By Jhonny Gonzalez

2008 Olympic Gold medal winner Felix Diaz is taking a big step up in class when he faces former welterweight champion Yuriy Nuzhnenko in a ten round bout on March 26 in Russia. Diaz, 27-years-old and the Olympic champion of the Beijing games, is ready to show the world that he is one of the best ou there.

Diaz has an unbeaten record of 8-0, 5KOs. Nuzhnenko is far more experienced with a record of 30-2 with 14 knockouts. The Russian boxer is a former WBA welterweight champion and returns from a close points loss to British pug Matthew Hatton. He put Hatton down in the first round but couldn't finish him off.

The team of Diaz is training him very hard and preparing him for the early power of Nuzhnenko.

"It's going to be a great challenge for him, but he has to be measured against these type of boxers because if you don't measure him against quality opponents, then you will never know the true worth of the fighter," said a source close to Diaz.