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05/07/2004 Archived Entry: "David Diaz: "This is My Year--Bring on Ener Julio and Anyone Else at 140""
David Diaz: "This is My Year--Bring on Ener Julio and Anyone Else at 140"
By Juan C. Ayllon
Photos by Edward Zajac
Chicago, Illinois: It’s Wednesday, May 5, 2004. A little over a week from now, 140 pound boxer David Diaz (23-0-0, 12 KOs) will be facing his sternest challenge to date, a 10 round match versus former 140 pound WBO champion, Ener Julio (25-6-1, 18 KOs). However, you might not know it by talking with the ex-Olympian. Running late for his telephone interview, Diaz apologized for the delay; he just returned from watching a Chicago Cubs baseball game at a friend’s house. A big fan, he added effusively, “My Cubs just lost! Arizona has just got our number. Lucky for us, tomorrow’s another day!”
With that, David Diaz talked at length with the Cyber Boxing Zone about his upcoming fight, training with World Welterweight Champion Cory Spinks and his desire to make a move towards world title honors this year.
Juan Ayllon: How do you feel coming out of this training camp?
David Diaz: Well, I feel pretty good. I feel I’m in real good shape and it should be an exciting fight come on May 15th afternoon [laughs].
A flabby Frankie Sanchez tries to measure Diaz
JA: Tell us about what this training camp entailed, for instance how long you trained for this bout, what type of sparring partners did you work with and so on?
DD: Well, I was real fortunate enough to be working since late March with Cory Spinks preparing him for the Zab Judah fight and I actually have been in training camp you could say for about two, three months now and I think it’s helped me out a lot. I grabbed a little bit of their work ethic and stuff and brought it down here to Chicago and I started preparing for this fight. And I feel myself that I will be a different fighter, a boxer and will have the energy to last out all ten rounds if need be. So, I feel very good, very confident. Not confident, but very, very sure to myself that I will do a good fight May 15th.
JA: Now, as far as the types of sparring partners you trained with, did you focus on specific types of fighters?
DD: Well, since we’re fighting Ener Julio who is I think is 5’ 11” or something like that, we definitely tended to look for more taller sparring partners and stuff like that. We got a few of them that were there like I sparred with this lightweight though. His name was Jimmy Sandoval [younger brother of former WBC World Lightweight Champion Jesus Chavez] who was, like, really tall. I got in some good rounds with him. And hopefully, we’ll probably get a little sparring session with Anthony Ivory, who was a very good fighter and still is and I’ll get some rounds in with him. I have been working with Eddie Perch, Carlos Alderin and Carlos Nabria and Miguel Hernandez, just for power punchers and stuff like that. But, I’ve had my choice to pick from sparring partners. So, I think I did pretty good in that department.
JA: You say that you’ve been training since March. How long did you train specifically for this bout.
DD: I trained for about, let’s say, like the first week of April, I was already back here in Chicago and getting ready for this fight. So, but like I said, it still came in through the March training sessions that I was up in Colorado Springs [with Cory Spinks’ training camp]. So, I didn’t take a week off or anything like that; I just came right into it again and started working out.
JA: You helped Cory Spinks prepare for his successful defense against Zab Judah as a sparring partner. Can you tell us about that training camp, as well as how you feel it’s helped you prepare for this fight?
DD: Well, yeah, I’ve think I’ve learned a lot more boxing movements and stuff like that, how to box. Obviously, working out with Cory, he’s a tremendous boxer, and sparring with him has helped me out a little bit in doing a little bit of our boxing as well. And I think for this fight, I’m definitely going to have to box, because Ener is a tall fighter and he is going to try to keep me on the outside most of the time and not want to mix it up inside, so I’m going to have to try and box and work my way in. So, I think that will help me out a lot.
JA: What are your thoughts about Ener Julio as a fighter? Can you tell us about what strategies you intend to use to fight him?
DD: Definitely try to box, try to box. He likes—for a tall guy—he likes to mix it up and if we can mix it up, I mean, that will be pretty good for me, I guess. I think he’s a good fighter. I mean, he was a world champ. He was WBO title holder and lost it to Demarcus Corley and, you know, he’s a respectable fighter. I don’t have nothing against him, nothing to say, but we’re gonna to meet May 15th and hopefully I’ll come out the victor.
JA: What do you think about his punching power at 18 knockouts in 25 fights?”
DD: That’s a pretty good power puncher! [Laughing] I mean, he’s got to have power punches and, like I said, he likes to mix it up and he’s ended the fights, so I can see why he has so many knockouts for being the tall guy: he likes to work inside and fight. So, we’re just gonna try to—if he punches as hard as his knockouts come out—we’re gonna try to avoid them and move away from them. So, then, that’s where our boxing skills gonna come in.
JA: Do you think your bout versus Emmanuel Augustus-Burton helped you prepare for this bout?
DD: Yeah, definitely! I would assume it did, because that also was a tremendous fight. I’m probably going to end up fighting, he’s probably another Emmanuel Augustus, just that this guy’s going to be a little bit taller! [Laughter].
JA: Assuming all goes well with Julio, what next?
DD: Well, what next? That remains to be seen. We still haven’t signed with no promoter. Hopefully, we can sign with a promoter and hopefully start looking for them title shots, the continental title shots, any belt that they can sanction me to fight, anybody, I will do it. And, like I’ve said, I am prepared to fight any of the 140-pounders, prospects or guys that are already up there: Michael Stewart, Bojado, everybody! You know, I just really want to fight and just asking that they give me a chance and that I will give them a good fight…the Angelino Bojado’s, the Cotto’s, all of them. I mean, just like [Miguel] Cotto, yeah, he’s gonna have a good fight coming up May 8th. Hopefully, down the line, we can end up meeting together, having a good fight.
JA: Can you see yourself eventually fighting Cory Spinks or do you think he’s in too high a weight class?
DD: Well, right now, my plans are not to go up at ’47 [i.e., 147 pound weight class] at all. I feel perfectly fine at 140. But, I mean, that all remains to be seen. I mean, he’s probably going to up to ’54 anyway in a couple of more fights. I think my weight class is the 140 and that’s where I want to capture my title.
JA: Now are you still thinking about a one to two year time frame for a title shot?
DD: Hopefully, hopefully within a year now. You know, I think we’ve come up a pretty long way now from about a year ago. I think we’re due for a title shot.
JA: Now, some fighters make a big deal about their faith in God relating to their experience in the ring. Now, as a strong Catholic believer, how do you correlate your beliefs with boxing?
DD: Definitely! Definitely. God works in mysterious ways and He works in everyway possible. We should always be thankful to God for allowing us to do this brutal sport and still being able to be okay after it and that most of the times, there are some guys that end up getting hurt, but not as bad. But we always have to keep our faith in God. That’s not just in boxing, that’s just life all around. Everyday, you’re walking down the street. You know, you may never know when you meet your Maker, so you have to have faith in God. And I definitely believe in God as a Catholic.
JA: You kind of lighted on this briefly, but can you name opponents you would like to fight in the near future?
DD: Oh, just like I said, any of the 140’s that would like to fight me, I’m looking to move up in rankings and any of the top fighters. I’m not a picky guy! I’m not a picky guy! So, whoever wants to give me the opportunity to give them a fight, I would gladly accept it, no matter who it is. It could be in England, it could be anywhere.
JA: So you’re willing to travel?
DD: Yes sir!
JA: Any other parting comments you would like to make?
DD: Oh, just to tell everybody that I’m coming. This is my year and I’ll be coming out to a very good fight May 15th and just hope everybody likes it and hope we can bring home a victory!
David Diaz will be fighting against Ener Julio on May 15th at the DePaul Athletic Center in Chicago, Illinois. Nationally televised, his fight will be the kickoff bout for Telemundo, which will commence at 1 PM Central Standard Time. At 2 PM, NBC will take over coverage of the fight card, broadcasting the festivities for an hour and a half. On Saturday afternoon at 12:00 P.M., Diaz will hold an open-to-the-public workout at the JABB Boxing Gym, 410 N. Oakley, 2nd Floor, on the near northwest side of Chicago. For further information contact JABB at 312-733-5222. Tickets for the Saturday May 15th boxing card will be on sale at the workout.
Heavyweight Calvin Brock (20-0, 18 KOs) will fight heavy-handed Nigerian, Duncan Dokiwari (22-2, 19 KOs) for the main event. Dokiwari recently came off a close decision battle versus rising contender Dominick Guinn this past fall.
Also appearing will be Lee Ralston (13-0, 7 KOs), Miguel “Macho” Hernandez (9-1, 7 KOs) and kayo welterweight artist, Luciano “El Gallo Bravo” Perez, (7-0, 6 KOs). Both Hernandez and Perez posted solid KO wins last month.
Doors at the DePaul Athletic Center, 2323 N. Sheffield, open at 11:30 AM. The first bell will ring at 12:15 PM. For more information, call (312) 733-5222.
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
Nice article on one of Chicago's best fighters. I see David wearing down Julio in this fight and getting a late round stoppage.
Hopefully, we'll see David in there with Michael Stewart, a fight that I see David winning easily. Stewart is overated and overexposed by ESPN.
Keep your eyes on David Diaz, he's the goods!
Patrick DoljaninTrainer/ManagerAl "Speedy" Gonzales
Posted by Patrick Doljanin @ 05/10/2004 11:35 AM EST
