Juan Díaz (boxer)

Juan Díaz
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Baby Bull
Rated at	Lightweight Light welterweight
Height	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Reach	67 in (170 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	September 17, 1983 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	45
Wins	41
Wins by KO	20
Losses	4

Juan Díaz (born September 17, 1983) is an American professional boxer and former unified WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight champion. In 2011, Díaz announced his retirement from boxing to attend the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Law School, but returned to the sport in 2013.

Amateur career

Diaz was 105–5 as an amateur, winning 13 National Gold Medals, two National Silver Medals and four World Championships.^[1] He thought he had qualified for the 2000 Mexican Olympic team but was informed he was too young to compete in Sydney. 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.^[2] 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.^[2] He accumulated a record of 24–0, which included wins over title challengers Joel Perez and Francisco Lorenzo, before challenging for his first world title.

On July 17, 2004, Díaz defeated Mongolian Lakva Sim for the WBA lightweight title by unanimous decision.^[2] Díaz defended the title seven times.^[2] 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 (brother of Miguel Cotto) with a unanimous decision victory.^[2] 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, USA.

On October 13, 2007, Díaz unified a third title by defeating IBF Lightweight champion Julio Díaz in Chicago Illinois. He became the first undisputed lightweight champion since Pernell Whitaker in 1992.

Diaz vs. Campbell

Nate Campbell 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.^[3]

Diaz vs. Katsidis

Díaz (34–1, 17 KO's) won a 12-round split decision over Australia's previous WBO lightweight champion Michael Katsidis, (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 in Houston, Texas. Ringside 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.^[4][5]

Diaz vs. Marquez

On February 28, 2009, Juan Manuel Márquez 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.^[6] A rematch was scheduled for July the 31st 2010. The fight was held live on Pay Per View and in U.S. Theaters^[7] around the country.

Light Welterweight

Diaz vs. Malignaggi I & II

On August 22, 2009, Diaz moved up in weight to challenge Paul Malignaggi for the vacant WBO NABO light welterweight title at a catch-weight of 138½ pounds in his hometown of Houston, Texas. 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 scoring the fight 118–110 in Diaz's favor. Harold Lederman scored the fight 7 rounds to 5 for Malignaggi. On December 12, he had a rematch vs Paulie Malignaggi and was out worked easily by the quicker Malignaggi. All 3 judges scored it 116–111.^[8]

Return to Lightweight

Diaz vs. Marquez II

Diaz fought Juan Manuel Marquez for the second time on July 31, 2010. Marquez won the fight via Unanimous Decision, 117–111, 118–110, 116–112

Coming out of Retirement

Diaz vs. Pipino Cuevas Jr.

Declaring that he had "the fire back," the former unified lightweight titleholder Juan Diaz ended a 2½-year retirement on April 13 by fighting Pipino Cuevas Jr. Trained by Tim Knight of Louisville, KY^[9]

Titles

• WBA lightweight champion (July 17, 2004 – April 28, 2007)
  • Won title from Lakva Sim On July 17, 2004
  • First defense was against Julien Lorcy on November 4, 2004
  • Second defense was against Billy Irwin on January 21, 2005
  • Third defense was against José Miguel Cotto On April 8, 2006
  • Fourth defense was against Randy Suico On July 15, 2006
  • Fifth defense was against Fernando Angulo On November 4, 2006
• WBA (Super) Lightweight Champion (April 28, 2007 – March 8, 2008, Promoted)
  • 1st Defense Was Against Acelino Freitas On April 28, 2007
  • 2nd Defense Was Against Julio Diaz On October 13, 2007
  • Lost the title to Nate Campbell on March 8, 2008
• IBF lightweight Champion (April 28, 2007- March 8, 2008)
  • Won title from Acelino Freitas On April 28, 2007
  • First defense was against Julio Diaz on October 13, 2007
  • Lost the title to Nate Campbell on March 8, 2008
• WBO lightweight Champion (October 13, 2007 – March 8, 2008)
  • Won title from Julio Diaz on October 13, 2007
  • Lost the title to Nate Campbell on March 8, 2008
• IBO lightweight Champion (September 6, 2008 – February 28, 2009)
  • Won vacant title from Michael Katsidis On September 6, 2008
  • Lost the title to Juan Manuel Marquez on February 28, 2009
• NABO light welterweight champion (2009)
• WBC youth world lightweight champion (2003)

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Díaz maintained a full-time academic schedule while boxing,^[1] graduating high school from Contemporary Learning Center in Houston in 2001 and obtaining a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Houston–Downtown.

Diaz is a community activist who has been deputized as a Volunteer Voter Registrar for Harris County (Texas). He works with the League of Women Voters of the Houston Area to promote full participation in civic life.^[10]

Diaz's company, Baby Bull LLC, partners with ESPN Deportes to produce the radio show ``The Baby Bull Show, which guests popular boxers like Joel Casamayor, Saul Alvarez to name a few. He also has a trucking company, JD Trucking, with his brother Jose as partner.^[1]

See also

• List of current world boxing champions
• List of famous people raised in Houston
• List of lightweight boxing champions
• List of Mexican boxing world champions
• List of undisputed boxing champions
• List of WBA world champions
• History of Mexican Americans in Houston

Notes and references

1. Juan Diaz Explains Reasons For Retirement From Boxing – Boxing News. Boxingscene.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-17.
2. BoxRec.com editors. "Juan Diaz." BoxRec.com. URL accessed 3 August 2006.
3. Brian, Caldwell (June 7, 2007). "Caldwell a Source of Strength". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
4. Houston Fighters Juan Diaz and Rocky Juarez Win Big, but Judges are the Big Losers. ringsidereport.com. September 7, 2008
5. Diaz takes IBO lightweight belt via split decision. abs-cbnnews.com (2008-07-09)
6. Dan Rafael: From Round 1 to Round 9, Marquez-Diaz delivered – ESPN. Sports.espn.go.com (2010-01-03). Retrieved on 2011-12-17.
7. Marquez vs Diaz on the Big Screen. marquezvsdiazonthebigscreen.com
8. Boxer Diaz goes distance to claim victory at Toyota – Houston Chronicle. Chron.com (2009-08-23). Retrieved on 2011-12-17.
9. Juan Diaz set to fight Pipino Cuevas – ESPN Boxing. Espn.com (2013-03-13). Retrieved on 2013-04-17.
10. "Could Politics Be Next for Juan Diaz?". Boxing Tribune. July 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-28.

External links

• Juan Diaz Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Professional boxing record for Juan Díaz from BoxRec
• Juan Díaz – BoxRec Boxing Encyclopedia
• Article
• boxen-artur.de – Encyclopedia