Joyce paid the price for receiving a public warning in the opening round. The warning gifted his Dominican opponent two points and left the Irishman 5-1 down at the bell.
However, Diaz, despite two warnings from the referee for holding the back of Joyce’s head, he was never reprimanded.
Trailing by three points, Joyce rapidly picked his off Diaz and before long was back level at 7-7. With his confidence high, the Galway man went on to take a 9-8 lead into the final round.
The Dominican piled the pressure on in the closing stages and a late point ensured the two fighters could not be separated.
However, Diaz certainly threw more punches and won due to a greater work load.
