Christopher Diaz To Train With Freddie Roach For Magdaleno

By Miguel Rivera

Once-beaten Christopher Diaz of Puerto Rico will train with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach to prepare for his upcoming showdown with Jessie Magdaleno, which takes place in March in New York.

"For me it's not a surprise [at the present]. But when I was a fan and I saw Freddie with Pacquiao and other great champions, I never said I was going to train with him because I never thought he was going to make it happen," Diaz said to El Nuevo Dia.

"But I was given the opportunity to train with him, which many other fighters would like."

For Diaz, his enthusiasm is that he has seen the improvement of all the fighters who are preparing with the renowned coach.

"I'll be with a veteran coach. He has been in big fights. With Pacquiao, if I'm not mistaken, he made more than 25 defenses without losing. With Amir Khan, he caught Amir Khan coming off a defeat and made him champion in two divisions. The same with Machado, who has seen an improvement. Acosta has also seen an improvement, and that's what I want: keep improving my fighting instinct and keep adding things to my arsenal and my skills," said Diaz.

"I feel motivated. Freddie is a great figure in boxing."

Díaz will leave for the gym that Roach keeps in Los Angeles, California, the Wild Card Boxing Club, on January 21. There he will be until March 11, when he travels to New York for his match against Magdaleno.

Díaz shared that Roach let him know his interest in training him during a conversation after his fight against the Dominican Braulio Rodríguez in New York, last March.

At that moment, Díaz approached the American coach to congratulate him on his work with José Carlos Ramírez, and Roach told him that he would like to train him. Later, the managers of Diaz, the company JRO Events, contacted Roach, and from there the professional relationship was formalized.