Boxing Chatter

Julio Diaz is Calling All Lightweights

One week after gaining a unanimous decision victory in Florida, Julio “The Kidd” Diaz has declared he will take on every lightweight bar none once he captures the title against IBF lightweight titleholder Jesus Chavez.

Diaz, the desert fighter out of Coachella, California, dominated Ricky Quiles, a clever southpaw boxer accustomed to making it difficult for opponents and judges to score against him.

“It was pretty easy,” said Diaz. “Easier than I thought it was going to be.”

A year ago Diaz was stopped by Jose Luis Castillo when they met in March 2005 in Las Vegas. The quick hands, power punches and youthful exuberance of Diaz were nullified by the ramrod style of Mexico’s “El Temible.”

“I learned a lot from that fight,” Diaz said.

Subsequently, Diaz proceeded to annihilate two decent opponents in the first round on national television. His reason:

“They’re not on my level,” he said. “I’m an elite fighter.”

Now it’s time to believe Diaz.

If not convinced, last year Diaz met Castillo accidentally in a Mexicali nightclub where the two conversed for most of the night and the next morning. The powerful lightweight, who has fought Floyd Mayweather, Joel Casamayor, Juan Lazcano and is set to meet Diego Corrales for a third time, told the Californian that he truly is a superior fighter.

“That really made me feel good,” Diaz said. “To have someone like Castillo tell me those things made me go to another level.”

Diaz plans to meet Chavez, a whirlwind of a boxer who does not know how to move backward and has earned the respect of the boxing world with his tenacity in the ring.

“Jesus Chavez is a good fighter, a great fighter,” Diaz said. “He’s not on my level. I’m a real lightweight. He’s a great junior lightweight moving up to lightweight.”

The Coachella fighter says he’s fought others like Chavez including the man he beat to win the IBF lightweight title two years ago in San Diego.

“Jesus Chavez is just like Javier Jauregui who I beat for the title,” Diaz says. “He’s the perfect style for me. He’s made for me.”

Against Quiles, Diaz proved to be quicker, stronger and more experienced.

“It was pretty one-sided,” Diaz said of his match with Quiles for the IBF interim title. “He doesn’t have any power to keep me away. I knew if he couldn’t keep me away, it was going to be easy.”

Though Quiles felt he won the fight, the judges were not fooled by his antics at the end of every round.

“He would raise his hand when the round finished,” said Diaz. “After every round he would take a beating and not land any punches. I could see the fear in his eyes.”

Now Diaz anticipates meeting Texan fighter Chavez.

“I expect a great fight from Chavez but I will dominate because he’s a smaller, slower fighter with only one game plan, that’s to be El Matador,” Diaz said. “That’s my kind of fight.”

After Chavez, it’s whoever steps forward.

“I’ll fight any other lightweight in the world, anybody,” Diaz said.

Melinda Cooper-Heather Percival is Back On

It came within a day of happening earlier in the year. Melinda Cooper, perhaps one of the top female boxers in the world, will meet Fontana’s Heather Percival in a bantamweight showdown next month at the Morongo Casino.

Cooper captured a flyweight title last year in the Palm Springs area and probably perceives the region as a good luck piece. But she’ll move up in weight and meet one of the fastest rising female boxers in the country in Percival, the blonde stylist trained by Larry Ramirez.

Both Cooper and Percival were supposed to fight earlier in the year but the promoter was involved in an auto accident and had to cancel the event. Now Two Feathers Promotions is handling the affair. They just had a show last week.

New Trainer for Vicente Escobedo?

Rumor has it Vicente Escobar has been taken away from San Diego boxing trainer David Gutierrez by Golden Boy Promotions after losing a close decision last month in his hometown to Daniel Jimenez, a good boxer himself. Alhough Freddie Roach has been named the new trainer there is a possibility that he is too loaded with other fighters. Aside from Manny Pacquiao, he has about six other Filipino fighters and champions Israel Vazquez and James Toney. He also has many other boxers. According to a close source, Floyd Mayweather Sr. could be an alternative now that Oscar De La Hoya is winding down his career. If not Mayweather, perhaps one of the best-kept secrets in boxing could be South El Monte’s Ben Lira. He helped shape Terry Norris, Lupe Aquino and Alex Garcia. He now has young stud John Molina who is turning heads with his ability. He also has female fighter Mariana Juarez another pound-for-pound best boxer in the world.

Boom Boom wants WBO Champ

Young Filipino bomber Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista blew out Nicaragua’s Roberto Bonilla in less than three rounds last Saturday. Meanwhile, WBO junior featherweight titleholder Daniel Ponce De Leon was sitting right behind me at the Staples Center on Saturday. Rumor has it Boom Boom’s people say they want Ponce De Leon. They feel their 19-year-old is ready to trade bombs with the southpaw knockout artist. I asked the Mexican fighter what’s next for him and he motioned to Bautista still in the ring and pointed to his own fist. “He’s next,” he said. But first, he has to contend with fellow Mexican Alejandro “Zorrito” Barrera, a relative of Marco Antonio Barrera. Apparently, Ponce De Leon does not consider him a threat.

Kaliesha vs. Julie

Jerry Hoffman says the fast-rising female prizefighter Kaliesha West (3-0) will meet another meteoric boxer in Orange County’s Julie Rubalcava (4-0) at the Conference Center in Monterey, California. Hopefully it’s not a mere four-rounder. It’s really not enough time to determine a winner at this level of boxing. It’s more like an amateur boxing match than a high-caliber pro boxing bout if done at four rounds. Make it eight or at least six rounds. Then we’ll be able to determine the best young female bantamweight. It will pit the pride of “the I.E” versus the best of “the OC.” West has fought three pro bouts since February and has improved in each one. Rubalcava fought four times in one year, but has not had a boxing match in two years. The question is if the OC fighter has enough for the West’s youthful exuberance. It should be very interesting.

“I can’t wait,” says West in her regular excitement. “I wish I could fight today.”

Hatton

During a telephone press conference for Jose Luis Castillo, Bob Arum, the president of Top Rank that promotes Castillo, said that Ricky Hatton’s performance showed that he’s not ready for any of his fighters including Miguel Cotto or Castillo.

“I think he’s been exposed pretty much for being a relatively ordinary fighter,” said Arum about Hatton. “I don’t think he’s going to be ready to fight anybody real soon. As long as he can grab HBO money to fight second-rate fighters.”

Hatton’s people immediately responded.

“Every boxing fan knows Ricky doesn’t take a backward step in the ring – and he certainly doesn’t take a sideward when it comes to agreeing to fight the best possible opposition,” said Dennis Hobson, who co-promotes Hatton. “And that most definitely includes Miguel Cotto and Jose Luis Castillo.”

The gauntlet is thrown and picked up. Let’s see if Hatton steps up to meet Cotto or Castillo. Both are junior welterweights so it’s more feasible to see Hatton fight them than any of the real welterweights that are just plain too big for the Hitman.