PBC on FOX results: Felix Diaz hands Sammy Vasquez first loss

Felix Diaz was coming off of a close and disputed loss to Lamont Peterson nine months ago, and tonight, he nearly got robbed blind. After battering and often dominating Sammy Vasquez over a 10-round fight in Birmingham, Alabama, the judges came back with majority draw scores of 96-94 Diaz, 95-95, and 95-95.

But there was a problem: zero of the three judges factored in a deducted point in the 10th round, when Vasquez lost a point for losing his mouthpiece. Once the scores were “recalculated,” as they very dramatically put it, the record was corrected. The scores were 96-93, 95-94, and 95-94, all for Felix Diaz. BLH had the fight 98-91 for Diaz, and many of the ringside media and those on Twitter had it 99-90 for Diaz.

Diaz (18-0-1, 10 KO) was a new level of opponent for Vasquez (21-1, 15 KO), and it showed throughout the fight. Vasquez had trouble defensively, with Diaz’s speed and timing wreaking havoc on him at times. Vasquez displayed a hell of a chin, absorbing some big, clean shots, and fought through a pretty nastily busted lip, as well.

Vasquez kept himself in the fight, but he was if not outclassed, then outfought. Diaz was just the better fighter here, and Vasquez never made the adjustments once the Dominican found some rhythm.