Round by Round: Diaz v. Campbell

The first bout in tonight's double header is the 135 pound fight Diaz v. Campbell for the lightweight championship. The fight is taking place in a bull fighting arena that has been converted to accommodate tonight's event. Juan Diaz has become a rising star in the sport and is currently undefeated. At 24 years old, he has been regarded as a fast puncher who is also a knockout artist for his weight class. Tonight he goes up against the 36 year old veteran Nate Campbell.

The night starts with a feature on Diaz's life. Not only is he coming up in the sport of boxing, he is also attempting to receive his college degree at the University of Houston. The story also features his Mexican family. He is scheduled to finish college in December. His dream after boxing is to become the mayor of Houston.

Commentator Max Kellerman believes that this fight is Campbell's last shot to improve his name in the sport.

After the feature the fighters make their way to the ring.

Round 1: Campbell seems to realize Kellerman's comment and wastes no time being aggressive. Campbell unleashes many strong combinations to Diaz's body. A cut already starts to bleed over Diaz's left eye, most likely from a accidental headbutt. They go toe to toe refusing to clinch and trade blows. Diaz turns it up and answers back with punches to the head.

Spartan: 10-9 Campbell
Uatu: 10-9 Campbell
Franchise: 10-9 Campbell

Round 2: Campbell starts the round early again and goes right in and swings for the fences. Diaz chooses his punches wisely and lands at a higher percentage. It is truly a fast paced fight. Diaz lands three hard right hands to Campbell's head. Diaz comes back off the ropes and swings back but Diaz blocks most. Both fighters take punishment to the head in the middle of the ring. Diaz looks faster and more accurate in this round.

Spartan: 10-9 Diaz
Uatu: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Diaz

Round 3: Neither fighter looks tired in round 3, but Diaz looks more focused. Campbell looks like he's going for a knockout, swinging wildly and off the mark. Intensity is still high as the square off in the middle of the ring. Campbell now focuses on the body. Diaz backs Campbell into the ropes and lands flurries to the body and head. Campbell's upper body movement looks good and dodges some of Diaz's punches. It looks like this fight will be decided by the strength of chins.

Spartan: 10-9 Diaz
Uatu: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Diaz

Round 4: They trade punches in the center again. Campbell now throws less. Diaz starts to work the body. Diaz continues to throw great combinations that land to Campbell's head. Campbell shakes his head to say it didn't hurt. The crowd chants MEXICO. Diaz continues to land and Campbell shakes his head again. Diaz now takes a lot of punishment upstairs but stays strong and swings back.

Spartan: 10-9 Diaz
Uatu: 10-9 Diaz
Franchse: 10-9 Diaz

Round 5: Diaz's trainer tells him to keep working because Campbell will tire. Neither fighter looks tired in the 5th. Campbell lands punches to the head while Diaz lands to the body. Now both fighters start to use the jab which is the first we've seen of it. Campbell now landing at a higher percentage and choosing his punches wisely. Both fighters trade punches at the end of the round.

Spartan: 10-9 Campbell
Uatu: 10-9 Campbell
Franchise: 10-9 Diaz

Round 6: Round 6 looks just like round 1 in the first seconds. Campbell comes in and throws hard. Diaz returns punches to Campbell's head. Now the fighters slow down but still throw. Campbell lands 3 hooks and an uppercut. I don't think Diaz can take much more punishment like that. Diaz does not appear to be phased and continues to fire at will. Diaz's eye is now gushing. 1 point now gets deducted by Campbell for a headbutt. Diaz takes his given time to clean his cut. There are 20 seconds left when they return to action. Both fighters end the round by swinging hard.

Spartan: 9-9
Uatu: 9-9
Franchise: 9-9

Round 7: The replay shows that Campbell should not have had a point deducted because the cut was opened by a punch. Campbell's defense looks better than his opponent in this round. Both fighters still punching at tremendous numbers. Diaz looks bothered by his cut and starts to paw at it. Campbell is now landing the cleaner punches. Compubox says that Campbell has thrown more punches in ever round so far.

Spartan: 10-9 Campbell
Uatu: 10-9 Campbell
Franchise: 10-9 Campbell

Round 8: Emanuel Steward complains that Diaz's cutman is not doing a very good job stopping his cut. Neither fighter looks tired as we enter the later rounds of the fight. Diaz's punches now look less accurate. The commentators state that the judges of tonight's fight are extremely inexperienced. Both fighters trade once again as the round ends.

Spartan: 10-9 Campbell
Uatu: 10-9 Campbell
Franchise: 10-9 Campbell

Round 9: They trade in the middle of the ring again. Diaz clearly taking more punishment to his head. Diaz looks more hesitant to throw now. Campbell now firing to Diaz's head with hard hooks. Diaz's eye is a bloody mess and takes more and more punishment as the round ends.

Spartan: 10-9 Campbell
Uatu: 10-9 Campbell
Franchise: 10-9 Campbell

Round 10: Campbell now looking for a knockout while Diaz slows his pace and throws less. The entire left side of Diaz's face looks terrible while he continues to favor it. Diaz now starts to punch more but his punches are inaccurate. Diaz stumbles around the ring and gets backed into the ropes and takes more punches to his head. The commentators believe that Diaz's will has been broken. If diaz makes it through this fight it will be impressive.

Spartan: 10-9 Campbell
Uatu: 10-9 Campbell
Franchise: 10-9 Campbell

Round 11: Campbell backs up Diaz in the first seconds of the round. Diaz refuses to give up and continues to swing. Campbell lands vicious hooks that Diaz cannot block. Diaz now fighting with his head down. Campbell looks comfortable and loose. Campbell now stalking Diaz around the ring and dishing out very strong hooks.

Spartan: 10-9 Campbell
Uatu: 10-9 Campbell
Franchise: 10-9 Campbell

Round 12: Campbell's trainer tells him to not get careless and if he follows that advice he should have this fight won. Campbell really wants a knockout but Diaz does not back down. Diaz is now clinching. Campbell is now bullying Diaz around the ring and fires at Diaz in the corner. The last 10 seconds are still action packed but Campbell landing more.

Spartan: 10-9 Campbell
Uatu: 10-9 Campbell
Franchise: 10-9 Campbell

This fight was a high energy fight with very hard punches. Campbell fought harder for 12 rounds and deserves to win the fight. Diaz's showed heart but looked hurt in the later rounds. He needs to work on his defense to continue to be competitive in this sport.

Judge 1: 114-113 Diaz
Judge 2: 111-116 Campbell
Judge 3: 112-115 Campbell

Campbell wins split decision and wins the title

Spartan: 116-111 Campbell
Uatu: 116-111 Campbell
Franchise: 115-112 Campbell

In the post fight interview, Campbell is arrogant. He says he fought "his ass off" and says he come out so strong because he knew Diaz couldn't take it.

He says he's the best fighter in the world. Diaz says that Campbell's intensity threw him off his game plan. He says he should have established his jab.