David Díaz (born June 7, 1976) is an American former

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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 1996 to 2011, and held the WBC

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

title from 2007 to 2008.

Amateur highlights

*Member of the 1996 US Olympic Team as a Light Welterweight. His results were: **Defeated fan favorite

Zab Judah Zabdiel Judah (born October 27, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2019. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at welterweight in 2005, and the ...

(United States) twice within 8 days **Defeated Jacobo Garcia (Virgin Islands) RSC 3 (0:33) **Lost to

Oktay Urkal Oktay Urkal (born 15 January 1970) is a German former professional boxer. He is a former European super lightweight and welterweight champion, and a multiple time world title challenger. Amateur career As an amateur, Urkal won the silver medal ...

(Germany) 6-14 *Won

Chicago Golden Gloves The Chicago Golden Gloves is an amateur boxing tournament, considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the three most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Intercity Golden Gloves and the New York Golden Gloves. The tournament is also mor ...

four times and the

National Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

three times (1993, 1994 and 1996 National Golden Gloves light welterweight champion)

Professional career

Diaz accumulated an undefeated record of 26-0 before losing to

Kendall Holt Kendall Holt (born June 14, 1981) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013, and held the WBO junior welterweight title from 2008 to 2009. Early life Holt had a very tough upbringing in his native Paterson, New Je ...

by TKO in the 8th round. He defeated José Armando Santa Cruz for the interim title on August 12, 2006. On February 20, 2007, Diaz was awarded the title when

Joel Casamayor Joel Casamayor Johnson (born July 12, 1971) is a Cuban American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2011. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA super featherweight title from 2000 to 2002; and th ...

, the champion at the time, was stripped of the title for signing to fight a rematch against WBO champion

Acelino Freitas Acelino "Popó" Freitas (; born September 21, 1975) is a Brazilian politician and a former professional boxer who competed between 1995 and 2017. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO super featherweight title from 19 ...

rather than defend against him – it should nevertheless be noted however, that the lightweight title bout between old foes Casamayor and Freitas never took place because Freitas fought and lost his WBO title to WBA champion Juan Díaz instead. Diaz defeated Mexican legend

Erik Morales Erik Isaac Morales Elvira (born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to quadruple champion, win world championships in four weight classes, rangin ...

on August 4, 2007, by a controversial unanimous decision to defend his title. On June 28, 2008, Diaz lost his title to

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

via 9th-round TKO earning Pacquiao his fifth world championship in five different weight divisions. After a lay-off that saw Diaz out of the ring for over a year, he returned to face

Jesús Chávez Jesús Gabriel Sandoval Chávez (; born November 12, 1972) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2010. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC super featherweight title from 2003 to 2004, and the IBF ...

on September 26, 2009. He won the fight by majority decision. On March 13, 2010, Diaz challenged

Humberto Soto Armando Humberto Soto Ochoa (born May 11, 1980), best known as Humberto Soto, is a Mexican professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for over 20 years, he is a former world champion in two weight class (boxing), weight classes, having held the ...

for his old WBC lightweight title, which had recently been vacated by

Edwin Valero Edwin Valero (3 December 1981 – 19 April 2010) was a Venezuelan professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2010. He was an undefeated former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA super featherweight title from 2006 to 2 ...

, on the undercard of Pacquiao's fight with

Joshua Clottey Joshua Clottey (born October 6, 1977) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2019, and held the IBF welterweight title from 2008 to 2009. As an amateur, he competed at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. At the peak of his car ...

. Soto defeated Diaz, dropping him in the opening and closing rounds, en route to a unanimous decision victory.

Outside the ring

Diaz is involved with mentoring various youth. He is also active in the Mexican-American community of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. In September 2013, he was the Grand Marshal of the 26th Street Mexican Independence Parade in the Pilsen neighborhood of

. Earlier in that very same year on February 28, 2013, Diaz endorsed friend and former boxer Bill Evans as a candidate for

Cook County Sheriff The Cook County Sheriff is the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, heading the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Office description Terms are currently four-years in length. Officeholders Election results , - , colspan=21 style="text-align:cent ...

in 2014.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, David Lightweight boxers World Boxing Council champions Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for the United States Southpaw boxers Boxers from Chicago 1976 births Living people American boxers of Mexican descent American male boxers World lightweight boxing champions Light-welterweight boxers National Golden Gloves champions 20th-century American sportsmen