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08/14/2007 Archived Entry: "‘Strick’ on David Diaz: Looking for Pacquiao or another Money Fight"
‘Strick’ on David Diaz: Looking for Pacquiao or another Money Fight
Story and photo by Juan C. Ayllon
Jim Strickland (left) looks on as ring announcer Michael Buffer (center) congratulates David Diaz on his victory over Erik Morales
Chicago’s renowned as the “City of Wide Shoulders,” which makes it ironic that it has suddenly become the hub for world lightweight championship boxing.
Suddenly, here, as in boxing, the little guys rule.
Compactly muscular, 135 lbs., and listed at a generous 5’ 7”, World Boxing Council Lightweight Title holder David Diaz must brim with pride over the recent turn of events.
The smoke’s hardly cleared from the Allstate Arena, where on August 4th, he emerged victorious in a scorching and close battle against legendary three-division champ Erik Morales, and now there’s news of another world lightweight championship on October 13th. This time, it’s between World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization Lightweight Title holder Juan Diaz and International Boxing Federation Lightweight kingpin Julio Diaz in Chicago on October 13th.
That should come as little surprise to some, as Chicago sports some 740,000 Latinos and Hispanics. For the uninitiated, the Latin market is the premiere market for boxing these days. With Latino boxers populating the lower weight classes in droves, it’s a natural fit for boxing events, such as Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo” show—and, for that matter, world championship boxing events showcasing Latin fighters. That’s just good business.
A calm and soft-spoken presence, David Diaz’ manager, Jim Strickland, is a savvy former businessman. He’s also been around the fight business a long time. Also a renowned cutman for years, Strickland has proven instrumental in maneuvering Diaz to a record of 33-1-1 and 17 knockouts. That included a 10th round knockout win over Jose Armando Santa Cruz for the WBC Interim Lightweight Title on April 12, 2006. When regular WBC Lightweight Title holder Joel Casamayor refused to honor an order to grant Diaz a mandatory title shot, the WBC eventually stripped him and now it's Casamayor holding the Interim title.
In the afterglow of the Diaz-Morales war in a press conference at the Allstate Arena, Strickland—or “Strick,” as some call him, along with David Diaz, discussed the Morales fight, weight related issues and possible opponents for Diaz. It was a press conference that was not without controversy. Erik Morales, who’d moved up from 130 lbs. to challenge Diaz, accused Diaz of using rough and illegal tactics. But, as the reader shall see, it served as a terrific launching point for far more interesting discussion.
JUAN AYLLON: Do you feel that you stuck to your strategy well in your fight with Morales?
DAVID DIAZ: No, there had to be some times where we just had to go out there and “bulldog” it. I mean, we’ve got to fight! I mean, this guy’s a good fighter—I mean, slick fighter, and he’s still got some punch in him. And we did what we had to do to win.
Like I said, I’m not apologizing for nothing to nobody, ‘cause this is a fight. If I threw a bad punch or anything, the ref would have called it. This guy’s been three-time WBC champion. I’m pretty sure they got more leniency toward him than David Diaz, who just won the Interim Title. So, I don’t know what he’s talking about.
JA: What things can you improve on in your next time out?
DD: Ah, use my jab more. I didn’t use it as much. Kevin’s [i.e., Kevin Cunningham, trainer] going to get mad, Mike’s [i.e., Mike Garcia, trainer] going to get mad, Strick, mad. So, we’ve got to work on the jab. That’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to keep the right hand up a little more and we’ll be all right.
JIM STRICKLAND: A little more of a controlled fight, like within himself. He’s a little bit like Erik that way if he gets tagged. His immediate response is, ‘well, tag him back,’ instead of staying controlled and trying to figure out how you’re going to technically overcome that problem. Try to overcome it at your tempo…instead of…trying to go toe-to-toe.
JA: One thing I’d heard early on was that David was fighting Morales’ fight.
JS: What we were seeing was the distance was a little too great, and he’d get close to him to punch and then wait. When Morales was able to throw the first punch, we were at a disadvantage.
And, for my money, he could have been a little more rough on the inside. Once he got on the inside, just unload and push forward to keep him on his heels! Because when he let up and stepped back, then the right—and it feels awkward—the right hand [of Morales came.] And, so, once he’s inside, [David] gets in the beautiful hook. Just then, give a little push and step back—he’ll be out of range of that second punch, that right hand of Morales.
JA: Any thoughts on fighting [current WBC Interim Lightweight Title holder] Joel Casamayor?
JS: Well, any fight that the demand is great, that they want us to fight, we’re going to be available for. It’s not a fight I would run to. I don’t think there’s much money [there]. I think what we want is the fight that’s going to make the biggest money: And I wished it was [Manny] Pacquiao, because Pacquiao has that kind of success with him—30 knockouts. There’s no reason why he can’t fight at 135. And that would be the dream match. That would be my first priority. Now, it may not be as possible. The organizations are going to dictate pretty much what’s next.
But if it’s Casamayor, then we’ll obviously do that. But, we…I really would like to see [the same approach] that he had toward us: he said, ‘that’s not the biggest purse out there. That’s not a fair purse.’ So, that’s why he refused to fight us. Compared to some other lightweights out there, Casamayor’s not going to pay the highest purse for us, either. So, we’re going to get whatever’s fair now. If the organization says ‘you have the right to do the next fight, we’ll [pick the best paying one.]
JA: Now, how would you tackle someone like Casamayor, which would be a tough fight?
JS: It would, it would, mixed up with two southpaws. But, I think—David didn’t show it in this fight—but David has boxing ability. And when you get him with a southpaw, he can use a wonderful jab. But he doesn’t have the opportunity to use it [in] all these fights he’s fighting right-handers. And I think he can out-submit Casamayor. I don’t think Casamayor hits any harder than him. I think David will be faster than him. He can throw more punches per round, and I think he can out-hit him. But it is a difficult, awkward fight.
JA: Any thoughts on other work, such as publicity tours, in between fights?
JS: Well, nothing’s planned like that. We’re going to rest, that’s for sure.
And, I thought we were at a pretty gritty situation, as far as David was beating Morales, and then they say he beat him because he was an old man. If he lost to him, they would have said ‘hey, he wasn’t but a 90 day wonder anyway.’
And then people were making so much about the weight. They were thinking David was the bigger fighter than Morales. That isn’t so. Morales has enough height and reach to balance that out. And, I thought Morales would be a better fighter at 135 because the only time losing weight enters the equation is when one fighter from Chicago—they make all the big deal about him being a little bigger and coming down or one fighter weighing five or ten pounds more than the other. It doesn’t make that much difference. You’ll see every day in the gym guys weighing 140 beating guys at 160.
Where weight enters a factor is when one has to lose in strength to make weight too fast. So, I felt for sure that Morales would be a better fighter tonight, at 135, than he was at 130. Morales was in a position to show better because of it, not worse. The only thing that makes it worse was thinking he was the bigger guy. But, he performed better having that weight.
It’s like Corey Spinks when he fought Zab Judah the first time. He beat him. The second time—well, I worked under the authority in his fight as a cutman—the second fight, Cory was eating one [inaudible]. That’s all he ate. And so he lost, because his diet was strained. Weight became a factor there, the kind when you have to lose too much.
When Cory put on five or six pounds and fought the Russian guy [Roman Karmazin for the IBF Light Middleweight title] that had knocked “Boom Boom”—the guy with the steel chin—down two or three times, Cory didn’t have much of a chance. But, fighting at a natural weight for his body, that’s why Cory went and beat him. Then, when he moved up and fought [WBC and WBO Middleweight Title holder Jermain] Taylor, there again…it shows me a fight in which your natural weight when you’re not strained and draining, you’re going to be a much better fighter.
JA: Now do you think you’re going to keep David at 135?
JS: That’s his natural weight. When he came to me with a little sparring, he didn’t want to go to 135. So, he would train, and without ever using plastic sweats…a week before the fight he would be weighing ’38, ’39, never having gone without whatever he wanted to eat. Well, at that, I told him, ‘You’re a lightweight. Because there’s a little more intensity when you put in a little workout, and with it, you’re going to find that you’re gaining stamina. You’ll be about three or four pounds lighter.’ When you hit ’37 without ever going into plastic or sauna or anything, that’s your weight. So, that’s his natural weight. He didn’t want to do that. I guess he’d decided he’d miss too many meals. But he found out, he has been strong without eating what he wants, virtually. And he hasn’t put on plastic or using any difficult means to try and lose weight. He was 137 pounds two weeks before this fight! And then, two or three days, he was 133.
JA: Assuming you don’t get Pacquiao or Casamayor, who else would you like to fight?
JS: Well, I would say one of the other [lightweight] champions for a unified [title]. And I would think they would be the type of fight that would pay the most money—for a unification.
And he isn’t going to fight that many years. He hasn’t made hardly any money. David, he’s huge [and looking forward to] putting together a big money fight. We’re going to have something that looks more like a million dollar fight. He ought to be able to earn a million dollars. He puts in a million dollars worth of effort!
