By Ricardo Lois

If the island nation of Cuba were to produce its first professional heavyweight champion, numerous boxing experts, writers, and fans thought Juan Carlos Gomez would be the man.

Friday, August 13, 2004 – Enter Yanqui Diaz.

In a battle between Cuban born heavyweights, Diaz went into the fight as a heavy underdog and surprised many. Within one round Diaz knocked out the highly regarded Gomez.

Yanqui fought and won seven times in 2004, his victory over Juan Carlos Gomez propelled the native of Pinar Del Rio, Cuba to prominence in boxing circles. With a fight against prospect Samuel Peter on H.B.O. Championship Boxing looming, Yanqui has one goal in mind.

"I am preparing to be the first Cuban champion. We have the best boxing schools. I am ready to be the first Cuban heavyweight champion. I want to count on the support of the Latino public," said Yanqui on the phone from his Las Vegas home.

Yanqui’s quest is a viable, recently receiving a vote of confidence from one of the world’s largest promotional companies Top Rank. Riding the victory of Gomez, Yanqui Diaz signed a contract with Top Rank, a rare feat, as the promotional company has not dabbled in heavyweight market in recent years.

Diaz’s manager Wes Wolfe commented on Yaqui’s signing, "I think Bob Arum has big plans for him. He signed a four-year agreement with Top Rank. The first he [Arum] has signed in a while with a heavyweight."

Things are going well for Yanqui Diaz, very well. But just two years ago, things were very different.

During 2003 Diaz found himself in Mexico, a recent defector from socialist Cuba. Though a former member of Cuba’s national team, his professional boxing career was not blossoming.

"I trained a lot. I only fought twice, with the same opponent. I could not find anyone in Mexico to fight with me," said Diaz.

"I talked with a Mexican friend here [Las Vegas] and I came. I looked for a way to make money and I started sparring for a heavyweight Wes trained. I made a few dollars doing that…Wes saw me then and told me I had the possibility to make something of myself."

Wolfe recounts how the Cuban first came to his attention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"We were working with Tye Fields…we had trouble finding sparring partners for him…My partner Mario Macias says, "This Cuban kid I’m having picked up, perhaps you can use him for sparring with Tye and pay him." I say that would be great if he could hang with him."

Yanqui impressed Wolfe while sparring with Fields.

"Not only did he hang with him, he hung with him for a couple of months. He frustrated Tye to death, because he is hard to hit. The deal he had with the guy who brought him here fell through and he needed someone to look after him and move his career in the right direction. I felt as if I could do it."

A win against Peters further increases Yanqui’s viability as a heavyweight contender and brings him closer to a world championship contest. In the current mix of alphabet heavyweight champions, one man strikes a particular interest in Yanqui.

"John Ruiz. He has an ugly style, but I do not think it would be too difficult to beat him."

Wolfe foresees great things for Yanqui and has tremendous confidence in the Cuban’s abilities. In our conversation, the Nevada trainer mentioned he offered Yanqui as an opponent for Larry Donald, Kirk Johnson, and Hasim Rahman only to see other heavyweights secure the bouts for one reason or another.

For now, Wolfe will leave the future of Yanqui’s career in the hands of Top Rank’s matchmaker.

"I am going to leave it to Bob Arum and see what he wants to do. It might seem we are moving him kind of fast, but he went 199 and 14 as an amateur and we’ve sparred with a lot of good names, " commented Wolfe.

Yanqui has risen in the heavyweight rankings during the last twelve months, but Peters will present a stiff challenge and only in defeating him will Yanqui get one step closer to his goal of becoming heavyweight champion.

A loss on national television will send him plummeting back into the heap of no name heavyweights.

The fight between Yanqui Diaz and Samuel Peters can be viewed live on H.B.O.’s Championship Boxing on Saturday, January 22 at 10:00 PM ET and 7:00 PM PT.