Juan Díaz (born September 17, 1983) is an American
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who held the
WBA (Unified) and WBA (Undisputed),
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
and
WBO lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
championships from 2007 to 2008 and the
IBO lightweight championship from 2008 to 2009.
Amateur career
Diaz was 105–5 as an amateur, winning 13 National Gold Medals, two National Silver Medals and four World Championships.
[Juan Diaz Explains Reasons For Retirement From Boxing – Boxing News](_blank)
Boxingscene.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-17. He thought he had qualified for the 2000 Mexican Olympic team but was informed he was too young to compete in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. He did not want to wait four more years and turned pro.
Professional career
Lightweight
Díaz made his professional boxing debut at age 16 on June 23, 2000 with a first-round
TKO victory over Rafael Ortiz.
[BoxRec.com editors]
"Juan Diaz."
BoxRec.com. URL accessed 3 August 2006. He won his first five fights by knockout.
On November 22, 2003, Díaz won the WBO youth lightweight title with a sixth-round TKO of journeyman Joel Pérez.
He accumulated a record of 24–0, which included wins over title challengers Joel Perez and
Francisco Lorenzo
Francisco Lorenzo (born October 27, 1971) is a Dominican former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2014. He challenged for the WBC super featherweight title in 2008, and originally won the WBC interim title that year, but was not aw ...
, before challenging for his first world title.
On July 17, 2004, Díaz defeated Mongolian
Lakva Sim for the WBA lightweight title by unanimous decision.
Díaz defended the title seven times.
On December 4, 2004, he defeated former two-time WBA lightweight champion
Julien Lorcy by unanimous decision. In his second defense, he defeated
Billy Irwin by 9th round tko. On April 8, 2006, he defended his title against undefeated
José Miguel Cotto
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
(brother of
Miguel Cotto
Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four weight classes, ...
) with a unanimous decision victory.
In his next fight, he defeated Randy Suico by 9th round tko. On November 14, 2006, Diaz successfully defended his title for the fifth time against Fernando Angulo of Ecuador by unanimous decision.
On April 28, 2007, Diaz was upgraded to super champion by the
WBA, successfully defending his title against WBO champion
Acelino Freitas by TKO after Freitas forfeited the fight before beginning the 9th round, unifying the
WBO lightweight championship with the WBA (Super) lightweight title. The fight took place in
Mashantucket
Mashantucket is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northeast part of the town of Ledyard, New London County, Connecticut, United States. It consists of land held by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. The Foxwoods Resort Casino is in the northeast ...
, USA.
On October 13, 2007, Díaz unified a third title by defeating
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
Lightweight champion
Julio Díaz in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
.
Diaz vs. Campbell
Nate Campbell
Nathaniel "Nate" Campbell III (born March 7, 1972) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2014, and currently works as a TV host. In boxing he held the unified WBA (Undisputed), IBF and WBO lightweight titles from 200 ...
defeated Diaz by split decision to become IBF, WBO, WBA Champion, on March 8, 2008 in Cancún, Mexico. This ended Diaz's undefeated streak of thirty-three wins.
Diaz's training is supervised by fitness guru Brian Caldwell of Houston Texas.
Diaz vs. Katsidis
Díaz (34–1, 17 KO's) won a 12-round
split decision
A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor.
A split dec ...
over Australia's previous WBO lightweight champion
Michael Katsidis
Michael Alan Katsidis ( ; el, Μιχάλης Κατσίδης; born 15 August 1980) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He held the WBO interim lightweight title twice between 2007 and 2010, and challeng ...
, (23–2, 20 KO's) on September 6, 2008. Diaz became the new
IBO lightweight champion in the "No Retreat, No Surrender" main event fight at the
Toyota Center
Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in Houston. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and it was once the home of the Hous ...
in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
.
ringside
Ringside may refer to:
Sports
*Ringside of a boxing ring
*Ringside of a wrestling ring
*Ringside seating (combat sports), see Ringside (boxing)
Film
*'' Ringside Maisie'', 1941 boxing film
* ''Ringside'' (1949 film), American boxing drama film ...
judge Gale Van Hoy scored the fight 116–112 while Levi Martinez scored it 115–113, all for Diaz, but Judge Glen Hamada had it 115–113 for Katsidis.
Diaz vs. Marquez
On February 28, 2009,
Juan Manuel Márquez
Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez (born August 23, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He is known for defeating Manny Pacquiao. He is the third Mexican boxer (after Érik Morales and Jorge Arce) to become ...
defeated Diaz in the 9th round of a 12 round bout for the unified world lightweight title. In the opening rounds, Diaz appeared to be winning the fight, pinning Marquez on the ropes and occasionally staggering him with big left hands. In the eighth round, Diaz was cut over his eye by a Marquez punch, much like he was in the loss to Nate Campbell. After starting strong in the ninth round, Marquez's precision punching proved to be too much and Diaz was knocked down twice, bringing an end to the fight. This fight was named "Fight of the Year" for 2009 by
Ring magazine and ESPN.com. A rematch was scheduled for July the 31st 2010. The fight was held live on Pay Per View and in U.S. Theaters around the country.
Brief foray at light welterweight
Diaz vs. Malignaggi I & II
On August 22, 2009, Diaz moved up in weight to challenge
Paul Malignaggi
Paul "Paulie" Malignaggi (; ; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017 and has since worked as a boxing commentator and analyst. He held world championships in two weight classes, including ...
for the vacant WBO NABO light welterweight title at a catch-weight of 138½ pounds in his hometown of
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. Although the fight was competitive, Malignaggi appeared stronger in the latter rounds. Diaz was ultimately awarded a unanimous decision, however, the scores were controversial with one judge, Gale Von Hoy, scoring the fight 118–110 in Diaz's favor; another, Raul Caiz Sr., had it 115-113. Harold Lederman scored the fight 7 rounds to 5 for Malignaggi. On December 12, he had a rematch vs Paulie Malignaggi and lost a unanimous decision, all 3 judges scored it 116–111.
Return to lightweight
Diaz vs. Marquez II
Diaz fought Juan Manuel Márquez for the second time on July 31, 2010. Marquez won the fight via Unanimous Decision, 117–111, 118–110, 116–112
Comeback
Diaz vs. Pipino Cuevas Jr.
Declaring that he had "the fire back", the former unified lightweight titleholder Juan Díaz ended a 2½-year retirement on April 13 by fighting Gerardo "Pipino" Cuevas Jr. He was trained by Tim Knight of Louisville, Kentucky He won that bout, and went on fighting until 2016.
Personal life
Díaz maintained a full-time academic schedule while boxing,
graduating high school from
Contemporary Learning Center in Houston in 200
and obtaining a bachelor's degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
from the . He is a community activist who has been deputized as a Volunteer Voter Registrar for
Harris County, Texas
Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas; as of the 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston, ...
, and has also worked with the League of Women Voters of the Houston Area to promote full participation in civic life.
Diaz's promotional company, Baby Bull LLC, partners with
ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes (, ''ESPN Sports'') is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications ...
to produce the radio show ''The Baby Bull Show'', which has featured guest appearances by fellow boxers. He also has a trucking company, JD Express Inc, with his brother Jose as partner.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
*
Juan Diaz profileat
About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Juan
1983 births
International Boxing Federation champions
Living people
American boxers of Mexican descent
Boxers from Houston
University of Houston–Downtown alumni
World Boxing Association champions
World Boxing Organization champions
American male boxers
International Boxing Organization champions
Light-welterweight boxers