Pedro Diaz on N'Dam's Big KO Win, Golovkin vs. Jacobs, Gamboa

By Ben Jacobs

While he is currently preparing WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux for his next encounter, respected coach Pedro Díaz looked back on a stunning one punch knockout from his charge Hassan N’Dam over Venezuela’s Alfonso Blanco last month on the Island of Reunion. N’Dam had been preparing for the previous few months with the Cuban at their camp in Miami, Florida but could hardly have believed the fight for the WBA Interim middleweight title would be over so quick.

“I think everyone at Mundo Boxing did a great job on the Reunion Island,” reflected Pedro, speaking to BoxingScene.com.  “It was a quality show and it produced the knockout of the year.  Alfonso Blanco is a good fighter, he fought a lot of Cubans in the amateurs and I had studied him well.  I told Hassan that he had to stick to the tactics and that produced the knockout.  The fact that I knew Alfonso from the amateurs helped this.

“Hassan is now in a great moment in his career and his management team will be looking for a big fight.  This knockout of the year has given him a second wind in his career.  He’s an excellent boxer and fighter, he’s very dedicated to training and he loves it.”

While his fighter may hold the WBA interim belt, the full version will be on the line when Gennady Golovkin and Danny Jacobs square off at Madison Square Garden on March 18.  Díaz is not convinced that it will be yet another routine victory for Golovkin as some have forecast. 

“Jacobs is a great boxer, both of them are, and they both have good teams around them.  I think it will be a good fight, I see it as a 50/50 fight.  If you look at Golovkin’s fight against Kell Brook you see some defensive mistakes against a guy coming up in weight.” 

During the build-up to N’Dam’s bout, photos emerged on the internet of Díaz and former world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa.  Gamboa was due to fight on the same bill but had his bout cancelled after his opponent was caught with drugs on the eve of the contest.

“I haven’t heard much from Gamboa.  I helped him out in Reunion, but I’m not his trainer, his trainer is Ismael Salas,” Pedro explained.

“According to Gamboa, Salas asked for airline tickets for his family but I don’t really know what happened with all that, I’m just focused on my work.  I helped him out as a fellow Cuban.”