Joseph Diaz Jr. blamed a lack of sauna and other weight tools for failing to make weight for his scheduled featherweight title defense on Saturday night. The matchup against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov instead was a chance for the Tajik boxer to claim the title that Diaz had already forfeited after coming in 3.6 lbs overweight. The 28-year-old American was fined $100,000 from his half-million-dollar purse.
Rakhimov was ultimately unable to win the belt for himself as the match was scored a draw, leaving the IBF super featherweight belt vacant, to be contested at a later date decided by the governing body. Speaking after the fight, Diaz was satisfied with the result.
“I’m not disappointed at all, man," Diaz told DAZN: “At the end of the day, I know who I am. I work hard, man. I’m a hard worker. I’m a hard, disciplined type of fighter. And it just wasn’t my night, man. I couldn’t make the weight like I used to.”
Diaz argued that he did not have his standard equipment to help him make weight as he might usually do. He felt that he wasn't going to put his life at stake to make 130 pounds.
“There was no sauna here,” Diaz said. "This COVID stuff, they don’t have no gym here. They only have a treadmill here. They had me working out inside my room, with the f—king heater on. It was just, you know, completely, completely different than how, professional, you know, world title type fights should be. And I just had to try to adapt to it. I worked out inside the room. I jumped rope, but my body just felt weak, and, you know, I just couldn’t do it. And my health is more important.
“I still had to go out here and showcase to the world what I’m about and fight. And I’m not gonna go and risk my life trying to make the weight, and really, really deplete myself, and get hurt inside that ring. There’s no need to f—king please anybody. At the end of the day, I’m doing this for myself, and I’m doing this for my family, to take care of my family and to take care of myself. And that’s the person that I really need to look out for, is myself, nobody else.”