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By Cliff Rold - The news came quietly this week.
Considering the source, perhaps the better word would be humbly.
Not yet 28 years old, Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz announced he was calling it a career on Monday, June 13. This being boxing, there is every reason to think it won’ stick. History says former fighters inevitably are seduced by the call of the ring, entranced into becoming current fighters once more.
Bet the exception this time around.
There is no intricate personal knowledge of Diaz here, no more relationship than anyone else who watched his fistic endeavors unfold. No, it’s just a hunch based on what was observed from start to finish.
Part of a strong debutante class in 2000 that featured Jermain Taylor, Rocky Juarez, Ricardo Williams, Brian Viloria, and “Panchito” Bojado, Diaz ends his paid tenure near the head of the class. Men like Williams and Bojado were more physically gifted, but they lacked a certain something Diaz possessed.
That something was evident from early on.
When Williams and Bojado suffered early career upsets, their disappointment was evident but all too non-plussed. When Diaz came off the floor to barely save his “0” with a split decision over Ubaldo Hernandez, he couldn’t make it through the post-fight interview without choking back tears.
Being sports followers, boxing followers in particular, collective fandom had its laughs at the moment. For some it was evidence Diaz was just too soft for the hardest of games. It was irrelevant that Diaz had turned pro little more than a year earlier at 16, that on the day of the Hernandez bout he was still a few weeks shy of 18. [Click Here To Read More]
Considering the source, perhaps the better word would be humbly.
Not yet 28 years old, Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz announced he was calling it a career on Monday, June 13. This being boxing, there is every reason to think it won’ stick. History says former fighters inevitably are seduced by the call of the ring, entranced into becoming current fighters once more.
Bet the exception this time around.
There is no intricate personal knowledge of Diaz here, no more relationship than anyone else who watched his fistic endeavors unfold. No, it’s just a hunch based on what was observed from start to finish.
Part of a strong debutante class in 2000 that featured Jermain Taylor, Rocky Juarez, Ricardo Williams, Brian Viloria, and “Panchito” Bojado, Diaz ends his paid tenure near the head of the class. Men like Williams and Bojado were more physically gifted, but they lacked a certain something Diaz possessed.
That something was evident from early on.
When Williams and Bojado suffered early career upsets, their disappointment was evident but all too non-plussed. When Diaz came off the floor to barely save his “0” with a split decision over Ubaldo Hernandez, he couldn’t make it through the post-fight interview without choking back tears.
Being sports followers, boxing followers in particular, collective fandom had its laughs at the moment. For some it was evidence Diaz was just too soft for the hardest of games. It was irrelevant that Diaz had turned pro little more than a year earlier at 16, that on the day of the Hernandez bout he was still a few weeks shy of 18. [Click Here To Read More]
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