As you listen to David Diaz speak, it's incredibly hard not to silently root for him to emerge victorious on Saturday night when he takes on the unenviable task of defending his WBC lightweight title against the whirling dervish that is Manny Pacquiao. For Diaz, this bout represents the pinnacle of his ten year professional career. It is a career that few thought would be as successful and productive, but the hard-nosed Chicago native has made a habit of exceeding expectations.
In a way, it strikes a bit humorous that we talk of Diaz flying under the radar given he was a very accomplished amateur, having won the Chicago Golden Gloves four times as well as earning a spot on the 1996 US Olympic team. However, Diaz's run for Olympic gold was cut short when he was defeated in the second round by Germany's Oktay Urkal. Sent home empty handed, the demand for Diaz's services in the paid ranks was all but non existent. If not for Bob Arum's Top Rank promotional company, Diaz may have chosen another course in life.
"I'm going to be honest, I never seen myself, you know, getting this far," Diaz stated on a recent conference call with assorted media. "I started off with the Olympics. After the Olympics, you know, I thought I had made it just by turning pro. I said if anybody calls me, I'll turn pro. If nobody calls me, then I'm not going to do it because, you know, I didn't win a medal so I figured I wouldn't get no money." Diaz continued, "So when Bob called, I was shocked, surprised and I was like hey, somebody's interested so I thought I had made it just by doing that."
But Diaz hadn't made it yet and after turning pro in 1997, the young fighter would go on a thirteen fight unbeaten streak through 2000. Then Diaz's life took a turn for the worse. His mother fell ill and a brother passed away. Coupled with disinterest in the sacrifices that are demanded of a boxer, Diaz soon found he was unsure if he wanted to continue a career in the sweet science.
"You know, so much in the amateurs and then jumping right into the pros, I should have took a little bit off, but I didn't. And then I had my mom who was sick; I had a brother who passed away and all of that just didn't feel right. My life wasn't going the way I wanted it to. I just decided to hang it up before I lost to anybody."
Life works in mysterious ways at times and Diaz soon found out that heeding his girlfriend's advice would get his career back on track.
"I was going out with this one girl. Her name was Tonya. She mentioned, 'why don't you try to go back into boxing'," Diaz explains. "My parents were always telling me, 'hey, you should go into the gym at least to work out', but it takes somebody else, you know, from the outside. You might end up listening. And I ended up listening to her and I ended up going back into the gym, and then it took off from there and I found [trainer Jim Strickland] and I end up marrying that girl."
Resuming his career after a two-year hiatus, Diaz quickly returned to his winning ways, besting the likes of Emanuel Augustus and Jaime Rangel in the process. Then came the highly anticipated showdown with the much ballyhooed Kendall Holt in 2005. It was a brutal fight with Diaz tasting the canvas in the opening round before dropping Holt in the seventh. In the end, Holt would emerge victorious, knocking Diaz out and handing him his first professional loss.
Following the loss to Holt, Diaz would rebound with a couple of wins against limited opposition before a showdown against Jose Santa Cruz in 2006 that would result in validation of his toils in boxing obscurity. The Santa Cruz fight was a hard-fought battle with Santa Cruz winning going into the tenth round. It was then that Diaz dug down deep to rally back and floor Santa Cruz three times in the round, prompting the contest to be called and Diaz to emerge with the WBC lightweight strap around his waist. Granted, the title was his on an interim basis, but at that moment, it didn't matter.
In many ways, the fight with Santa Cruz perfectly illustrated the tenacity and toughness that Diaz represents. It's that type of never-say-die attitude that has endeared Diaz to his Windy City fan base. While never the flashiest boxer or most devastating puncher, Diaz fights in a blue collar manner, prepared to work every minute of the fight. In fact, you could make an argument that Diaz is the living embodiment of his hometown: tough, hard-working, and unflappable. Diaz credits his father, a Mexican immigrant, for instilling in him an exemplary work ethic and sense of pride.
"Well, my dad, you know, he migrated over here to this country with hardly anything - any schooling or anything like that. He didn't even go to first grade and his attitude towards work was 'I have to work' because he had to provide for his family and he always taught us that", Diaz explained.
Despite being recognized as a world champion, Diaz still found that the road to recognition was further than anticipated. Diaz would sit out a year before his promoter Top Rank brought him in as the B-side to favored son Erik Morales who was attempting a milestone ambition of capturing a title in his fourth different weight class. Throughout the promotion, little was mentioned of Diaz, who was the actual champion in the equation, not to mention that the fight would be taking place in Diaz's hometown. Still, Diaz didn't lash out bitterly or disparage his opponent. He simply smiled and did what was asked, confident in the fact that Morales would not simply be handed the title, his title, without a fight. And a fight is what it was with Morales knocking Diaz to the canvas only for Diaz to roar back and bring it to the Tijuana legend in the end, scoring a close unanimous decision, but more importantly, he proved that he was a champion. After the fight, the WBC recognized Diaz as its lightweight champion.
All of this paved the way for Saturday night's highly anticipated showdown with Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao. The similarities between this and the Morales fight are too prevalent to be ignored. As was the case against Morales, Diaz is coming into the fight as the champion, but for all intents and purposes, he is the B-side in this equation as well. Like Morales before him, Pacquiao is looking to become the first Asian fighter to capture a title in his fourth weight class and just like the aforementioned legend, brings a rabid fan base behind him. So the question is posed; is this yet another case of Top Rank sending Diaz out to be a sacrificial lamb to the cash cow that is Pacquiao?
"I really don't care who [Bob Arum] wants to win or if you want Manny to win," Diaz assures, "but I understand the business aspect of it. That's not my concern; that's not even anywhere near my thoughts. My thought is to go out there and retain my title and beat Manny Pacquiao."
Diaz has the track record of spoiling the best laid plans of fighters with much more experience and fanfare behind them. In listening to him speak, you get the sense that he knows he is the underdog to all but himself. Thank his proud Mexican roots for the supreme self confidence and motivation. After all, Pacquiao has knocked off three Mexican icons in Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barerra, and most recently Juan Manuel Marquez. Diaz feels that his people, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans alike, are backing him in this battle.
"This fight is dedicated to Mexico and the Mexicans who are here in the U.S. Even here in Chicago, the guys that come up to me, the Mexican guys, they're like, 'Come on David. You got to do it, you're our last straw.' And there's just that feeling of hope that I see in them when they talk to me that I can accomplish this. And if I can do this, then you know, all Mexicans in Mexico and the ones here in the U.S. are going to be having a good time."
And while Diaz can count on support from his people, how vocal of a support could they possibly be when compared to the expected throng of diehard "Pacmaniacs" that are anticipated to descend upon Las Vegas on Saturday night. Diaz again is unmoved.
"In Spanish, there's a saying, 'pocos pero locos' [loosely translated: we're small, but we're crazy]," Diaz states. "I'm going to have at least 100 people from Chicago going over there and believe me, 100 people from the Chi can take on 18,000 or 17,000 people very easily."