Following the theater of Mayweather-McGregor, tonight’s showcase event featuring Gennady Golovkin vs. Saul Alvarez seeks to restore competitive balance atop boxing’s highest mantle.
And appropriately, quick-hitting undercard action presented by Golden Boy and HBO PPV culminated from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as Joseph Diaz Jr. (25-0, 13 KO) virtually shutout replacement opponent Rafael Rivera (25-1-2, 16 KO) to become Gary Russell Jr’s mandatory challenger.
Rivera, 23, received a title-eliminator bid after Diaz Jr’s original opponent, top-ten WBC featherweight Jorge Lara, withdrew from the bout for personal reasons.
Diaz, a 2012 Olympic Silver Medalist, has gold ambitions on the horizon.