Nick Diaz has signed a contract to box professionally in addition to his commitments in MMA with Strikeforce, longtime boxing promoter Don Chargin announced Thursday."When the subject of mixed martial arts versus boxing arises, it always comes down to the boxer winning a boxing match easily and vice versa for MMA," Chargin said in a release. "However, after having seen the replays of Diaz's fights over the course of his career, I truly believe that this kid has what it takes to really make for some very entertaining fights within boxing. While some would state that he's merely a slugger possessing a good chin and a heavy work rate, there's something about his rhythm and fighting intelligence that really caught my eye."
Terms of the agreement and a fight date were not revealed.
Diaz (20-7) is currently without a fight after his removal Tuesday from Saturday's Strikeforce card after skipping a drug test to avoid the possibility of a suspension. Diaz is an open user of cannabis, which he is legally allowed to take in California for attention deficit disorder.
"A positive test would not only have barred him from participating on Aug. 15, but would have also made him ineligible to fight for over a year in California, thus making his rematch fight with Joe Riggs a remote possibility," states GracieFighter.com, the official website of Diaz's camp. "After weighing all options, it was decided that his best option would be to forego this fight."
Diaz has boxed once before as a super middleweight (167 pounds), winning a four-round decision on a card in April 2005 in Sacramento, Calif.
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