THE GRAFTER
David Diaz reflects on a career that saw him fight Manny Pacquiao and more
BY his own admission, Chicago’s David Diaz was not a naturally gifted boxer. To compensate for this he worked hard behind the scenes to ensure, even if he couldn’t match his opponents for skill, he could swamp them with his work-rate. The 1996 Olympian, who turns 42 this week (June 7), won the WBC lightweight title and retired seven years ago with a record of 36-4-1 (17) which boasted bouts against the likes of Emanuel Augustus, Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao.
You had a fine amateur career, boxing at the Olympics in 1996. You defeated Zab Judah?
Yeah, I actually fought him three times. We first fought at The PAL Games, in the final, and he won that one. Then in the Olympic trials and the Olympic box-offs we fought again. I thought, as he’d beaten me once, he’d try and come at me all guns blazing trying to beat me again, but I guess I was too strong for him. My pressure and strength nullified his boxing. I also fought Fernando Vargas as an amateur. Me and Fernando have known each other since the age of 11 or 12, so he was like another brother. He managed to beat me but that was another great fight.
What were your best assets as a fighter?
I’d say my conditioning. I was always a hard worker in the gym. That was what I needed to compensate for my lack of boxing ability. I couldn’t move around and dance around so well, so I figured I’d work so hard in the ring, be in your face, to not let you breathe. I was a southpaw but I’m actually right handed. I was turned around and converted in the gym the very first day I walked in and I felt comfortable and stayed that way.
As a lightweight contender you fought Emanuel Augustus.
That was here in Chicago and he was tough and it was a great fight. But the thing about that fight was, he didn’t do the usual things he often did in his fights – his antics. He was a fighter who was a crafty veteran, who would showboat a lot and do things to get the crowd on his side. But against me, as strong as I was, he wasn’t able to really do much of that. But that win [w pts 8, in 2004] was a step in the right direction for me.
What are your memories of beating Jose Armando Santa Cruz for the WBC Interim lightweight title in 2006?
The funny thing was, when I got the call for that fight I was in Florida, having a real good time. I got the call and I had to stop the drinking and the partying! But I had two months’ notice for the fight which was okay for me. In that fight, I felt I was winning
‘BEATING MORALES WAS A GREAT, GREAT MOMENT’
comfortably, but my manager Jim Strickland, he told me, after around eight or nine rounds, that we needed a KO. I said okay, I’ll try and get one. Fortunately I did manage to get my energy back and stop him with a non-stop barrage after I’d hurt him with a nice uppercut [in the 10th]. I just jumped all over him.
Your battle with Erik Morales was a special fight.
It was a really tough fight. I definitely knew I’d have to play catch-up in that one, as I was knocked down in the first-round. But I felt that if I could make him get tired, push him hard, I could stop him late on. I never managed to stop him but I won a decision. It was a great, great moment for me; winning a world title in my hometown. That was something I’d always wanted to do. I didn’t really look up to Morales, my hero was always [ Julio Cesar] Chavez. There really is no other.
You then lost to Manny Pacquiao. What are your memories of that bout?
Honestly, going into that fight I thought – as all fighters should think when entering any fight – that I would definitely win. I thought ‘this kid is coming up to 135, no way can he beat me.’ It was just another fight to me at the time, there was no great magnitude to it. If you look back at those early rounds you will hear me say that the punches are not hurting me, that it is just the speed and accumulation of punches. I honestly was not hurt. But I made the dumb mistake of going to his body and lowering my hands and he caught me and I went to sleep. But it wasn’t his power that made him such a great fighter, and after beating me he went on to dominate the sport for a few years, it was his speed. I’d fought fast guys before, like Zab Judah, but I’d never seen anything like Pacquiao before. I’d block one shot and he’d hit me with another one as I was trying to parry another one [laughs].
You had five fights after the loss to Pacquiao, before retiring in the summer of 2011. Was it an easy decision to make?
I actually wanted to retire after the points loss to [Humberto] Soto. But my team told me I just needed to sit and think about it and that I should take my time and see. They were right and I went back to the gym, but after the loss to Hank Lundy, him laying me out, that was the final confirmation for me, and I did everything I wanted to.
I fought at the Olympics and I became a world champion and I am happy today. Everything turned out okay. Today I have a small gym just outside of Chicago and I have four or five kids at amateur level, and I try and pass on my experience. We have a good time. I’m also working real estate in my other job and I’m happy I can carry out a good conversation despite taking all those blows to the head.