(With the addition of Diaz, the boxing world now gives 13% less of a fuck than before.)

Apparently a full schedule of MMA training, triathlons, and bong hits isn’t keeping Nick Diaz busy enough, because less than a week after he pulled  out of a Strikeforce title fight with Jay Hieron due to his unwillingness to take a drug test the mercurial 209 area code-enthusiast has signed a boxing contract with veteran promoter Don “War-a-Week” Chargin.  

This is one of those scenarios where, when you say ‘veteran,’ what you really mean is old.  Chargin boasts that he’s one of the few people left in the business who was alive to see “Sugar” Ray Robinson fight.  And yet after sixty years promoting boxing matches, he’s now tempting fate by taking on Diaz.  Says Chargin in the press release announcing the news:

"I know the signing of a mixed martial arts fighter might be considered controversial by many boxing fans across the world. 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. 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."  

Chargin goes on to say that the “battle between the MMA world and the boxing world has reached it’s boiling point and it’s time to settle this inside the ring,” though he doesn’t specify how putting an MMA fighter into boxing matches will really accomplish that goal, or when Diaz will actually step in the ring.  He also says that all inquiries and information will be handled through his Facebook page, where he lists his year of birth as 1928 and identifies his favorite music as Frank Sinatra.

So how did this unlikely relationship form between Diaz and Chargin, who seem to be from entirely different dimensions?  Probably has something to do with money, and with Diaz’s crazy scheme to, in the words of the press release, “become a dual sport champion.”

That sounds great and all, but at the moment he’s not even a one-sport champion.  He just blew a chance to fight for the Strikeforce welterweight title, so maybe it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to focus on MMA for the moment and get all that stuff straightened out.  But as we’ve all learned, you can’t tell Diaz nothin’.

We wish him the best of luck in his big glove endeavors.  He does know that they also drug test boxers, right?