Just think, WBA/WBO/IBF lightweight title holder Juan Diaz is a 24 year old student who still lives with his parents and attends the University of Houston as a senior. He intends to enter law school next year, and he?s probably going to be Senator Diaz some day. For the time being, however, after watching Juan ?The Baby Bull? Diaz pummel former IBF titlist Julio ?The Kidd? Diaz into submission on Saturday night at the Sears Centre in Chicago, this writer is convinced that Juan is head and shoulders over everyone at 135 today, and will continue to be for years to come.
Juan, now 33-0 (17), relentlessly blistered Julio , 34-4 (25), with ripping multi punch combinations, landing five, six, and seven flush shots to the head and body with frequency while absorbing Julio?s attempts at offense as if they never existed. Juan landed 339-774 total punches compared to 185-885 for his opponent and was 282-606 in power punches compared to 133-567 for Julio.
It was simply a dominant performance in Juan?s seventh title defense, a shutout in my view. However, just to demonstrate how appearances can be deceiving in boxing, the judges had it 77-75, 78-74, and 79-73 for Juan at the time of the stoppage. After the seventh round, Julio?s handlers were trying to motivate him by telling him that ?they,? meaning I guess referee Geno Rodriguez, were about to stop the fight. They also told him to ?jab and move,? which might have been his best strategy from round one, but Juan had already drawn him into the fight of attrition that so favors ?The Baby Bull.?
Julio had already tried switching to southpaw in the fourth, and then again later, in the eighth with little success. When a fighter begins to change his style in the midst of a fight, you can generally assume that it?s because he?s taking a whipping. Julio also never went side to side, or anything else, for that matter, that would have slowed the charging Texan. The fact is that Julio never had an opportunity to fight his fight with that buzz saw Juan in front of him. If he could have jabbed and moved or gone side to side, he might have tried it. He threw 885 punches and still couldn?t keep Juan off of him.
Finally after being assaulted again in the eighth round, Julio?s corner stopped the fight as the bell rang for the ninth. The official time was :01 of round nine. It was well timed, I thought. My fight notes for round eight read, ?This is becoming a slaughter.? It seemed that he was at a point of taking too many punches.
Now with three of the four major titles, WBA, IBF and WBO, it is time to start putting Juan Diaz on the pound for pound lists. He?s not a knockout artist, but he makes up for it in volume and accuracy. If there?s any justice, he should be on his way to becoming a marquee box office star with his non-stop, attacking style.
Yet he was again relegated to HBO?s Boxing After Dark series instead of World Championship Boxing, which pays more. And the fight suffered from lagging ticket sales, leading HBO analyst Larry Merchant to comment that perhaps at another venue the event could have been held ?in front of a crowd rather than a gathering.?
Leave it to Merchant to verbally express his opinion when others may not, even if they had thought of it. Julio Diaz lives in Coachella, California, and Juan, as mentioned, is from Houston. You would think that a fight of this caliber should be successful anywhere, but such is not the state of American boxing these days.
Speaking of Merchant, my understanding was that he had contracted to do two BAD shows while a replacement was found for Max Kellerman after his promotion to share duties with Merchant on World Championship Boxing and HBO PPV. This makes three. Kellerman refused to do BAD when he was promoted, so the 75 year old Merchant was pressed into service once again. Viewers were the beneficiaries. The presence of Larry and the high profile matchup made this edition of BAD a superior one.
So, what?s next for Juan Diaz?
Juan says that he wants Manny Pacquiao next. This is understandable in the respect that he would want to be involved in a high grossing PPV event with boxing?s biggest superstar, and make a lot of money. But it?s not only that, a victory over Pacquiao is the fast track to superstardom.
Then there is David Diaz, whom I will always believe received the title to be a patsy for Erik Morales, and then beat the Mexican legend in August in a fairly close fight. David, the WBC title holder owns the remaining belt that doesn?t belong to Juan, and is probably the third best Diaz in the division.
One name that keeps coming up is actually improbable at this point, Joel Casamayor, who last fought just over a year ago when he won the WBC title from the late Diego Corrales. Casamayor is scheduled to fight #1 ranked WBC contender Jose Armando Santa Cruz on the undercard of Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley at Madison Square Garden on November 10.
After winning the title last October, Casamayor was stripped early this year, prematurely in the view of this reporter, when he negotiated for a unification fight with then WBO titlist Acelino Freitas instead of signing with then WBC interim champ David Diaz. Now after some wrangling, the WBC website lists Casamayor as the interim champ, which is a sorry joke when you stop to think about it.
So you see, dear readers, that Casamayor cannot be considered for Juan Diaz?s next fight, because if the belt is Juan?s motivation, he would fight David Diaz.
Casamayor is also the Ring Magazine champion, which is a bit of a drag in this case, considering the performance of Juan Diaz and his three belts. That?s one of the pitfalls of The Ring?s policy. They have absolutely no power to get two legitimate contenders in the ring. A graybeard, like say Bernard Hopkins, can win their title and freeze it because it can only be lost in the ring, according to their policy. If The Ring had any real clout, Casamayor would be fighting Juan Diaz and Hopkins would fight Chad Dawson.
But Casamayor can?t fight Juan because he?s just an interim belt holder, and Hopkins just won?t because he is very smart and very rich.
For what it?s worth, Casamayor does not have a gimme in front of him with Santa Cruz either. Santa Cruz was leading David Diaz by five points on two cards and three on another when he was TKO?d in the 10th.
But I do find it interesting that you don?t hear the same drum beat for Casamayor, assuming he wins against Santa Cruz, to fight David Diaz, as when the situation was reversed. Some of that is because he?s been out of the limelight for so long now that people forget. We?ll see.
David Diaz is linked to Juan, obviously, because he has that last belt. But shouldn?t he defend it against Casamayor next? With Pacquiao, David?s name comes up because he?s thought of as beatable at 135. Actually, Manny should be able to handle David, Casamayor and Santa Cruz. It?s just that sooner or later he would have to face Juan Diaz.
I don?t know. It seems like only yesterday that Pacquiao had to grow into 130. Now that he is, has he outgrown it already or is his erratic training regimen to blame? If the problem is in his preparation, a more balanced lifestyle has to be easier than facing a Texas twister like Juan Diaz.
Don?t get me wrong. It might well be the Fight of the Year in 2008. Manny?s quickness may be just the antidote for Juan?s aggression. But with Pacquiao, so much is riding on it, like the hopes of an entire country. It seems to be more of a gamble than is necessary. Manny could fight Harry Homitz, knock him out in :01 seconds and Filipinos would love it. Lose to Juan Diaz, and the aura of invincibility vanishes.
The lightweights are loaded with possibilities, with or without Pac-Man in the mix. I haven?t even touched on the talents of #1 ranked IBF contender Nate Campbell, WBO interim belt holder Michael Katsidas, or moving up quickly, WBO #1 ranked contender Anthony Peterson. That?s enough talent to keep Juan busy until he graduates from law school.
