Felipe Leon
Feature Writer

Julio Diaz seeks unification!

May 9, 2007

By Felipe Leon

Photo: Javiel Centeno

Life changed for Julio Diaz (34-3, 25KO) that crisp spring night of May 13th, 2005 when he challenged revered IBF lightweight champ Javier Jauregui at the San Diego Sports Arena. “That was my first world title, I had a lot of support, it was awesome,” Diaz states. He became a world champion by majority decision.

Up to when his record stood at 15-0, Julio worked as a roofer in the dry heat of his hometown of Coachella, CA. “I loved working as roofer but it wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Julio remembers. “Before that I worked in the ranches, in the fields, picking everything, you name it, I picked it, with my parents.”

Diaz, 27, the fourth in line of four boxing brothers, first wrapped his hands at the tender age of six. “My older brother Joel boxed, then Jesus behind him, Antonio, and then I was the smallest one following behind them,” Diaz states. Antonio Diaz, an accomplished welterweight in his own right faced and beat an array of top contenders such as Ahmed Santos, Cory Spinks, Emanuel Augustus, Ivan Robinson, and Mickey Ward in amassing a 42-5-1, 29KO record. Three of his losses resulted while challenging Juan Lazcano, Shane Mosely and Antonio Margarito for the respective titles his opponents held at that time. Antonio Diaz has not fought since August 6th, 2005. Many boxing fans await his return. “Passing by the gym one day Joel just came in and he liked it and he continued going and my brothers followed along.” All the Diaz brothers were or are trained by Lee Espinoza. “I have been doing this for twenty eight years,” Espinoza states. “One day it would be Joel and his brother and another day would be Joel and another brother so I said what is going on? He told me that since they used to live far, his dad wouldn’t let all the brothers come at once because they had to cross Avenue 52 and he was afraid one of them would get hurt. So I told him to let me pick them up and I did for about four years.” Julio continues, “I wasn’t really interested in the boxing but I wanted to be there with my brothers and then all of a sudden it sucked me in. After a while I started getting into the sparring and I started liking it.”

With over 180 amateur fights and only 14 defeats, Diaz proved to be an exceptional boxer fighting in the Nationals several times and in the Junior Olympics. “I saw a lot of future in him. When Julio was about ten years old I told Dean Lohuis (Chief Inspector of the California State Athletic Commission) at a profesional fight, I told Dean, see this kid? This kid is going to be a world champion and he became a world champion,” Espinoza reminisces. Lohuis somewhat concurs, “I remember seeing Julio as an amateur when he was about fifteen years old. I remember telling Lee that he was a future champion. Julio along with a kid by the name of Miguel Espino were the best I had during that time.”

Julio, like his brothers before him, decided to join the pro ranks on February 2nd, 1999 when he faced Carlos Rodriguez in nearby Cathedral City. “I was prepared but I can’t say that I nervous. I was more excited than anything. It was near my hometown, in a little venue where almost all the crowd is your family, your uncles, your neighbors, people that you went to school with so you feel that all the attention is on you. I don’t even think that people need to be in shape for a four rounder like that, it’s all adrenalin.” Diaz promptly dispatched his opponent in the first round.

From then on, Julio continued on his winning ways earning the NABF lightweight title versus another at the time undefeated fighter in Justo Sencion in New York City in 2001. He dropped a split decision to Angel Manfredy in an IBF title eliminator also in 2001 before going on a streak of six wins versus one defeat including the stoppage of Courtney Burton in his second IBF title elimination bout in the 11th round in 2004. Two months later he faced Jauregui. “I jumped on the opportunity to fight Juaregui. It was a Golden Boy card in their home turf and I was successful,” Diaz states.

Once a world champion, Julio did the unthinkable in his next fight. “I had my world title and I could have defended it against chumps here and there and just be cashing in but I felt I was ready to fight Castillo right away. I left my title and that was a big move, I would like to see somebody do that when they are not in the situation to do that. De La Hoya and all these guys do it every day. Those guys are pretty much set and they can play around like that but not me, I am just starting, I am not in the stage where I can be throwing away titles. I didn’t go to Castillo for the money, I just wanted to beat somebody and get the credit.” Held March 3rd, 2005 in Las Vegas, Diaz fought valiantly but Castillo stopped him in the tenth of a scheduled twelve rounds, “Not once did he have me against the ropes, hurting me, punching me. He did catch me with a lot of clean punches but I was never knocked down. I pretty much took a knee on my own, out of frustration, I just couldn’t see anymore, I wasn’t used to it. I panicked; I had never had an injury like that before. My left eye was completely closed and my right was half way and blood was dripping in my eye and blood is very thick so I was pawing at it and all I would see was a red cloud,” Diaz states, clearly frustrated. “From then on I was just going to be butchered pretty much and I didn’t want to be seen like that because I felt good, I was ok. I came back to the gym and I was training with my stitches on, people thought that I was hurt but I was clean.” After two years of reflection of his defeat on the biggest stage of his career, Diaz is mature in what he learned when he stood toe to toe with one of the best the lightweight division has seen, “That fight with Castillo made me what I am now, a better person, a better fighter. I think every kid needs a spanking every once and a while. I think I needed that to snap out of this youngster and try to become a man in the ring and see it all. I was always beating everybody and doing my own thing and that day I knew I had the talent, I was better than Castillo, I will tell you right now, I have more skill that Castillo, I am faster than Castillo, I am smarter than him, I am a better fighter all around but what he brought to the table is something that you I can’t train for, it is only something that you can see right there and experience. There are things that people don’t see, all the clinching, the punches in places where you don’t expect to get punched, he roughens you up, you know? That is what I needed to feel to not be the nice guy in the ring anymore.”

After the defeat, Diaz got back on the proverbial horse and won his next two fights by first round knockout to close 2005. Since then, Julio Diaz’s career has slowed to a snail’s pace but not because of him. “I think my career could be going better. Unfortunately I haven’t had all the opportunities there. I think it could be going a little better but I can’t complain, I guess I have to have some patience, nothing comes easy. My career is like a slow process, I don’t fight very often, and they always keep me. I am always waiting around for the opportunity and when it gets here, I jump on it. The opportunity came against Juaregui and I took it, they throw another one, Quilles and I go to Miami to his hometown again, you know? I mean, I always have to be going to other places, those are the only offers I get and I take them and good thing it has been working out.” Diaz defeated Quilles in May of ’06 with a unanimous decision to secure the IBF interim title and the opportunity once again to face the then IBF titlist Jesus Chavez. Chavez had won the title when he defeated Leavender Johnson by TKO in late 2005. Tragically, Johnson collapsed immediately after the fight and passed away within days. Diaz faced Chavez in February of this year to challenge the Texan for the same IBF title that Julio once vacated. A much anticipated show down between two proven warriors came to a disappointing end when Chavez’s knee gave out at the onset of the third round. “I wasn’t with the why I won the title, I was happy. The way I see it I did my job in the ring, I was very prepared. I went to win and what happened to Chavez wasn’t planned. What happened, it happened, I will take my title, and a win is a win. For the few rounds that we fought I was too big in size and too smart. I do think that if I would have won by stopping him or in any other way I would have gotten more respect. People would of given me a lot more credit and I thank God that those two or three rounds that people saw, they had an idea of what it was going to be like, so I am glad it didn’t happen right away because at least I got a few rounds to show people how it was going to be like.”

So now Julio Diaz bides his time, calling out fighters that some way or another succeed in alluding him without the boxing media or fans wondering why they are not willing to fight the IBF champ. “I want a big mega fight with the names I have been asking for. I want to prove to everybody that I am a great champion. Anybody can say that they can beat the world and this and that but it’s not until they see you do it do you get the credit for it. I have been asking for Juan Diaz for years, I have been asking for Freitas for years, Casamayor, I was asking for Corrales back then.” A fight with Freitas was signed, sealed and delivered or so Diaz thought but Freitas thought otherwise. “It’s always something. With Freitas we had a signed contract, we agreed, we already had our passports to go to Brazil, everything. We always put everything easy for these guys to give me the shot, I was going to go to Brazil already, in his hometown, and he just retired.” Lee Espinoza adds, “After we signed the contract, Freitas retired for eleven days and then Freitas got the opportunity to fight Casamayor but that didn’t work out. Casamayor is saying ‘those chumps don’t want to fight me’, it’s all over the news but he doesn’t mention Julio Diaz. Julio Diaz is a world champion and Casamayor doesn’t have a belt, so let’s go, and prove it. Beat Julio Diaz and then beat anybody you can but no, Casamayor wants to fight Morales! Who isn’t going to beat Morales right now? But Casamayor will rather fight Erik Morales.”

This past Saturday night Juan Diaz made short work of Acelino Freitas, an outcome that Julio knew was coming from the onset of the unification match. “I wasn’t surprised that Diaz won. I knew that Freitas was going to put up a good fight in the beginning but then his lack of heart was going to be apparent. I know Freitas pretty good, I sparred with him here forever, I sparred with him a lot and that is the way he is. If he is landing and doing good, its wow, you won’t keep him off you but if you laugh at him and continue going forward, then it is ‘oh-oh, what do I do?’”

So now all roads lead to a Diaz-Diaz war that is a matchmaker’s dream. “Juan Diaz comes forward, Julio’s style is boxing, moving to the sides, so definitely Juan Diaz would be a tough fight because Juan Diaz just throws and throws and never stops but the only problem is that he can’t hit and we have the advantage there,” Espinoza states. But Julio does not hold his fellow title holder in such high regard as his life long trainer. “Juan Diaz has never fought anybody close to a Castillo type. All the fights that he has had are just old guys against the ropes and he just punches at them. He is like an amateur. Diaz needs to learn what I learned from the Castillo fight, and that is why I want that fight. He gets more respect that I do because of his exposure, because Don King is there, because he is fighting on HBO. It helps a lot that he is a kid that is going to college and they always use that. But when it all comes down and he eventually fights, the books are not going to help him, this is boxing, and this is a different subject.”