Juan Diaz Will Assess Future Path With Upcoming Performance

By Steve Kim

It's been well over a year since we've seen Juan Diaz (40-4, 19KOs) in the ring. After his victory over Carlos Cardenas in September of 2014, he underwent surgery on his left shoulder that kept him out all of 2015. He returns this Saturday night at the Arena Theater in Houston, Texas versus Fernando Garcia as the headline performer on 'Solo Boxeo' (UniMas).

"I'm feeling great," said 'the Baby Bull' who at one time was the unified lightweight champion.

"I feel like I've got a new shoulder on me. In the past I've had to go and ice it right after training and go to therapy and it was really bothering me. After every fight, just a lot of ice and a lot of therapy and now I feel that now I have a strong shoulder and I don't have to ice it as much and it helps me keep my hands up, as well."

This weekend marks an anniversary of sorts. It was last March 18th when Diaz went under the knife.

"I still remember it, so on March 19th it will be a year and a day," says the 32-year old native of Houston.

As for what's the big picture for this career, which resumed in 2013 after a three year hiatus, Diaz states - "Well, I'm going to assess the way I feel in this fight and my team and I will make an assessment. Top Rank is going to make an assessment as to how I look and where we'll go from there. We'll either take one more tune-up fight or fight a top ten contender. We want to see how the shoulder reacts this fight and how I feel to make that judgement."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.