Ammeth Diaz: Boxing Career and Notable Fights
Ammeth Antonio Diaz Tejada is a Panamanian boxer known as “Cloroformo.” Born on June 19, 1983, he competed internationally at lightweight and super lightweight. His career included a challenge for Miguel Vazquez’s IBF lightweight championship and eliminator victories over Leonardo Zappavigna and Martin Gethin.
Career and championship record
Diaz turned professional in July 2000. Before his best-known lightweight opportunities, he faced Souleymane M’Baye in France in November 2007 and Joan Guzman in the Dominican Republic in December 2008. Both contests ended in defeat. His record also includes a September 2008 stoppage win over Raymundo Beltran in Panama City.
On August 5, 2011, Diaz fought Leonardo “Lenny Z” Zappavigna at the Melbourne Pavilion in Australia. He scored two knockdowns and won by fifth-round stoppage. That overseas eliminator victory earned a championship opportunity against Vazquez, who had already beaten Zappavigna earlier that year.
The IBF title fight took place in Guadalajara, Mexico, on January 21, 2012. Vazquez won a twelve-round unanimous decision. Diaz therefore remained a world-title challenger rather than becoming the IBF champion. He returned with a stoppage victory over Stanley Mendez in Panama that September.
Diaz faced Gethin at Walsall Town Hall in England on May 31, 2013. Their IBF final eliminator was competitive through five rounds before Diaz knocked Gethin down in the sixth. Two further knockdowns followed in round seven, the last from a body punch that left Gethin unable to beat the count. The victory put Diaz back in position for a mandatory title opportunity.
Contemporary reporting listed Diaz at 32 wins and 11 losses, with 23 knockout victories, after the Gethin fight. That was a dated record rather than his final career total. His later ledger includes defeats against Walter Castillo in Tampa in July 2015, Jose Zepeda in Mexicali in January 2016 and Alexander Duran in Panama City in August 2016. These later appearances extend the career beyond the Walsall victory.
Sources
Additional sources: https://boxerlist.com/fr/boxer/ammeth-diaz/34040; https://www.boxingscene.com/articles/photos-ameth-diaz-punishes-lenny-z-then-breaks-him; https://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/2013/llega-ammeth-con-sed-de-revancha.html
Additional sources: https://www.boxingscene.com/articles/diaz-knocks-gethin-out-dawson-blasts-out-keane-two
