Focus on Juan Diaz
For most boxers, the business of the sport is more than enough to keep them busy. Whether it’s training for a fight or relaxing and recuperating after a big fight, boxing is a full-time career. Many talented fighters have failed to live up to their potential because of their inability to maintain their focus and devote the necessary amount of energy to the sport.
However, Juan Diaz is the exception to the rule. The 26-year-old is one of the most articulate and well-educated boxers in the sport but has still managed to rise to an elite level while maintaining a healthy life away from boxing. Last year Diaz earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Houston and he’s since decided to focus on a career as a lawyer. He had planned to take his LSAT as preparation for law school in June but decided to postpone that until later this year.
The reason that Diaz decided to postpone his LSAT test is sensible – he’s preparing for a return match against Juan Manuel Marquez on July 31 for the WBO and WBA lightweight championship. It’s a rematch of Ring Magazine’s 2009 Fight of the Year and a chance for him to re-establish himself as a premier fighter within the sport. A win over Marquez would be more than personal redemption – it would be a ticket to larger fights, such as a potential match-up against Amir Khan.
Diaz’s career started as an amateur fighter in his native Mexico. He was a highly decorated amateur, even qualifying for the 2000 Olympic team. However, Diaz was only 16 at the time of his qualification for the Olympic team and was later informed that he was too young to perform.
It took Diaz four years from becoming a professional to earn his first world title. He won the title in July 2004 when he outpointed Mongolian fighter Lakva Sim for the WBA lightweight title in his adopted hometown of Houston. Diaz defended that title seven times, including defeating former champion Julien Lorcy and Jose Miguel Cotto – the brother of Miguel Cotto.
In April 2007, Diaz added the WBO lightweight title when he defeated Acelino Freitas. Diaz was in a tough fight against Freitas. In fact, he was trailing on all three judges’ scorecards when Freitas’ corner stopped the fight before the start of the ninth round. Diaz would add the IBF lightweight title to his WBA and WBO belts in October 2007 in a fight against Julio Diaz (unrelated) that had some similarities to the bout against Freitas. Julio Diaz’s corner stopped the fight one second into the eighth round. However, Juan Diaz was in a much stronger position in the fight at the time of the stoppage, having dominated his opponent up until that point.
Diaz’s experienced the first major setback of his career in his next bout, when he dropped a split decision to Nate Campbell to lose his unified title in March 2008. Campbell cut Diaz in the fifth round and was able to win despite losing a point for an intentional head butt. Diaz rebounded by beating Michael Katsidis in his next fight, leading to his epic bout against Marquez. Both men were hurt in the fight, but Marquez dropped Diaz twice before Marquez dropped him in the ninth round.
Diaz hardly comes into the rematch against Marquez with momentum. His last two fights have been a pair of bouts against Paulie Malignaggi. He looked shaky in the first contest in August 2009 but earned a unanimous decision. However, he looked slow and gun shy in dropping the rematch last December. He’ll need to find the courage (and speed) he had before in order to beat Marquez and regain his place at the top of the lightweight division.
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