Jorge Masvidal isn’t holding back from the prospect of facing Nate Diaz in a boxing match. Masvidal has been there and defeated Diaz when the pair headlined UFC 244 on Nov. 2, 2019. Since then, the 39-year-olds have been dishing out a vigorous dose of venom to each other, highlighted last month by a brawl between the two camps at a recent press conference attempting to build up to the fight.
This Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Diaz and Masvidal, two MMA stars who are well past their prime, will square off in a 10-round airy heavyweight bout. The card will feature real boxers, as former WBA middleweight champion Danny Jacobs takes on Shane Mosley Jr. in a super middleweight bout, co-presented on Fanmio/DAZN/UFC Fight Pass PPV (9 p.m. ET).
In his only boxing fight, Diaz lost a unanimous decision to Jake Paul and was knocked down twice in August 2023. Diaz last won a fight on September 10, 2022, when he choked out Tony Ferguson in an MMA fight at UFC 279.
“I don’t care about Nate’s past, but anyone with two hands should always be taken care of and respected,” said Masvidal, who will be fighting in boxing for the second time.
He last won a fight five years ago, defeating Diaz at UFC 244.
“I think Diaz is very constrained, based on what I saw in his fight with Jake Paul,” Masvidal said. “I know Nate is very stubborn. He doesn’t change. He just comes out and tries to wear guys down. That’s boxing and he’ll be on par with me. July 6 will show that I’m a determined student of the game. I want to be as brutal as I can. I love being as acute and as clever as you can be in boxing. I’ll bust his ass in the fourth round. I’m excited.”
Masvidal’s first boxing fight took place in June 2005, against Joseph Benjamin. Before the fight, he had a record of 1-11-2.
“I always asked the UFC to box, but they wouldn’t let me and I was always devastated, but eventually I got the permission,” he said. “I got the permission to fight three times, and once I got the permission, I was going to take it seriously. I got the chance to train with Roy Jones Jr. for 10 days and I got the chance to train under Freddie Roach. It was amazing. I’m committed to it. I trained from night to day.”
The hatred stems from their one MMA match. That spilled over into what happened last month when someone on Diaz’s team threw a punch at Masvidal. That’s when Masvidal’s trainer, Jorge Capetillo, interfered and a brawl broke out between the two teams. Interestingly, Diaz was nowhere near the brawl.
“It’s real and it didn’t have to be that way because it started out of mutual respect,” Masvidal said. “After he took it as a kick in Fresh York at UFC 244, when he needed a doctor to save his life, he went on the internet and started saying things like I’m a coward and all these excuses. It didn’t make sense. I was beating the crap out of him for 15 minutes. It just kept happening, and I was fighting for a world championship when he was out of the UFC.
“I signed up for Fanmio for boxing, it just happened to be against Nate Diaz. But he had to be at the top. His camp (allegedly) attacked my trainer and I thought he was a coward. This is for Nate Diaz and his whole team, and he’s going to pay for it. I’m definitely going to say it in the clearest way possible: I want to smash his face; I want him to piss blood for a month. It’s not going to be Hagler-Hearns, because I wouldn’t compare Nate Diaz to any of those greats.
“It won’t be war. It’ll be ass-kicking, like the US invasion of Barbados.”
Seven months after losing to Sebastian Fundora, Tim Tszyu described the unified WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion as a man he can beat at 154.
Twenty-nine-year-old Tszyu from Australia lost a split decision to replacement Fundora at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, surrendering his WBO belt in the process. The 26-year-old Fundora took advantage of Tszyu’s devastating second-round injury to claim a 115-113, 116-112 and 116-112 split decision victory.
Talking about his wealth of talent at the age of 154, Tszyu refused to acknowledge Fundora as the best junior middleweight, but believes he currently holds the titles needed to be considered the best.
“Man, the 154-pound division is heated right now,” Tszyu said in an interview with BoxingScene. “Names are popping up everywhere. There are belts all over the place, so it’s good to be in this division now.”
In addition to Tszyu, the junior middleweight division is currently loaded with plenty of talent, including Terence Crawford, Fundora, Israil Madrimov, Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk, Brian Mendoza and Erickson Lubin, among others.
When asked who in the talent pool he wanted to face, Tszyu said he was open to fighting anyone at 154 pounds, but chose Fundora as the first option on his list. Tszyu also has plans to gain weight in the future.
“If everything presents itself and everything falls into place, then yes, of course. Why not? It all depends on the current situation. Changes in boxing. It’s like a fighter losing and then being next in line. That’s all. You can’t really predict the future much. It’s arduous.
“It’s very heated at 154 at the moment, so I’ll stay here. Fundora already has the belts at the moment, but no, I don’t think he’s the best.”
WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball (21-0-1, 12 KOs) has a tough mandatory challenger in Stephen Fulton next for him after a grueling tenth-round knockout victory Saturday night over Ronny Rios (34-5, 17 KO) at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.
Former WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Fulton’s boxing skills will be a gigantic problem for the 5’2″ Ball if this fight comes next, as he has skills the 27-year-old has not seen before.
It was Ball’s first defense of his newly won WBA 126-pound title, but he may have to face the mandatory Fulton (22-1, 8 KO) next if the World Boxing Association orders the fight. Ball said tonight that he wants to have a unification fight with one of the 126-pound champions next, but we’ll see if the WBA allows it.
Fulton lost to Naoya Inoue last July by eighth-round knockout in Tokyo, Japan. It was too much firepower for Fulton at the time, and he fought too cautiously against the Japanese star in front of his fans at the Ariake Arena. Against Ball, Fulton would be able to handle the style much easier because he’s not a marksman with Inoue’s speed and power.
WBA No. 1 Fulton looked spectacular last month, defeating Carlos Castro with a breathtaking 10-round split decision victory on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga on September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
If the WBA allows Ball to place Fulton in a fight against one of the other featherweight champions, the logical fight would be against WBO champion Rafael Espinoza (25-0, 21 KO).
“I always want to eliminate them, no matter what. If I feel the pace, they will feel the pace ten times worse. Keep going until the bell rings and the fight is over,” Nick Ball said Social boxing.
“In boxing, it all comes down to who wants it the most. When you’re there, it’s just you and him. He is the one who wants it the most.”
TYSON Fury says he approaches fights no differently now than when he was a youthful, rising boxer. He is currently training for the biggest moment of his life, after losing his undefeated record to Oleksandr Usyk in a May thriller, and as he approaches the age of 40, the self-proclaimed “Gypsy King” believes that a change of plans will lead him to revenge on December 21.
“I’m going to go into destroy mode now. The last time I went to box with him, I was careful and boxed [the] head straight for it. Let’s talk about the facts,” Fury buzzed.
“Anyone can get caught, which we see in a lot of heavyweight fights. But this time I won’t decide on points. I’m going to knock the motherfucker out.
Taking time during camp to chat in the TNT Sports studio, Tyson agreed with boxing specialist Steve Bunce that he is now fit, in good shape and willing to perform where it counts, even though the fight is almost three months away.
“I’m ready to rock and roll. Look, I don’t need a 12-week camp. I’ve been boxing all my life. I’m ready to leave tonight, tomorrow, next weekend, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday. It doesn’t really matter. I can get into the ring with 30 stones and do 15 rounds.
“I’m a natural at it. All I need is five or six weeks of sparring, this time good sparring, where I don’t have a wound that’s going to open up. We were very worried about the cut at camp because that cut came with a huge payout. And the cut didn’t even matter in the fight.”
That same week, he admitted his corner team would likely remain unchanged for the return leg in Riyad. The 36-year-old Tyson comprehensively addressed the issue of the laceration that caused initial confusion in the Usyks’ first fight, and the recovery became a race against time.
“Just three months, 12 weeks earlier, I had a 16-inch cut on my left eye that needed to heal. I’m not sure how long it takes for the wound to heal. I mean, how long? Fury asked Anthony Crolla for answers.
“It took maybe seven or eight weeks for the wound to heal and then another six or seven weeks of training. But there is always a risk that it will open and then you will lose your large fortune, you know what I mean?
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