Julio Diaz Interview Part 1

By Julius Streeter

Courtesy of www.rabbitpunchboxing.com

Julio Diaz won the IBF Lightweight title on May 13th of this year after beating the tough Javier Jauregui. Two months prior to that, he viciously knocked out top prospect Courtney Burton and is looking to make fights with all the big names in his division. Read what he had to say about such fighters as Juan Diaz, Diego Corrales, and Acelino Freitas in part 1 of RabbitPunchBoxing's exclusive interview with "The Kid" himself.

Julius: Congratulations on winning the IBF Lightweight title. You looked good that night beating Javier Jauregui.

Julio: Thank You

Julius: There are rumors floating around that you are going to be fighting Diego Corrales in the next few months. Have you heard anything about that?

Julio: Yeah I've heard about it and I heard that it's in negotiations but nothing is set yet for sure. I haven't got no specific details on it yet only that they are working on the fight for maybe later this year.

Julius: Is that the reason why your fight on October 1st was postponed?

Julio: That had something to do with it. The negotiations towards that fight didn't turn out very good. I think the managers had a little problem with the promoter. You know it just didn't work out. Something like that but I didn't have anything to do with it.

Julius: I talked with Juan Diaz about 2 weeks ago and his manager Willie Savannah and I had to mention you to them since you are a fellow champion at Lightweight and also because you had called him out recently that you would love to fight him. He said that he is ignoring you because you need him more than he needs you. What do you think about that?

Julio: That's kind of a shock to me. I think that's a weird thing for him to say. I mean I don't really know what to say cause I never challenged him in that way of needing him cause I don't think I need him. There are bigger fighters out there with a bigger name. The reason why I would need him is because it would be an easy win. I don't see anything in Juan Diaz that could threaten me you know. Honestly and I'm not just trying to talk this crap to try and motivate him to fight me. The reason why I wanted to fight him was to take advantage of a title. It wasn't only him.

Julius: Yeah…holding 2/3 of the Lightweight belts is better than just 1/3 right?

Julio: Right..yeah definitely. Just the way I'm going after Corrales now. I need Corrales more than he needs me. I definitely admit that you see. But Juan Diaz is just a young little boy who just got a title. It was handed to him. That's the way I see it. These kids are given this beautiful road. It was handed to him. But if you look at my record, I have fought undefeated fighters in their hometowns and strong fighters and Olympic fighters and veterans and everything else.

Julius: And they did something different with you Julio in the fact that when you were an undefeated prospect, they put you in with a fellow prospect with Sencion.

Julio: Yeah and then Dario Esalas who was 21-0 with 20 KO's and was a former Olympian from Dominican Republic you know. But aside all of that what I'm trying to say is that I took the tough road you know knocking out a lot of heads to get to where I'm at. You know the title…I had to suffer for it and these cats they win their pro debut and they get handed a million dollar bonus and a car and they a title bout and another title bout just because they were in the Olympics. You know I can see that since the Olympics is a big thing but honestly when it comes down to a fight in the ring with me and Juan Diaz, that ain't gonna help him out. All the tough roads that I took is going to come in handy in the ring.

Julius: Erik Morales has said that he wants to move up to Lightweight and I doubt that he would fight for anything but a title and since you got one of the belts it could be a good possibility of you and him meeting in the ring. Would you want to take that fight and how would you see it panning out?

Julio: Well I would love it. I would take it in a split second. The reason why is…see all my hardest fights have been strong fights with people who don't even have a name. These people come hungry with nothing to lose, bombing out and it's just a hard fight. All the hardest fights, supposedly, my hardest fights that I have had have been my easiest fights. I came out clean and I have always been in control especially in my world title fights. It was more like a sparring session for me. And that's the reason that I want to pick my fights now just take fights that are going to move me a step forward. I've had way too much tune up fights.

Julius: So from now on out you want only meaningful fights against fellow champions or big names right?

Julio: Right yeah. Fighters like Juan Diaz, he was like 13-0 and he was already ranked up there. He didn't have to fight so many tune-up fights and we do. Panchito Bojado was getting the same treatment as Juan Diaz. See what happened to him when he got into the ring with somebody with a little more experience like Leija?

Julius: He should have been able to handle someone like Leija since he had been a pro for about 4 years.

Julio: Yeah yeah definitely. Whatever the guy's name is that Juan Diaz got the title from…what was his name?

Julius: Kim.

Julio: Yeah that's the first time I ever heard of him in my life. I mean honestly the guy made him look good. Styles make fights. I'm not taking anything away from Juan Diaz. I would like to see him in with a fighter who can defend himself.

Julius: I'm a black man and I gotta say that you got a black fighting style. Where did you get that from? I mean even your brother Antonio don't fight like you. Where did you get your style from?

Julio: Well to tell you the truth, I have just been like this since I was a kid. Since I started boxing I have just been like this it's my natural style. In fact my trainers have tried to change me to protect myself more and don't be jumpy like that you know playing around so much with my guard and they can't. It's just me. I train for like 6 or 7 weeks for a certain fight but when the bell rings I go back to who I am. It's just me. I have a lot of confidence in my power.

Julius: Yeah you have real power.

Julio: And that's what I'm saying, a fighter like Juan Diaz…I wouldn't say I need him but that's a fighter that I wanted to fight. If you see a weakness in a person that you know you could beat, of course you want that fight. You don't think that he wouldn't want the IBF world title too?

Julius: Yeah I would think he would

Julio: Ok then why don't he need me? Honestly…that wasn't from me. A single word wasn't from me. That was some of the promoters that are trying to hype that fight. They asked me that and I went along with it. I have never been that type of fighter who would talk a lot of smack. Those weren't my words and everyone who really knows me, they know that it wasn't really me.

Julius: Here at RabbitPunchBoxing, I would never add or take nothing away from you. Whatever you say is going to get put down. I'm not in the hype business but I'm not going to lie on a comment.

Julio: Yeah that's the way I am. That's the reason I'm so excited about the Corrales fight. Honestly I'm the kind of fighter that if I make it, I made it. If I don't then it just wasn't meant for me. I don't like to take fights where if I wasn't a fighter that I wouldn't even watch. You got to see it from the fans point of view cause I like to see a good fight. Me and Corrales…believe me that a good fight where I want to come home after the fight and watch it on video. That would be a great fight. I guarantee that I will beat Corrales.

Julius: I'm going to be honest. I could see a scenario where you could get caught and knocked out but actually that's another easy fight for you. Here's a guy who loves to follow, follow, follow and not throw any shots and you're a great boxer.

Julio: Another point…Corrales, I mean he's a friend of mine, but Corrales…to the people...well you know people said Freitas was a strong hitter and everything. I've been sparring with Freitas for the past 4 months. Freitas is not a 135 pounder. He's real small guy. Freitas couldn't even move me. I had no trouble with Freitas but unfortunately he never took a fight with me. I've always wanted a fight with Freitas and I wanted to be that first one to do what Corrales did. I knew that was going to happen.

Julius: You knew he was going to quit out there?

Julio: Yeah I knew that because I know Freitas. Freitas don't have a heart. Once he has someone who can take his punches and still coming he will lose the fight.

This is just the beginning so be sure to stay tuned tomorrow for part 2 of my interview with Julio Diaz as he talks more on De la Hoya, Bob Arum, Juan Diaz, and more!!