In the aftermath of his fighter Timothy Bradley?s controversial upset over Manny Pacquiao last month, trainer Joel Diaz had been a hard man to reach before we linked up last week. Still in a bit of a somber mood after taking in some of the backlash that came from Bradley?s split-decision victory, Diaz admits that he has been sheltered a bit from everything that is going on but was candid enough to open up on a myriad of topics during our interaction.
Shortly after the decision was announced in the Pacquiao-Bradley fight in Las Vegas, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum took to the dais inside of the MGM Grand?s media room and sounded off on the decision, ripping the judges and later asking for an investigation to be made.
Asked for his thoughts on Arum, Diaz seemed unsure how to gauge his remarks.
?I don?t know if he?s playing mind games,? Diaz would tell me. ?I don?t know if he did that just to cover up, because, at the end of the day, he?s a promoter and he?s the one that pays the money. He?s the one that signs the checks. He?s the one that hires the officials.?
Furthermore, Diaz feels that Bradley, who signed a promotional pact with Top Rank last year, should have been given a little more respect despite the public?s doubts about the legitimacy of his win.
?I don?t even want to talk about Bob Arum,? claimed Diaz. ?It?s just sad that he signs a fighter, he promises him everything, he promises every fighter that he?s going to make him a superstar, and when sh*t like this goes down, he turns his back on you. I don?t know what to say about this business anymore. Boxing is a beautiful sport but the business is a sh*tty part of it.?
Diaz then turned his attention to the HBO announcing team, who overwhelmingly favored Pacquiao on the night of June 9th, 2012. From the network?s unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman giving Pacquiao eleven out of twelve rounds to Jim Lampley showing shock and dismay towards the verdict, Diaz seemed to feel that there was some bias taking place.
?These commentators, man. I don?t know what they?re doing,? stated Diaz. ?I don?t know what they?re watching, but I watched the fight with volume and with no volume. If you watch the fight with volume, Jim Lampley and Emanuel Steward and Max Kellerman, they make Manny Pacquiao win the fight. If you watch the fight with no volume, the fight is close, it could go either way.
?You saw Timothy?s face at the end of the fight; he was clean,? Diaz added. ?He told me ?coach, I?m not even sore, I don?t know if he hit me?. And then you see the commentators talking about ?Another left hand on the chin and on the hand of Bradley?. I mean, come on.?
