“Badly bruised testicles” force boxer to pull out of fight

Those are three words that you never want to see put together.

Badly, bruised and testicles should never be uttered in the same sentence but if it's difficult to read, we shudder to think of how it feels for Felix Diaz. Diaz was hoping to rebound from his defeat to pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford seven months ago with a return in Cancun, Mexico but the 34-year-old has been forced out of the comeback contest with a somewhat embarrassing injury. The 19-2 fighter forgot his protective cup ahead of a sparring session in training camp and, rather than take a day off, the former Olympic gold medallist threw caution to the wind and his testicles won't thank him for his cavalier approach to getting rounds under his belt.

"He forgot his cup one day so he sparred without it and got nailed in the balls. It caused a real injury. He’s got badly bruised testicles," promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.

"He took a major shot to the balls without a cup and it caused a lot of swelling.

"We were trying to get Felix a fight before the end of the year. He’s been eager to fight.

"It’s a cringe-worthy injury but sometimes life’s a pain in the balls. He’ll be back when his balls are better, hopefully in January."