By Sammy Rozenberg

WBO/WBA lightweight champion Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz (33-0, 17 KOs) stopped Julio Diaz (34-4, 25 KOs) after eight rounds of action at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill, and in the process he comes within one title of unifying the lightweight division by capturing Julio's IBF title.

Julio made it personal by knocking Juan's punching power and promised to fight him in an all-action fight. He got exactly what he wanted, and then some.

The two Diazes began to battle at high pace from the sound of the first bell. Juan was charging forward while using his jab to work his way in. The much quicker hand speed of Juan was too much for Julio to deal with. For every two punches Julio would land, Juan would come back with five or six of his own.

Juan's quick combinations and ability to outfight Julio on the inside was the difference in the fight. After six rounds, it began to look like target practice as Juan would land half of everything he threw. By the eight, it was a lost cause for Julio, and he told the referee at the start of the ninth that he was not going to continue. The fight was stopped and Juan declared the winner by TKO.

There is so much talent and so many scenarios in the lightweight division. But, Diaz will now have to deal with the headaches of making his mandatory defenses. The first one on the horizon appears to be the IBF mandatory, Nate Campbell, promised a crack at the winner of Diaz-Diaz by the sanctioning body.

Will Diaz be able to resist the temptation of money in favor of making his mandatory defenses against a lower quality of opposition? It all depends on what kind of negotiations will take place in the next few months.

WBC lightweight champ David Diaz (yes another Diaz) would also like to unify the titles by fighting Juan, but he is also demanding an unrealistic $1.5 million dollar purse for such a fight. Something tells me the high demand is just a mirage to obtain a career high purse. He received $350,000 for his win over Erik Morales, the biggest purse of his career. It's safe to say that a purse of $700,000, double of what he made in his career high, will make the fight happen.

Joel Casamayor, recognized by Ring Magazine as the lightweight champion and the reigning WBC-interim champion, has been positioning himself to fight any of the other champions. Due to a variety of problems, he's been inactive since his trilogy win over the late Diego Corrales last October.

After winning the WBC lightweight title from Corrales, he was stripped of the crown when he refused to face David Diaz and tried to make a rematch with Acelino Freitas. David Diaz, then the interim champ, was elevated to full title status by the WBC.

Although he lacks a major title, many experts consider him the linear champion of the lightweights. Casamayor recently signed with Golden Boy Promotions in order to push his career forward. His first fight with Golden Boy will come against Jose Armando Santa Cruz on the pay-per-view undercard to Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley on November 10 in New York.

Another big name in the mix is Manny Pacquiao. Pacquaio, coming off a rematch win over Marco Antonio Barrera, is mulling over a possible move to 135-pounds. Pacquiao admittedly had difficulties making the super featherweight limit. He seems to be leaning towards David Diaz if decides to move up. HBO has already reserved a pay-per-view date for Pacquiao in March. Should Juan Manuel Marquez defeat Rocky Juarez on Nov. 3, and he comes to terms with Pacquiao for the March date, a move to lightweight will be put on hold until the middle of 2008.

Undercard report by Jake Donovan at ringside:

Mike Mollo and Art Binkowski promised a war befitting of the hype surrounding their Windy City heavyweight rivalry. Mollo more than made good on that guarantee, easily taking the first round before tearing through Binkowski in the second. A left hook put Binkowski on the deck early in the second, and he never recovered. Apparently, referee Gerald Scott needed a bigger hint, or perhaps a swift kick in the ass for allowing Mollo to unload on Binkowski along the ropes for what seemed like an eternity. Binkowski eventually slumped to the canvas, prompting Scott to finally intervene. Official time was 1:25 of the 2nd round. Mollo rolls to 19-1 (11KOs) with the win, his fourth straight since suffering the lone defeat of his career a year ago. Binkowski falls to 16-2-3 (11KOs), snapping a 3-fight unbeaten streak.

Matt Zegan is a crowd favorite in the Chicago area, but no longer even the lightweight gatekeeper he once was. If the lesson wasn’t learned in his painfully one-sided drubbing at the hands of Nate Campbell last year in Rosemont, it was painfully beaten into him tonight in Hoffman Estates by Damian Fuller, who never looked better in scoring a 2nd round stoppage. Fuller put Zegan down in the 1st, and unloaded in the 2nd, pummeling Zegan along the ropes before the referee finally intervened. Official time was 0:52 of the 2nd round. Fuller rolls to 30-4-1 (14KOs), now unbeaten in his last ten (9-0-1, since his 2003 knockout loss to the late Diego “Chico” Corrales). Zegan drops his third straight, falling to 37-4-1 (21KOs). Having suffered the first stoppage loss of his career after showing serious signs of decline in the past few years, Zegan should strongly consider calling it a career.

Vasyli “Danger” Tarabarov improved (and I use the term very loosely) to 17-0-1 (7KOs) with an eight-round split decision over Priest “Tiger” Smalls (18-15-1, 6KOs) in a bout that drew boos early, often and throughout. Scores were 77-75 and 78-74 for Tarabarov, and 77-75 for Smalls. Nothing more needs to be said of this abomination of a fight.

Angel “Toro” Hernandez backed up his pre-fight promise of taking Louis Turner to hell and back in their crossroads – and crosstown – middleweight bout. Hernandez, fighting for the first time in 19 months and only his second bout in three years, forced a blistering pace from the opening bell. Turner danced as hard as he could, but eventually found himself in way over his head, dropping a decisive unanimous decision in a bout that had the crowd cheering throughout. Hernandez had Turner in big trouble in the 6th round, with the referee one step away from stopping the bout before Turner threw just enough punches to give the impression he was fit to continue. To his credit, Turner came back to win the 7th round, but Hernandez closed the fight strong to preserve the victory. Scores were 78-74 (2x) and 79-73, all for Hernandez, who improves to 28-6 (16KOs) with the win, his second straight. Turner, a former Chicago Golden Gloves champion, falls to 11-1 (7KOs), but gained a valuable learning experience and respect for his brave showing in defeat.

John Ruiz meant it when he said he didn’t care who he was fighting this weekend, so long as he fought. Sergei Lyakhovich failed to step up when called upon, so in came last minute replacement Otis Tisdale, normally a reliable 8-10 round fighter. Tonight, barely made it out of the first, getting dropped twice in the opening frame before being put down and out for the night 0:45 into the second round. The win was Ruiz’ first in nearly three years, though sadly enough to keep him in the mix in today’s abysmal heavyweight division.

Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield (5-0-1, 5KOs) lived up to his nickname, violently snatching the “0” from Rahman Yasubov (6-1, 3KOs) via second round knockout in a battle of unbeaten welterweights. Yasubov had minor success with boxing in the first, before Mayfield turned up the heat in the second. After two warnings for roughhouse tactics, Mayfield turned up the heat, flooring Yasubov with a right hand. Two more knockdowns followed, the third prompting the referee to halt the action. Official time was 2:47 of the 2nd round for Mayfield, whose career is handled by the “first lady of boxing”, Jackie Kallen.

Miguel Acosta overcame two knockdowns to pull out a minor upset with a split decision win over previously unbeaten Anges Adjaho in their 12-round junior lightweight bout. Acosta forced a fast, aggressive pace throughout most of the bout, much to the chagrin of Adjaho, who seemed more interested in making it a tactical battle. Adjaho woke up in the 9th round, flooring Acosta with a left hook. Acosta clinched for dear life to avoid an early exit, but survived the round and regained control of the bout in the final three rounds. Adjaho added drama with a flash knockdown midway through the final round, a round Acosta otherwise dominated before and after hitting the deck.

Adjaho was announced the winner on the first card by an absurd score of 115-111. Luckily, common sense found its way to the other two cards, 115-112 and 114-112 for Acosta, who improves to 20-4-2 (16KOs). Adjaho loses for the first time as a pro, falling to 22-1 (12KOs). With the win, Acosta becomes the mandatory challenger for fellow Venezuela, junior lightweight knockout artist and 130 lb. alphabet titlist Edwin Valero.

Rising junior welterweight prospect Devon Alexander (13-0, 8KOs) helped raise the curtain at the Sears Centre, making quick work of Cory Peterson (7-1, 2KOs) in a battle of unbeatens. Alexander, who can box like a dream, has been working more on the power aspect of his game over the past year. It showed tonight, as the normally durable Peterson hit the deck twice in the first round, the second resulting in a nine count and a thorough examine from the referee before being deemed unfit to continue. Time was 2:59 of the 1st round.