Nick Diaz to box Jeff Lacy, manager says GSP fight still pos

mizantrop · **Joined:** Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:06 pm **Posts:** 258

The hottest fighter in the mixed martial arts landscape right now is Stocktons own, Nick Diaz. He is currently riding an 11-fight win streak and has been mentioned as a potential super-fight candidate to face-off against UFC welterweight champion George St. Pierre at the end of 2011.

Due to the structuring of Diaz's contract with MMA outfit, Strikeforce, he is in a unique position where he can contractually pursue a professional boxing career in addition to his mixed-martial arts title reign.

While rumors of opponents such as former champions Fernando Vargas and Roy Jones Jr. have been floated around, neither mans team have yet solidified a contract with the young champion.

A few moments ago, former IBF super-middleweight champion & devastating knockout artist, Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy, officially signed on the dotted line to square off against Diaz in the Fall of 2011.

Lacy possesses the type of dangerous punching power in both hands that can end the double digit win streak of the rugged Northern California champion.

Don Chargin states, "This is a very dangerous fight for both men. Not only is this fight dangerous but stylistically it is very intriguing. I expected more resistance from fight fans and media in regards to this match-up but its amazing as to the hundreds of calls and e-mails I've received from fans on both sides wanting to see this match-up take place. I've received more than a few inquiries from some other very high-profile boxers that want to step up and fight Nick. Its been a real whirlwind."

Chargin continues, "I've been around boxing for quite some time and I've seen a lot of great, tough fighters in my six decades within the sport. I believe that if Nick had been one of those kids who had picked up boxing from a youth, he'd undoubtedly be a world-champion today. Sometime within the next 2 weeks I'll be personally making the trek to Cesar Gracies gym to setup a private, closed door sparring session between Nick and a few nameless top-level contenders I have in mind."

Can Jeff Lacy refocus his career to regain the once promising glory that lingered at his fingertips just a few short years back?

Can Nick Diaz's granite chin withstand the devastating punching power of arguably the hardest punching 168-pound fighter on the planet?

These questions will definitely be answered before the end of 2011 as the fight titled, "Breaking History" is fairly self-explanatory.

http://www.boxingscene.com/nick-diaz-vs ... own--38892

At first glance, it appears boxing has won the battle for Nick Diaz's heart.

A press release issued today announced that the Strikeforce welterweight champion has signed to fight former IBF champion Jeff Lacy in the fall of this year.

Yet Diaz's representative today told MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) that the fighter is willing to forgo a trip to the ring in the event that a fight materializes with welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

"Barring something like (UFC president) Dana White telling us, 'Hey, we really need you to fight GSP at such-and-such a date and it conflicts with [boxing] – barring that, we're going to fight Lacy," said Diaz manager and trainer Cesar Gracie.

Of the possibility of Diaz vacating the bout with Lacy for a fight with St-Pierre, Gracie said he'd informed Chagrin about the contingency and the promoter would "have to be cool with that."

Chagrin could not be reached for comment at the time of this writing.

A date and venue is set for Diaz vs. Lacy but is being kept under wraps.

Diaz aligned himself with boxing promoter Don Chagrin two years ago but continued to fight and flourish in MMA, winning the Strikeforce welterweight title and defending it three times. This past December, he signed a new multi-fight contract with Strikeforce that allowed him one professional boxing match in 2011.

That was four months before the UFC purchased Strikeforce. However, Diaz's original contract stayed intact, and White has said his promotion will honor the deal. White nonetheless said this past week that he planned to meet with the fighter in his hometown of Stockton, Calif., to discuss future plans.

But that meeting has not materialized, Gracie said, and getting word from the UFC appears to be the missing piece of the current booking puzzle.

Following St-Pierre's methodical defeat of Jake Shields this past Saturday at UFC 129, Diaz's has been bandied about as perhaps the only fighter under the Zuffa umbrella that would make an entertaining fight with the welterweight champ.

The Diaz camp hopes that both the Lacy and St-Pierre will happen this year.

"My whole thing has been to have Nick box and then fight GSP," Gracie said. "If [the UFC] is serious about Nick fighting GSP, and if the fight happens in the fall, then yeah, we're probably going to go with that fight."

Diaz, who this past month defended his belt with an impressive TKO of Paul Daley, has often railed against a disparity in pay between boxers and MMA fighters and complained that he is underpaid despite several six-figure payouts in his time with Strikeforce. Of his deal to fight Lacy, Gracie declined to give a specific number but said the Strikeforce champ will "definitely make more money than he does in MMA."

And though Diaz's boxing career is closer than ever to being a reality, Gracie said a big-time MMA fight still has the pull to bring him back to the sport in which he began his career.

"We're trying to work with the UFC and not step on any toes over there," he said. "It's been a work in progress, and they probably at this point have the ultimate say."

The 34-year-old Lacy has hit rocky times since losing his IBF super-middleweight title to Joe Calzaghe in March 2006. The Floridian is 3-3 in recent competition and is coming off back-to-back losses against former champ Roy Jones Jr. and Dhafir Smith

http://mmajunkie.com/news/23515/press-r ... ssible.mma

Nick Diaz to box Jeff Lacy, manager says GSP fight still pos

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