“My contract was up with Don King and I was not going to re-sign,” he explained. It didn’t last long and soon he began having issues with King, which led to Diaz facing Nate Campbell in Cancun, Mexico in March 2008. “I was on cloud 9, I felt like nobody could stop me at that time.” “That was another fight which made me feel I was invincible at the time,” said Diaz, who stopped his namesake in nine-rounds. Next, Diaz met IBF ruler Julio Diaz in October 2007. He has shown he has power but to me, I just didn’t feel that punching power everyone was talking about. After that constant pressure, he retired after eight rounds.” “People tell me I’m crazy but he just didn’t hit hard, I was walking through his punches,” he said. He met WBO beltholder Acelino Freitas in a unification in April 2007. “Baby Bull” turned back former two-time WBA 135-pound titlist Julien Lorcy (UD 12) and grizzled veteran Billy Irwin (TKO 9) in Texas but cracks were appearing in his relationship with his promoter.Īfter just one non-title fight in over a year Diaz got back to work making three subsequent title defenses and began working with Don King. “The fact I was able to do it at home, in front of my hometown people, it was the cherry on top of the cake.” “I was 20-years-old, I had gone through some adversities, I had been knocked down and cut in previous fights but I felt invincible,” said Diaz, who won a 12-round unanimous decision.Īn accomplished amateur fighter at 16 years old, Diaz was denied an Olympic berth to represent Mexico due to his age WBA 135-pound titlist Lakva Sim from Mongolia was enticed to Texas in July 2004. He had his first three fights in Mexico, earning $400 a fight, before he was of legal age to fight in America.ĭiaz, who graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, moved through the ranks winning his first 24 fights over a four-year period.
#Figure 8 fitness for men professional#
Those two countries voted to not let me in and that’s why I didn’t go to the 2000 Olympics.”ĭiaz didn’t want to wait four-years for the next Olympics, and due to his age, turned professional with a first-round knockout in Mexico June 2000. 14 said, ‘Yes’ and two said, ‘No,’ The United States because they had Ricardo Williams at 139-pounds and Puerto Rico, they had Miguel Cotto. “We fought at an International tournament, there were 16 countries and they had to vote to make an exception for me to fight. “At the time I was 16, I said, ‘I’m going to be three months shy of 17 to go to the Olympics,'” he explained.
The youngster went to his ancestral home of Mexico in the hope of representing them at the 2000 Olympics. Savannah said, ‘If you really want to fight, you need to lose some weight.’ That’s when I got on a diet and lost weight.”ĭiaz excelled as an amateur, going an impressive 105-5, winning 13 gold medals. “I started training, when I was 8, I had my first amateur fight at 120-pounds, a whole year went by and there weren’t any 120-pound 8-year-olds to fight me. “We went and checked it out and it was love at first sight for me. “ found the Willie Savannah boxing gym in South Houston,” he said.
They persevered and had two jobs at one time and raised us and gave us the necessary things we needed.”Īs a child, Diaz had a healthy appetite, weighing 120-pounds, that and his father’s love of boxing brought him to the gym at 8-years-old. Each family had a room and we would sleep on the couch.
We were sharing a mobile home with my aunt and uncle, who had a family. “My parents weren’t economically stable,” he said. by himself and got a decent job and once he was able to save up some money, he brought us back to Houston.”Īlthough the Diaz family were reunited it was still a difficult time for them. My younger brother was born in Mexico during that time. “I even went to school there for one year. “Shortly after I was born, my parents couldn’t afford to stay here, so we went back to Mexico and lived in Huitzuco, Guerrero, Mexico for six years,” Diaz told The Ring. Aggressive pressure fighter Juan Diaz unified three of the four lightweight titles during an excellent title run in the mid-to-late 2000s.ĭiaz was born in Houston, Texas on September 17, 1983.