A TKO loss to Juan Manuel Marquez last year has not quelled the confidence of Juan Diaz, who believes he will hold significant advantages in their July 31 rematch.
Early on, Diaz was winning their first 2009 encounter behind a stiff jab that forced Marquez to the ropes. From there Diaz worked the veteran over with trademark heavy volume punching. However, the cagey Marquez adjusted and began timing Diaz’s attack, particularly finding a home for the uppercut courtesy of Diaz’s tendency to lean over with his punches. The damage produced a cut and an eventual stoppage for Maquez in the 9th round.
To Juan Diaz, the disappointing loss was more so the result of his mental lapses as opposed to Marquez’s immense skill.
“The gameplan I had was working. Obviously it was a really close fight but I had the edge over Marquez,” Diaz explained yesterday (July 13) during a conference call. “The only thing I deviated from in the later rounds was when Ronnie told me to keep applying pressure. Yes I did but [I was] leaving myself wide open and exposed to his uppercuts. I kept falling in with the jab and he kept landing those uppercuts. I was stubborn and just keep pushing foward and falling in, which lead to me being stopped…I actually think he was slowing down. And once I got cut, it’s like when a lion sees blood he just pounces on the prey. I think that energized and helped Marquez out. If it wasn’t for that blood he saw on me it may have been a different story.”
Although only 26, there are critics who believe the Baby Bull has already peaked and is currently on the down slide. They point to his last 5 fights, where he has gone 2-3 in losing to Nate Campbell, Paulie Malignaggi, and Juan Manuel Marquez. In addition, one of his wins was a highly controversial hometown decision (against Malignaggi). Another loss, especially a decisive one, could signify the end of his career as an elite fighter.
But Diaz takes a more optimistic approach, arguing that his future is promising no matter the fight’s outcome. And one of those options outside of boxing is his goal to become a lawyer. Along with preparing for one of the biggest fights of his career, Diaz has also been studying diligently for the LSAT exam.
“I see this as a win-win situation. This fight will prove to me whether I have it or I don’t,” he explained. ‘It will take me to the top and make me the star in the lightweight division that I was meant to be. But if it doesn’t happen then it wasn’t meant to be and I move on to bigger and better things. It could mean start from the bottom and build myself back up, or do a 180 and go in an opposite direction. I don’t think it’s do or die, it’s win-win. Either I win and become a superstar, or it opens the door to do other things in other aspects of my life.”
Diaz’s last fight was a rematch against Paulie Malignaggi at 140 pounds. The Baby Bull appeared lethargic and couldn’t apply his essential inside pressure. Even more alarming was when the light-hitting Malignaggi, who hasn’t had a knockout since 2003, hurt him badly with an uppercut.
Diaz attributes the performance to being outside of his comfortable weight class. Back at lightweight, Diaz believes he is stronger and retains much better punch resistance.
“I’m ten times more comfortable at 135. In the last fight after training I was weighing 139, and then the night of the fight I stepped on the scales with my shoes and my pants on and I weighed 143,” Diaz detailed. “That goes to show you I don’t gain too much weight. Today I left the gym weighing 138 pounds…By the weigh-in I’ll weigh 135, and on fight night I’ll being weighing 142-143 pounds, which means it’ll be 7 or 8 pounds I’ll gain. At 140, that’s only 1 or 2 pounds I’ll gain. So you can tell I’m a pretty big guy; not height-wise but I’m a pretty solid 135. I’m not that solid at 140.”
Juan Manuel Marquez is one month shy of his 38th birthday, an age considered ancient for a lightweight. Diaz trainer Ronnie Shields thinks possibly that the future Mexican Hall of Famer was diminished from the first Diaz war, but admits it is difficult to discern from Marquez’s welterweight fight with Floyd Mayweather.
“Juan took a lot of him although we lost the fight,” Shields said. “I really think Juan helped himself by the way he pushed him the first fight. And he [Marquez] looked so slow against Floyd Mayweather, but then again who doesn’t? Floyd is so great he just dominated the fight. Time will tell but we can’t chance anything and fall into the hands of Marquez.”
Diaz-Marquez II will be broadcast live on HBO PPV on July 31.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 