Christopher Diaz vs Masayuki Ito Preview July 28th
Unbeaten Christopher Diaz of Puerto Rico will be taking on Japan’s Masayuki Ito for the vacant WBO Super Featherweight Championship in Kissimmee, Florida this Saturday, July 28th. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. On ESPN+ while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on BoxNation. Diaz last fought in March when he stopped Braulio Rodriguez in the fourth round. Ito’s last action also came in March when he stopped Vergil Puton in the ninth round.
Diaz vs Ito Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Masayuki Ito +350
- Christopher Diaz -530
My Pick
The 23-year-old Diaz enters the fight with a perfect record of 23-0 along with 15 Kos. He was born in Philadelphia, but the family moved to Puerto Rico when he was just a month old. He turned pro back in 2013 after 187 amateur bouts and has boxed 103 rounds since. Diaz stands 5-feet-6-inches tall and has a 64-inch reach. He’s got pretty good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 65 per cent and likes to go to the body. Since turning pro he’s won the WBO NABO Super Featherweight crown and the WBO Youth Featherweight Title.
Diaz has fought numerous times on U.S. soil, but he hasn’t really faced an upper echelon boxer as of yet. You may recognize some of his opponents though such as Ray Ximinez, Fernando Vargas, Efrain Esquivias and Bryant Cruz. Diaz is an aggressive, action fighter who’d prefer to stop his opponent rather than leave it in the hands of the judges and that’s what makes him so fan friendly and he was named prospect of the year for 2016 by ESPN Deportes.
Ito hails from Tokyo and is 27 years old. He’s just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with an unlisted reach so is a couple of inches taller than Diaz. He’ll climb into the ring with an impressive mark of 23-1-1 with 12 Kos to his name. He’s not really known as a heavy puncher with a current knockout ratio of 48 per cent. Ito turned pro back in 2009 at the age of 18 and has 158 rounds under his belt since. This will be his first pro bout outside of Japan.
Ito didn’t have much of an amateur career, but has unified the WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF Championships since turning pro. His draw came against Tsuyoshi Tameda in 2011 in his fifth pro fight and he was named Japans rookie of the year in the featherweight division for 2012. he won the WBC Youth Lightweight Title the next year, but was beaten by Rikki Naito by a majority decision for the Japanese Super Featherweight Title in 2015.
Prediction…
Ito is an intelligent boxer with good mobility and controls the distance well. He likes to set up his jab and his power has been improving as he’s stopped his last three opponents and five of his last seven. On the other hand, Diaz is more aggressive and powerful and the styles should make for an entertaining and competitive fight. It’s hard to favour one of the other here, but Diaz’s aggressiveness should be the difference here.
A close call, but Diaz appears to be the best bet here.
Play: Diaz -530 @ BetOnline.ag
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Christopher Diaz betting • Masayuki Ito betting