this point,
00:34:31he needs to accrue the victories to remain relevant,
00:34:34and Julio Diaz hanging tough here
00:34:36as we pass the one-minute mark of the eighth round.
00:34:40And it's really not a defense-first posture for Khan,
00:34:43even though he's trying to be at least careful
00:34:46and a smart fighter in there.
00:34:48Plenty of action in this fight, and lots of good exchanges.
00:34:51Double jab, followed up by an overhand right by Khan,
00:34:54as we take a look. All right, here's the total punches.
00:34:57Khan landing at about the same percentage,
00:35:00but he is throwing so many more,
00:35:02he's, you know, almost doubled the amount of punches thrown by Diaz.
00:35:06Diaz's corner wanted him to work the body, then move upstairs.
00:35:12And that's the thing about Diaz working the body.
00:35:14He's got to get close in order to work it.
00:35:16And that's easier said than done against a guy with the legs of Khan,
00:35:19especially when Julio's not cutting off the ring.
00:35:26And there's the body work as soon as he does get close.
00:35:28Triple right hand to the side of the body,
00:35:30but Khan, again, able to move away
00:35:33with under a minute remaining in the eighth round.
00:35:36Couple of right hands, three right hands by Khan.
00:35:39Julio Diaz is a solid fighter, always has been,
00:35:43even in the moments when he's got seven losses in his career,
00:35:46but he knows how to fight.
00:35:48And I'm gonna tell you, when he's at a bit of a higher weight,
00:35:50that's the kind of action he's capable of,
00:35:52and he's throwing some malicious body punches.
00:35:54Yeah, yeah, man, he came to fight tonight.
00:35:56I mean, he's not, I don't have him winning,
00:35:57but I'm still impressed with the effort.
00:35:59Some great exchanges in this round,
00:36:01and I think he has made Khan feel his power in this round,
00:36:04and this is the first round Diaz is in a hunt to win.
00:36:07And he motions for Khan to bring it,
00:36:09and the action picking up here with 20 seconds left in the eighth round.
00:36:12Referee Marcus McDonald admonishing Diaz.
00:36:17For what? I don't know. Maybe low blows.
00:36:19It's hard to tell.
00:36:20Momentum.
00:36:21Ten seconds now left in the round.
00:36:26Left hand by Khan.
00:36:27Diaz coming forward as we head to the ninth.
00:36:30Feeling good?
00:36:48Breathe deep.
00:36:54The right hand landing.
00:36:56Now, this was a round that I gave to Julio Diaz,
00:36:59and I thought that he had good moments like that left hook.
00:37:03And remember, it was the left hook that sent Khan down early in the fight in round four.
00:37:08And that's kryptonite for him.
00:37:11You know, he gets hit with those hooks,
00:37:12and Diaz going a little bit low, making it a rough fight.
00:37:15I think Julio Diaz had an important round for himself in round eight.
00:37:20Entertaining fight here in Sheffield, England,
00:37:22between Julio Kid Diaz,
00:37:24whose seven losses include four via form of knockout,
00:37:28and Amir Khan,
00:37:30who was down in the fourth round,
00:37:32the ninth time in his career,
00:37:34but holding steady here as we begin round nine.
00:37:38Diaz now putting the pressure on Khan.
00:37:41Khan utilizing his lateral movement,
00:37:43circling to his right,
00:37:45and has that right glove stapled to his cheek.
00:37:48Very concerned with the left hook that dropped him in the fourth.
00:37:52And there's the left hook from Diaz on cue.
00:37:55First moment for a second,
00:37:57Diaz switching to the left-handed stance.
00:38:00He's not done it in this fight,
00:38:01and I think the reason he hasn't done it is because as a righty,
00:38:04you can land that left hook.
00:38:06It's closer to Khan.
00:38:07Why would you become a lefty and make it harder?
00:38:09That's a good point.
00:38:10When the kryptonite punch has been the hook,
00:38:12you want to give yourself a chance to land it as best possible.
00:38:15See, I must know boxing.
00:38:16Could you agree with me, Paul?
00:38:17Yeah, a little bit.
00:38:18Well, okay.
00:38:21A little, anyway.
00:38:29This is, I think, a very important round in this fight,
00:38:32because I thought Diaz won the last one
00:38:34and got himself in some ways back into this fight,
00:38:37and we'll see if he can continue to get a little momentum going.
00:38:42But again, you have to be impressed with Amir
00:38:44not abandoning the game plan.
00:38:46Even if Julio physically roughed him up a little bit last round,
00:38:49Amir still trying to stay on the outside,
00:38:51staying with the jab.
00:38:52Oh, and he gets touched there with the left hand again by Diaz.
00:38:55He does get touched here and there,
00:38:56but otherwise he's feinting, he's jabbing,
00:38:58he's picking his spots.
00:38:59Still a good round.
00:39:00He has to be very careful, though, in these exchanges with Diaz,
00:39:03because he is dropping his hands,
00:39:04leaving them open to those counter shots upstairs.
00:39:12Julio, again, no shortage of effort from Julio Diaz,
00:39:15even this round.
00:39:17And you can tell he's trying to set up that hook again.
00:39:19He's ducking down, trying to get himself in a position
00:39:22to come up with that left hook.
00:39:25Now Diaz works the body, then clinches.
00:39:29Referee McDonald calling for the break.
00:39:31And as we head into these final rounds,
00:39:33you have to ask yourself, too,
00:39:34if Julio Diaz makes this a super competitive fight
00:39:37in the last few rounds,
00:39:38what does that do to Amir Khan in terms of the perception?
00:39:44A win is a win is a win,
00:39:45but still...
00:39:46Yeah, especially considering he's been down in this fight.
00:39:48Yep.
00:39:52Left hook blocked by Diaz.
00:39:56Very close round here in round 9.
00:39:5930 seconds remaining in the 9th.
00:40:01Again, when Amir is doing what he does best,
00:40:03the thing about even if you're blocking his offense,
00:40:05he's preventing you from getting off any punches.
00:40:07When Amir is having a good round,
00:40:09you rarely see that...
00:40:10Oh, and he tags Khan or Diaz with the left.
00:40:15Oh, and he tags Khan or Diaz with the left.
00:40:29Khan is connecting,
00:40:30but power not really deterring Julio Diaz
00:40:32from standing in front of him.
00:40:35Interesting round of boxing.
00:40:38Very difficult time.
00:40:40The only time you get something is if you have your hands down.
00:40:42Keep this up.
00:40:43Stay in the legs.
00:40:44Breathe deep.
00:40:47Good job, baby.
00:40:51Good job.
00:40:53He's tight.
00:40:54Yeah, he's very tight.
00:40:56Diaz attacking,
00:40:57though as Paulie pointed out,
00:40:58not really cutting the ring off.
00:40:59They're off balance when he was hit by Khan.
00:41:03But always looking for the left hook is Diaz.
00:41:06That time he landed it to the body.
00:41:08You could see the wheels turning
00:41:09as he tried to get it to the head.
00:41:11Khan flipped him with the left hook.
00:41:13Okay, don't run over him.
00:41:15Punch into him.
00:41:16The first two will come here,
00:41:18and three or four will come to the head.
00:41:20Okay?
00:41:21And keep that leg going real quick.
00:41:23Stay on your feet.
00:41:24Stay on your legs.
00:41:25Come on.
00:41:30The bell and round 10.
00:41:32We hope you're enjoying this co-production
00:41:34with a feed provided to us by BoxNation in the U.K.
00:41:37from Sheffield, England.
00:41:38It's Amir Khan in the orange with black and green
00:41:42and Julio Diaz in the blue with red and white.
00:41:45Diaz, a former two-time lightweight champion.
00:41:47Khan, a former WBA and IBF 140-pound champion.
00:41:57And a counter left hook lands by Diaz
00:42:00to the chin of Khan, who's coming forward.
00:42:02He may have been hurt.
00:42:03That was a big left hook.
00:42:05Yeah, and Amir is holding on,
00:42:07and he's holding on again in the follow-up.
00:42:09And it's early in this round.
00:42:15Just avoids that lunging left hook by Diaz.
00:42:19Air conditioning in Sheffield.
00:42:22Now it's Khan backing up Diaz.
00:42:26The bull here.
00:42:27This is the posture Khan doesn't want.
00:42:30Against Peterson, got in trouble by being on the ropes.
00:42:33And being too straight up on the inside.
00:42:35Yes.
00:42:36He wants to smother the work.
00:42:37He's got to bend his knees a little bit.
00:42:38Right hand by Diaz over top of Khan's left.
00:42:43One-two combination by Diaz.
00:42:45Not much offense coming from Amir Khan here in this round.
00:42:48Diaz is smothering him with punches here
00:42:50with a minute 40 left in the 10th round.
00:42:52Khan comes back with a combination,
00:42:54the majority of which misses.
00:42:56Left hook blocked by Diaz.
00:42:58I'll tell you, Diaz seems to have a lot of confidence
00:43:00after winning that big hook at the beginning of the round.
00:43:02Lands a left hook behind the guard of Khan.
00:43:05Khan doubling up on the jab.
00:43:08But Diaz appears to be gaining some confidence
00:43:11here in round 10.
00:43:13Walking down Khan along the ropes.
00:43:15Right hand to the head and the left hook.
00:43:17There's a jab from Khan.
00:43:19For the first time in this fight,
00:43:21Khan is getting caught on the ropes.
00:43:29One minute remaining in the 10th.
00:43:32In this round, you see the difference in power punches
00:43:35dramatic for Julio Diaz.
00:43:4545 seconds left in the 10th.
00:43:47And depending on how people scored the ninth round...
00:43:50Oh, and that's right hand.
00:43:51Tax Khan now. Go ahead.
00:43:54Depending on how they scored that last round,
00:43:56this one's an important round.
00:44:02Diaz getting off much more this round now, Al.
00:44:04This seems to be a Diaz round all the way.
00:44:06Mixing in the uppercut as well.
00:44:08A left uppercut up the middle connected by Diaz.
00:44:11With 20 seconds left in what has been Julio Diaz's best round
00:44:15since dropping Khan in the fourth.
00:44:20Very interesting to see what Virgil Hunter says
00:44:22in between rounds to Khan.
00:44:27The 11th round is straight ahead here in Sheffield.
00:44:40A round that Diaz will put in his scrapbook.
00:44:44That tremendous left hand early in the round
00:44:47stunned Khan and again throughout the round
00:44:51that left hook was a signature punch for Diaz.
00:44:54And when he followed with the right, he was extra effective.
00:44:59A terrific round for Julio Diaz.
00:45:02When he comes, you turn him.
00:45:04You crate back and you keep him backing up a little.
00:45:07Don't let him come forward.
00:45:09When you put your combinations together,
00:45:12do not punch from here.
00:45:14Drop down and punch into the target.
00:45:16Do you understand?
00:45:20I'm real proud of you.
00:45:22Now I want you to finish this intelligent.
00:45:24I want you to finish it smart.
00:45:26And I want you to finish it like the champion you are.
00:45:28Come on.
00:45:30Trainer Virgil Hunter becoming de facto motivational speaker as well.
00:45:35That's good corner work because that was important
00:45:38as an emotional device, I think, for his fighter.
00:45:42I think that was excellent corner work.
00:45:47Our unofficial scoring as we will look at it.
00:45:53And Steve Farhood has a bigger margin.
00:45:56He and Paulie have it 97-92.
00:45:58I've got it for Con 96-93.
00:46:00Now I scored the last round for Diaz,
00:46:03and I know you did too as well, Paulie.
00:46:10And Steve Farhood, like you, with the wider margin.
00:46:15Oh!
00:46:18Period exchange, and Diaz catches him
00:46:20with a one-two combination.
00:46:22Khan seems to be staggered moving in,
00:46:24but recovers and backs away.
00:46:27He's got to keep his chin down when he's trading punches like that.
00:46:30He's basically standing straight up and trading
00:46:32and getting into exchanges.
00:46:34So some tense moments in round 10 for Amir Khan.
00:46:38Plenty of time left.
00:46:40Diaz continues to walk him down,
00:46:42exactly what Khan's corner didn't want him to do.
00:46:45A good defense there by Khan, but again!
00:46:47Oh, and he gets caught with a left!
00:46:49Khan is hurt, guys.
00:46:55Another strong start for Julio Diaz here in round 11.
00:47:01Midway point of the round,
00:47:02working the body with a couple of right hands.
00:47:05Khan on his bicycle, gets tagged upstairs
00:47:07with a left and right.
00:47:09Comes back with a straight right through the guard,
00:47:12but has now abandoned the jab.
00:47:14And Diaz committing still to body work.
00:47:17Very smart work by Julio Diaz.
00:47:19Took the words out of my mouth, Al.
00:47:24He's a veteran.
00:47:25He's a veteran, and he's been reborn at a higher weight,
00:47:28and he's been working in the gym a lot harder.
00:47:30He's gotten caught in trouble again.
00:47:32And I tell you, if this was a bigger puncher,
00:47:34I don't know that Khan would have survived tonight, guys.
00:47:36He's taken some shots.
00:47:40Final 45 seconds of the 11th round.
00:47:44Another strong stanza for Julio Diaz.
00:47:47Khan trying to work beyond the jab,
00:47:49has to avoid that left hook.
00:47:51Moving backwards.
00:47:55Left hook to the body by Diaz.
00:47:5830 seconds left in the round.
00:48:02Khan with a lead left hook.
00:48:04And Diaz keeping his hands up
00:48:07And Diaz keeping his hands up as he comes in.
00:48:09He's thinking defense,
00:48:11so Khan's not able to hit him well with counter punches.
00:48:15Ducks down, goes to the body with the left hand, does Diaz.
00:48:21Scoring with more accuracy, more volume.
00:48:26Julio Diaz here in round 11.
00:48:28We're off to the final round.
00:48:37I don't want you to get fuckin' reckless in there.
00:48:41Another great round for Julio Diaz.
00:48:43And what else? The left hook lands.
00:48:45That one stunned Khan.
00:48:47And then he hit him with that overhand right.
00:48:49And that was early in the round,
00:48:51where things were very dangerous for Amir Khan.
00:48:55Khan, who is a warrior, make no mistake,
00:48:58was able to get through the rest of the round,
00:49:00and not go down.
00:49:02Which is significant, because that could have then been a 10-8 round.
00:49:05Someone could still score a 10-8 round,
00:49:08but this barrage did not send Khan to the canvas.
00:49:12And you see in one of the replays,
00:49:14Khan's father putting his hands on his head,
00:49:16basically saying, what is he doing, trading like that?
00:49:18Breathe deep. Breathe deep.
00:49:21He doesn't have the energy to do it
00:49:23unless you let him land that first one.
00:49:30The 12th and final round,
00:49:32the crowd in Sheffield on its feet,
00:49:34and this is really an illustration
00:49:36of what makes Amir Khan so exciting.
00:49:39The fact that he is vulnerable,
00:49:41the fact that he does have flaws,
00:49:42but that he has a lot of heart,
00:49:44and is always game.
00:49:45And Diaz, a quick start here in round 12,
00:49:47and despite Diaz never really being in any danger
00:49:50of getting knocked down,
00:49:51Khan may have scored enough to win on points
00:49:54if it goes to the scorecards,
00:49:56despite being down in round four.
00:49:58Well, we know Diaz won the last two rounds,
00:50:00and he had a 10-8 round in round four.
00:50:02It's what happened in all those other rounds,
00:50:04and our unofficial scoring
00:50:07tells us that I have Khan closer by two points,
00:50:11but Pauly and Steve,
00:50:12Pauly, you've got him by four points.
00:50:18Diaz being warned for punches to the back of the head.
00:50:21I hope that this referee does not jump in
00:50:24with a point deduction against anybody.
00:50:26No one merits it in this fight.
00:50:29Khan coming forward with a right hand.
00:50:33Launches the jab.
00:50:34Diaz with a couple of lefts.
00:50:36And I like the instructions Virgil Hunter gave Amir.
00:50:39He doesn't have the energy unless you let him.
00:50:41Basically telling him,
00:50:42don't allow him to put you in positions to land big shots.
00:50:44Well, he is being put in position now,
00:50:46though fighting valiantly off the ropes,
00:50:48but it's Diaz with punches in bunches.
00:50:57The first half of this round fairly close.
00:51:01Khan has stemmed the tide a little bit,
00:51:03and this could be a pivotal round.
00:51:05Even though our scoring has Khan ahead,
00:51:07you never know.
00:51:09Khan's chin is there to be checked
00:51:11as Diaz comes forward.
00:51:13Khan with the jab.
00:51:15And remember, a knockdown in this round
00:51:17would be huge if Diaz got one,
00:51:19because he had the one in round four
00:51:21that was a 10-8 round.
00:51:23Diaz continues to hunt down Khan.
00:51:25Khan pivots away back to the center of the ring.
00:51:27I think either way,
00:51:28Julio Diaz is going to clean this up well tonight.
00:51:31You bet.
00:51:32Uppercut by Diaz.
00:51:33Final minute of action here in Sheffield, England.
00:51:36The return of Amir Khan to the United Kingdom.
00:51:42His home base,
00:51:43the first time in two years
00:51:44that Julio Diaz is giving him a very tough test.
00:51:49Right now, Julio Diaz should crank up those hooks
00:51:51like he never has before.
00:51:53He's got to throw that punch.
00:51:54And another very punch of Diaz
00:51:56digging away to the body.
00:51:57And I should have prefaced that
00:51:59with an unexpected tough test,
00:52:00as Khan, a huge underdog,
00:52:02coming into this fight.
00:52:03Under 30 seconds now left in the round and the bout.
00:52:07A close round 12.
00:52:15Final 15 seconds of the bout.
00:52:18Khan with the left jab.
00:52:22And here in Sheffield, England,
00:52:24on this special edition of Showtime Boxing,
00:52:26we are headed to the judges' scorecards.
00:52:29Khan versus Diaz.
00:52:45An entertaining bout is in the books.
00:52:48Amir Khan being hoisted up in celebration.
00:52:52But boy, there were some very nervous moments
00:52:54for Khan in this fight.
00:52:56That's the understatement of the year.
00:52:58And Diaz's folks believe
00:53:00he might have stolen a decision here.
00:53:02I shouldn't say stolen.
00:53:03But the fact is,
00:53:05it turned out to be a very, very competitive fight.
00:53:08And round 12, a pivotal round.
00:53:11And I think round 9 and 8 pivotal rounds.
00:53:17Our scoring, I had it a bit closer at 115-113.
00:53:21Whereas Pauly and Steve had it by 3 points.
00:53:25And this kind of action in the last round
00:53:28made that round, I think, a pretty tough round to score.
00:53:32And Diaz doing a lot of good work on the inside.
00:53:35But Khan punched back more in round 12
00:53:38than he did in the 11th and the 10th.
00:53:41And what does this win do for Amir Khan,
00:53:45if it is a win?
00:53:47Raise more questions?
00:53:48It may, yes.
00:53:50But you made the salient point, Mauro.
00:53:52No matter what this man, Amir Khan,
00:53:54is entertaining to watch,
00:53:56you always want to see him in the ring.
00:54:00The punch numbers demonstrate, most importantly,
00:54:03that Khan was much busier.
00:54:05And that may be what ultimately got him this fight.
00:54:14And the power numbers of Khan
00:54:16clearly were impressive in that fight.
00:54:19Even though Diaz landed the ones that hurt the most.
00:54:27Ladies and gentlemen, after 12 pulsating rounds of boxing,
00:54:31here are the judges' score totals.
00:54:34Judge Bill Edwards scores the contest 114-113.
00:54:43Judge Steve Gray scores the contest 115-113.
00:54:47And Judge Terry O'Connor scores the contest 115-112.
00:54:52All three judges,
00:54:55the winner by way of unanimous decision,
00:54:59from...
00:55:01Bolton, England!
00:55:05Amir...
00:55:07King...
00:55:09Khan!
00:55:12Amir Khan escapes with a razor-thin
00:55:16unanimous decision victory
00:55:18over a very game Julio Diaz.
00:55:21I want to say those three judges, all from England,
00:55:23called the fight correctly.
00:55:25I wasn't expecting that.
00:55:26I got to say, good call by those judges.
00:55:28They were right in the wheelhouse
00:55:29of where this fight probably was.
00:55:31And a couple of things about this fight.
00:55:34Amir Khan gets an important win,
00:55:36and Julio Diaz has resurrected his career.
00:55:40So an entertaining effort
00:55:43that saw Julio Diaz knock down Khan in the fourth,
00:55:46but Khan able to do enough
00:55:48to warrant the unanimous decision win,
00:55:50improving to 28-3
00:55:53in front of his adoring U.K. crowd.
00:55:58Let's go to the official scoring
00:56:00for what turned out to be a sensational scrap.
00:56:02These three official judges
00:56:04paid attention to this fight
00:56:06and I think scored it correctly,
00:56:07the widest margin with Terry O'Connor,
00:56:09the smallest with Phil Edwards.
00:56:12And unofficially on our showtime scoring,
00:56:15Paulie and Steve saw a slightly wider margin.
00:56:18I had a two-point win for Amir Khan.
00:56:24Let's go to the interview with Amir Khan.
00:56:26Rob Walker handling the proceedings.
00:56:27It was everything we'd expect from you.
00:56:29It was heart, it was passion,
00:56:31and it was so, so dramatic.
00:56:33It was, you know, I mean,
00:56:35Julio's a tough guy.
00:56:36He's been in many world title fights.
00:56:38We trained very hard for this fight.
00:56:40We knew it was going to be tough.
00:56:41We knew Julio's, you know,
00:56:42going to come in and want to win this fight.
00:56:45But, you know, it was great.
00:56:46It was a great performance in there.
00:56:47He was tough.
00:56:48He was in front of me all the way through the fight
00:56:50and, you know, I had to listen to Virgil in the corner
00:56:53and we got the win.
00:56:54When you were down in the fourth,
00:56:55how much did you have to fight your instinct
00:56:57to get back in and to sit back and work on the jab
00:57:00and try and give yourself the recovery time
00:57:03to get back in the fight?
00:57:04No, you know what?
00:57:05I remember exactly everything that happened in that round.
00:57:07I mean, I was off balance
00:57:09and he caught me while I was off balance
00:57:11and, I mean, I couldn't get my stance back.
00:57:13I went down and I thought,
00:57:14you know what, he's going to come rushing back at me
00:57:16as soon as I was back up again
00:57:18and that's why I kept moving to recompose myself.
00:57:21But, you know, that's what happens.
00:57:22I mean, there are little things that we're going to work on
00:57:24when we go back in the gym.
00:57:25It's been a journey for you
00:57:27since you last fought in the UK
00:57:29and I know you got a massive reception from the crowd.
00:57:32What was it like performing back home
00:57:34for the first time in two years?
00:57:36It was amazing.
00:57:37You know, I want to thank my UK fans.
00:57:38I mean, they've always been supportive.
00:57:40They've always been great
00:57:41and it was just awesome to come back home, you know,
00:57:43to put on a performance
00:57:44and it was a great performance.
00:57:45I mean, Julio come to win
00:57:47and, I mean, you know,
00:57:48I was happy with the way the crowd supported me
00:57:50and they were behind me all the way.
00:57:51The last three rounds, were you feeling the pressure?
00:57:54Because it looked as though at one stage he was tiring
00:57:56but he just kept on coming back.
00:57:58That's right. You know, Julio was tough.
00:57:59I mean, he's a tough, tough Mexican fighter.
00:58:01And he wouldn't take a step back.
00:58:03I mean, these Mexicans are tough.
00:58:05That's why he's two-time world champion.
00:58:07He's got a lot of experience
00:58:08and he knew what to do in there.
00:58:10But, you know, we just stuck to the game plan with Virgil
00:58:12and we just kept going and kept going.
00:58:14Let's have a word from you, Virgil.
00:58:16What's your assessment
00:58:17on that dramatic, atmospheric evening?
00:58:20Well, I think the main thing that we had to,
00:58:22that we proved,
00:58:23we've been saying all along
00:58:25that Julio Diaz was going to be a tough fight.
00:58:27You got a two-time world champion.
00:58:29They could call up a great fight at any time.
00:58:31That's why I told Amir,
00:58:33my job is to never listen to the critics
00:58:35and whoever want to put a world champion down.
00:58:38But you can't put a world champion down.
00:58:40He came to the U.K. to win.
00:58:42He was very determined.
00:58:43And it took the smarts of Amir
00:58:45and the best of Amir to pull this fight out.
00:58:47I'm very proud of the decisions that he made,
00:58:49particularly when he went down.
00:58:51I'll just tell it like it is.
00:58:53He was tripped and hit.
00:58:54I don't want to take nothing away from Julio.
00:58:56He went down, he felt the punch.
00:58:58But he was a little off balance.
00:59:00And he proved it when he got back up
00:59:02and was in the fight.
00:59:03But he fought a smart, intelligent fight.
00:59:06It just goes to show that when he's in a crisis
00:59:09like every single fighter in a fight is going to be in,
00:59:12he made sound decisions tonight.
00:59:14Do you think he's learned the lessons?
00:59:16Well, these are the lessons you want him to learn.
00:59:18Because now he's been in a situation
00:59:20where he's thought this thing out
00:59:22instead of thinking with his heart,
00:59:24he thought with his brains.
00:59:25And so that's going to make him
00:59:26even tougher and determined to be.
00:59:28So I'm very pleased with the decisions that he made
00:59:32in a tough, tough fight
00:59:33with a very determined ex-champion, Julio Diaz.
00:59:36He gets all the credit.
00:59:37Let's try and get a word with Richard Schaefer if we can.
00:59:40Richard, it was an absolutely superb evening.
00:59:44Everybody was living every punch.
00:59:46What was your assessment?
00:59:48Well, first of all, sometimes you have fights
00:59:50where there are really no losers.
00:59:51Tonight there were no losers.
00:59:53Julio Diaz came to fight
00:59:54and he fought in a great, great fight.
00:59:56Amir fought a great fight.
00:59:57These are two entertainers.
00:59:59They came to entertain.
01:00:00They came to entertain the crowds.
01:00:02So the big winner here is the crowd which saw it live
01:00:05and the people which are going to see it on TV,
01:00:07saw it on TV.
01:00:09Who's next for Amir?
01:00:11Well, we're going to sit down with his team
01:00:13and going to see who we want to do.
01:00:15I know he's going to be taking some time off.
01:00:17He'll be back in December.
01:00:19Julio, you played your part in a magnificent contest there.
01:00:22You had Amir down in the fourth.
01:00:24You rocked him in the eleventh.
01:00:26Did you think that you'd done enough to win that fight?
01:00:29You know what, I think I gave up too many rounds
01:00:31trying to break him down.
01:00:32And like I said in the conference,
01:00:33this guy has a lot of heart.
01:00:34People don't see that, but he does.
01:00:36He was hurt almost the whole fight
01:00:38and never gave up.
01:00:39Anybody else would have took a knee.
01:00:41So I feel like I gave up too many rounds
01:00:43trying to break him down,
01:00:44hoping he would quit or go down.
01:00:46And he landed on his feet.
01:00:50Richard, how long is it going to be
01:00:52before we see Amir going for a world title again?
01:00:56I think it's going to be pretty safe to say
01:00:58in his next fight he'll be fighting for a world title in December.
01:01:02Virgil, how much have you enjoyed working with this guy
01:01:06and how much more is there to come?
01:01:08Well, there's a lot more work to do.
01:01:10The enjoyment speaks for itself.
01:01:13I'm glad to have made his acquaintance.
01:01:15We still have a lot of work to do.
01:01:17But the good thing is he's learning on the job,
01:01:19and that's the most important thing.
01:01:21So the next fight out,
01:01:22I expect him to be even more intelligent,
01:01:24and we'll go back to the drawing board
01:01:26and work on these things.
01:01:27But like I said, he fought an ex-champion
01:01:30who knows how to fight,
01:01:31who has a lot of experience.
01:01:33He came from a fighting family.
01:01:34He has more experience than Amir does
01:01:36as far as in fights, you see.
01:01:38He has much more experience.
01:01:40So he used his experience and picked his shots,
01:01:42but Amir is learning.
01:01:44And when he gets there where Julio was and Julio is,
01:01:46then we're going to see a fearsome fighter.
01:01:48He's got a way upside.
01:01:50I'd say he's about at 70% of what he can really do.
01:01:54Amir, we've waited two years to see you fight in the U.K.
01:01:58Is this the last time we've seen you fight over here,
01:02:01or is there an option for you to come back again in the future?
01:02:04I wish it's not the last time.
01:02:05I wish I could keep coming back and fighting for my home fans.
01:02:07I mean, it's amazing to fight in England.
01:02:09But it just depends on the fighters out there.
01:02:11I mean, most of the world champions are in America.
01:02:13I don't think they'd want to travel.
01:02:15But, you know, I'm going to keep on trying to get the fight back in the U.K.
01:02:17But I just want to say thanks to Julio Diaz
01:02:19because he put on a great performance.
01:02:21And if this is my last fight in the U.K., what a fight it was.
01:02:24Well, it was an absolutely enthralling contest, Amir.
01:02:27It's been brilliant to see you back in the U.K.
01:02:29Thanks for coming, and good luck for your next fight.
01:02:31Thank you very much.
01:02:35Recapping the fights held tonight in Sheffield, England.
01:02:37In an earlier bout, unbeaten American heavyweight
01:02:40and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Deontay Wilder
01:02:42improved to a perfect 28-0
01:02:45with 28 knockout victories
01:02:47as he vanquished England's 2000 Olympic gold medalist
01:02:50Audley Harrison in just 70 seconds.
01:02:55And in another fight prior to the main event,
01:02:57British Olympian Anthony Ogogo
01:02:59made his professional debut a memorable one
01:03:02as he starched veteran Kieron Gray
01:03:04via second round technical knockout.
01:03:08And in our main event, which we saw here on Showtime,
01:03:11Amir Khan returned to England for the first time in two years
01:03:14and was knocked down in the fourth round
01:03:16by former two-time lightweight champion Julio Diaz.
01:03:20But Khan exhibited resiliency and heart
01:03:23en route to a competitive unanimous decision win
01:03:26over the very game Diaz.
01:03:33Coming up next, it's an encore presentation of All Access.
01:03:36Mayweather Guerrero as we follow Floyd Mayweather
01:03:38and Robert Guerrero in their final days
01:03:40prior to their upcoming May 4th fight
01:03:42on Showtime pay-per-view.
01:03:46That's a wrap for our Showtime Boxing Special Edition coverage
01:03:49from Sheffield, England.
01:03:51For Al Bernstein and Paulie Malinowski,
01:03:53this is Mauro Ranallo.
01:03:56Good night.
01:04:10you
Recommended
1:18:56
|
Up next
1:08:21
1:22:06
1:27:42
1:32:06
1:01:38
1:00:07
1:30:13
1:05:14
1:15:46
1:01:04