By Steve Kim

After his May 19th twelve round decision loss to WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr., the once-beaten Joseph Diaz gets back into action later tonight at the Avalon in Hollywood, California. He is facing the tough and always dangerous Jesus Rojas, who holds a version of the WBA title.

Diaz certainly isn't facing a soft touch in his return.

"I told (my manager) Ralph (Heredia), 'I don't want to fight no nobodies, no tomato cans, I want to get right back to the drawing board.' I feel like I deserve to be fighting with these elite 126-pound fighters and I know Jesus Rojas fought two undefeated fighters and stopped both of them and I know that it's a good tough fight," Diaz said to krikya360.com.

The 31-year old Rojas - who hails from Puerto Rico - has defeated Claudio Marrero (KO7) and Abraham Lopez (TKO8) in his last two bouts.

''I know that he's going to apply the pressure but I'm ready for these type of fights and I'm ready go give the fans great fights all the time," said Diaz, who has a record of 26-1 (14 KO's).

Win or lose, Rojas will walk away with his world title because Diaz failed to make the division limit on Friday, as he weighed in at 126.6-pounds. Because Diaz failed to make the featherweight limit of 126, he's not able to win the belt but a deal was worked out for the contest to move forward.

Rojas (26-1-2, 19 KOs) has been undefeated for nearly ten years, since suffering an upset decision loss to Jose Angel Beranza in 2008 on the Pacquiao-De La Hoya undercard. Rojas got revenge over Beranza a few years later.

This card will be streamed on Facebook Watch as part of Golden Boy Promotions new series with that platform.

Steve Kim is the news editor for krikya360.com.