LOS ANGELES, March 26 – Truly one of boxing’s young superstars, former world lightweight champion Juan Diaz (33-1, 17 KO’s) has thrilled fight fans for years with his aggressive style and willingness to take on all challengers. Now, as Diaz gears up for his second run at a world title, he has enlisted Golden Boy Promotions to lead him to the biggest fights possible in the coming years.
“I’m excited to be on the Golden Boy Promotions roster and I can’t wait to get back in the ring with Oscar and his team behind me,” said the 24-year-old “Baby Bull”. “I’ve gained a lot of experience over the last couple of years, in and out of the ring, and I can’t wait to prove to boxing fans that I’m the best lightweight in the world.”
President of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar de la Hoya, continued “I don’t think there’s a more exciting young fighter out there than Juan Diaz and I’m glad we’re finally working together. We’ve got big plans for Juan and we can’t wait to start putting him into the mega fights he deserves to be in.”
“Pardon the pun, but Golden Boy Promotions is the “Gold Standard” when it comes to boxing promotion and I’m confident that this is the only team that can take Juan to where he needs to go in this sport,” said Willie Savannah, Juan Diaz’ manager. “I respect Oscar de la Hoya and Richard Schaefer a lot and they’ve always been straight with me, something you don’t see too often in this game.”
Although just 24-years-old, Diaz is a 34 fight veteran, winning 33 bouts since turning pro in 2000, the Houston native made an immediate impact on the boxing world with a relentless forward charge that always made for entertaining fights. In 2004, Diaz won the WBA Lightweight World Title with a 12 round unanimous decision over Mongolian Lakva Sim. After five successful defenses, Diaz added the WBO belt to his trophy case with an eighth round stoppage of Brazilian superstar Acelino Freitas in April of 2007. Six months after the Freitas victory, Diaz stopped Julio Diaz in nine rounds to add the IBF Lightweight World Title and though he dropped a close split decision to Nate Campbell in his last bout on March 8th, Diaz is gearing up for a big surge in the second half of the year.
What makes all of these accomplishments in the ring even more impressive is what Diaz has been doing outside the ring at the same time. He is currently studying to get his undergraduate degree at the University of Houston and will start law school at the University of Houston in January of 2009.
Diaz’s first fight under the Golden Boy Promotions banner will be announced shortly.