by David P. Greisman

He was 16 years old when he turned pro, 20 years old when he won his first world title, 24 years old when he unified three belts in the lightweight division, and 27 when he retired.

Now Juan Diaz is three fights into his comeback, a 30-year-old rejuvenated by two and a half years away from a sport in which he’s competed for most of his life.

Diaz returned this past April with a stoppage of Pipino Cuevas Jr., scored a technical knockout of Adailton De Jesus in August, and outpointed Juan Santiago in October on the undercard to Mike Alvarado vs. Ruslan Provodnikov.

That brought his record to 38-4 with 19 knockouts, with those defeats coming against Juan Manuel Marquez (twice), Paulie Malignaggi and Nate Campbell.

And now Diaz is looking toward 2014 and making another run at the top of the lightweight division.

Diaz spoke with BoxingScene on Nov. 11.

BoxingScene.com: Now that you’ve had a chance to go back and watch your win over Juan Santiago, what did you think of your performance and how the fight went?

Diaz: “I believe I did pretty good. Not excellent, but I did pretty well. I worked on some of the things that I had been working on, as far as using my jab a little bit more, boxing a little bit more. Of course, I put a lot of pressure, but I also boxed a little bit towards the end, since I saw that I wasn’t going to get Santiago out of there, or the referee wasn’t going to stop it.

“So I decided, ‘Let me take advantage and box a little bit and go a few rounds.’ Well, a few rounds turned into 10 rounds, and it worked out good, because I gave myself the opportunity to go 10 rounds, and I felt comfortable going the 10 rounds, and now I know that I have the confidence that I can go 10 and 12 rounds easy, like I used to.”

BoxingScene.com: It looked like you tried to get him out of there early, like you rushed him from the opening bell. How soon did you realize that this was going to be a long night, not in a bad way, but that it was going to go the distance?

Diaz: “After the sixth round, I believe, I realized, ‘OK, I hit this guy with everything and he’s not going down, or he’s not even getting hurt to the point where I can throw a four- or five-punch combination an the referee will step in. So around the sixth round, I decided to back off a little bit and start using my jab and boxing a little bit more.”

BoxingScene.com: Had you been going rounds in sparring? Obviously it’s different than going the distance in a fight…

Diaz: “Yeah, it’s way different, because in sparring, even though you have two or three guys that you’re sparring with, and they come in fresh, but you have the headgear, you have bigger gloves, and the pace is not as fast at times. Because the sparring partners, of course, they’re there to spar. They don’t have a fight coming up. They’re not going to give it their 100 percent. When you’re in a fight, you’re giving your 100 percent every second of the fight.”

BoxingScene.com: What do you feel you could’ve done better against Santiago?

Diaz: “I believe that I could’ve thrown a little bit more body shots, and even though I did work on my jab, I think that using my jab a little bit more could’ve helped. There was one round when I go back and I see that I kind of hurt him to the body, and he wasn’t punching as much. And I believe that I could’ve thrown a little bit more body punches.

BoxingScene.com: What’s the timeline of your comeback — where do you see things going from here, step by step?

Diaz: “Right now, I’ve spoken with Top Rank in the last few days. They feel comfortable by me taking another fight, another tune-up fight, which would be something along the lines of Santiago or [Adailton] De Jesus from August, when I fought in Laredo. They feel that maybe one more before they push me in with the big boys.”

BoxingScene.com: What big boys do you want?

Diaz: “When I say ‘big boys,’ they’re telling me, Top Rank is telling me that they’re looking to see who’s in the top 10 at the time, and then when they decide to put me in there with them, we’ll talk about names. They haven’t mentioned anyone in particular. They just say the big boys, and I’m assuming they mean the top fighters in the lightweight division.”

BoxingScene.com: Is there a date set yet for your next fight?

Diaz: “Right now, it’s in the air. They’re telling me the third week of January to early February.”

BoxingScene.com: Why come back as a lightweight? Is there any interest in moving up to 140 or down to 130?

Diaz: “I’ve gotten a few inquiries about maybe going down to 130, but no. That I’m saying right now: No. Because I think that’s what makes me the fighter that I am. I always have a little bit of extra juice in the tank. I may not have the physique of a fighter, or even a champion, but that little extra fat that I got around myself, it helps me to punch as much as I do and to finish a fight strong. So I feel comfortable at the lightweight division, at 135. And in the future, I’m definitely older, so my bones are a little bit heavier. I believe in the future, I will go up to 140 pounds.”

BoxingScene.com: In what ways did being away from the sport for some time hurt, and in what ways did it help?

Diaz: “I believe that nothing in me taking off hurt. At the time, when I retired, there wasn’t much interest in me fighting from promoters. I pitched to a few promoters about maybe joining their team, and there wasn’t much interest in me. There was more interest in me being an opponent, kind of like a step-up for a young up-and-coming fighter. So I would say that was the negative of me staying in the sport and the negative of just being there to fight.

“The positive of me taking two and a half years off is that the people — the fans and the promoters — saw what kind of action fighter I was, and I would say that some actually missed me a little bit, the all-out action fighter that I am. So it kind of helped me. When I came back, there were promoters really interested in being part of my comeback and helping me become champion again.

“And then on top of that, I hadn’t taken a break. I’d been in boxing since I was 8 years old. At the age of 8, I started boxing and I never stopped. It did me some good to recover mentally and physically, which gave me the ability to fight now and give it my 100 percent.”

BoxingScene.com: That reminds me of something Nonito Donaire recently said about losing the fire. You boxers don’t really start a career in your 20s like the rest of us do. You’ve been doing this for a majority of your life. And so the time when you’re reaching your peak physically is also a time in which you’re getting burned out mentally.

Diaz: “Yeah. I believe that we start young and we give it our all, but then there comes a point of time where you kind of lose the fire. That’s what happened to me after the last [Juan Manuel] Marquez fight, the rematch in 2010. I lost that fire, and I couldn’t get it back until I retired and I realized how much I missed the sport. I got the fire back, and it’s burning hotter than ever now.”

BoxingScene.com: I’d love to hear your quick takes on some of the other top fighters in the lightweight division, starting with a guy who probably isn’t going to be competing at 135 anymore, Adrien Broner.

Diaz: “Adrien Broner, I don’t think he’ll be coming down any time soon. He’s a big boy, and I think he has a lot of talent. He’s going to be a great fighter for many years to come if he gets his act together. He’s out there doing all kinds of stuff. That’s the biggest problem and downfall for most fighters, is that they get a big hit, they think they’re gods, and that’s their demise. But I believe he has all the boxing ability, the power, the ring movement that a champion needs.”

BoxingScene.com: What about Miguel Vazquez?

Diaz: “Miguel Vazquez is one of those guys where he’s a great technical fighter, but I’ll be honest with you, he’s boring as hell. It’s going to be hard for any network to put him on or to want him. Even though he’s a great technical fighter, he’s just one of those guys that’s boring to watch. It’s one of those things, where now with the networks and the fans, they’re the ones that basically pay you, and if they don’t like you — Miguel Vazquez, I believe he’s a great fighter, but nobody even knows about him.

“Nobody even knows that he’s a champion. Nobody has seen him fight. Why? Because he’s boring to watch. I’m not saying that he’s a boring fighter, because the sport of boxing is to hit and not get hit, and that’s what he’s very good at. That’s why he’s a champion. But you also have to be fan-friendly.”

BoxingScene.com: And I’m guessing you feel the same way about Richar Abril.

Diaz: “Exactly. I feel the same way. He’s a tough, rugged fighter that can fight and will fight and will give anybody a hell of a fight. But his way of fighting is a bit boring.”

BoxingScene.com: Let’s talk about some guys who may be a lot more combustible, a lot more fun to be in the ring with you, starting with Ray Beltran.

Diaz: “Absolutely. Ray Beltran is one of those guys that comes forward, throws punches and is an all-action fighter. Now some people have been telling me that he has a little more pop than I do, which may be the truth, but I believe that I’m a smarter fighter now, which will benefit me in my future fights.”

BoxingScene.com: What do you think about Ricky Burns?

Diaz: “Ricky Burns is one of those guys, he’s a very cautious fighter. If he believes that a guy may hurt him or may have some pop, he kind of stays away and boxes and is really cautious. But when he feels that he can push a guy around and really hurt him, then he’ll make a great fight. He’ll come forward, and he’ll punch. So Ricky Burns is one of those fighters where depending how he feels that night is how he’s going to look.”

BoxingScene.com: Another guy I think would be interesting to see you in with is Terence Crawford.

Diaz: “Terence Crawford is just a great fighter. He has the speed, the power, the talent to do what he wants. And with Terence Crawford, if you put pressure on him, he’ll fight you back. That’s what I like about Terence Crawford. I believe that’s what HBO and Top Rank likes about him. He has all the skills in the world to be a great fighter. He does make interesting fights, except for the last one. I thought he waited too long and respected the Russian [Andrey Klimov] too much. I think he could’ve got him out of there and not put us to sleep on that one.”

BoxingScene.com: We just mentioned a handful of guys in your division. Say it’s 2014: Which of these guys do you want most, and why?

Diaz: “The guy I would have to say is Beltran. I believe him and I would give the fans the money’s worth and would really put us both on top of the lightweight division. These others guys are champions, and I believe that Crawford is scheduled to fight Ricky Burns for the title. But I believe that a fight between me and Beltran would put us on top, even though we more than likely wouldn’t be fighting for a title. I believe that’s the fight that the fans would be most interested about.”

BoxingScene.com: Anything else that you want your fans to know?

Diaz: “I’m back. Most people, when I retired, a year after my retirement I couldn’t get them to stop asking when’s my next fight. I was tired of it, like man, I’m retired. Now that I’m back, most people don’t even know that I’m back. So just keep an eye out for me, because I’m coming for all the lightweights in 2014. And fans can follow me on Twitter at @1Babybull and on Facebook by looking up my name, Juan Diaz.”

Pick up a copy of David’s new book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com