JUAN Diaz fascinates me. What he lacks in one-punch knockout power, he makes up for by sheer aggression and ferocity.
There?s nobody in boxing right now who throws eight- punch combinations.
And that?s a fact. Some of the quickest out there land four or five-punch combos at the most and then get back on defense. For some others, their flurries are rudely interrupted by counters.
But eight? Juan Diaz owns the patent. Not only that, he grunts and snorts when he throws them, making him appear doubly ferocious and bull-like.
Julio Diaz is as tough as they come. But he couldn?t match Juan?s aggression.
Like Argentinean legend Acelino Freitas and many others before him, they all fell prey to the unrelenting punishment dished out by Juan Diaz.
ATTY. DIAZ. An aspiring criminal lawyer, Juan Diaz is as straight as an arrow outside the ring. He shuns the night life and his schedule revolves around his studies and the gym.
Earlier in his career, he fought at super lightweight and once at the welterweight limit. He has since wisely pared down to the 135-pound division, which now recognizes him as its king.
ONE ROUND. I missed my prediction by a round as I prophesied Julio Diaz not to make it past the eighth. But he stood up to answer the bell for the ninth only for his corner to inform the referee that they had had enough of the ?Baby Bull? goring ?The Kid? to death.
So the official time was announced as one second after the ninth round.
But an e-mail from a Last Rounder really got me stumped. A Diaz victory could not have been a guaranteed prediction, writes [email protected], after all, ?What if the Diaz fight ends in a draw??
Hahaha! That?s a good one.
MP CUP. Ah, the taste of victory. An obviously very relaxed and contented Manny Pacquiao faced the media last Saturday. He was quite witty in his own way?effectively parrying nosy queries with the use of puns and rhetoric.
He wasn?t done. Later that day in a game against our hastily assembled sports media basketball team, Manny played to the crowd and obliged their cries for some fancy on-court moves. Several times, he tried his infamous bounce pass off the backboard move, but could not time his jump.
Nonetheless, it was a fine homecoming for this half-Cebuano boxing icon.
DELUSIONAL. That?s it, it?s official. Evander Holyfield is delusional. After he was beaten badly by Sultan Ibragimov, he again reasserted his dream to become an undisputed heavyweight champion. He was obviously confused though, as in the same breath he also claimed, ?I wasn?t successful THIS time. Styles make fights. Ibragimov gave me way too much problems with his left hand. But there are other champions, and I believe I can top them using my abilities.?
Memo to Holyfield. The term ?undisputed champion? in boxing, actually refers to a unified titleholder in a particular division. Ergo, you have to beat all of them, which of course includes Ibragimov.
Too many head blows?
QUOTE OF THE DAY. ?I think I am ready for Pacquiao. He has beaten legendary Mexican fighters but I think it is time he faced a young Mexican champion.? -Newly crowned WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight champ Juan Diaz on who he wants to fight next.
THE LAST ROUND. It?s on Jack R. Hall, the Chaplain for ALA boxing who believes that Juan Diaz is the best pound-for-pound boxer today. Cheers!
