Chris Robinson speaks with trainer Joel Diaz, as he breaks down key aspects of his fighter Tim Bradley’s upcoming April 12 rematch against Manny Pacquiao, set for April 12 in Las Vegas.
Click the thumbnail for more…
Continue reading
Chris Robinson speaks with trainer Joel Diaz, as he breaks down key aspects of his fighter Tim Bradley’s upcoming April 12 rematch against Manny Pacquiao, set for April 12 in Las Vegas
Continue reading
Trainer Joel Diaz speaking in Los Angeles (Photo: Chris Robinson – www.HustleBoss.com)
By Chris Robinson
When it comes to the abilities of his fighter, WBO welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley, trainer Joel Diaz is as brazen as a supporter as you will.
A former title challenger himself back in his fighting days, Diaz talks with a sharp tongue and is often unforgiving in his assessments of opponents of his fighters.
That being said, it was no surprise to find out that Diaz is exuding confidence heading into Bradley’s big rematch against Pacquiao, set for April 12 inside of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Speaking with me for a few moments before the Pacquiao-Bradley II kickoff press conference inside of the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, Diaz is eager to show that Bradley’s controversial split-decision victory over Pacquiao in their June 2012 encounter can be improved upon.
“We’re going to finish what we stated,” stated Diaz. “We’ve got unfinished business. Now we are here to give the people what they want to see.”
Bradley endeared himself to hardcore fans this past March with a gutsy, give and take battle over Ruslan Provodnikov and followed it up seven months later with a tactical and determined effort in edging Juan Manuel Marquez over twelve rounds.
“You guys seen it all,” Diaz stated. “You see Tim Bradley it out with Provodnikov and you guys saw Tim Bradley beat Juan Manuel Marquez. That said, Tim Bradley has built a lot of confidence and he has improved in his craft and he has matured.”
Pacquiao was last seen in the ring in November in Macau, China as he won a comfortable unanimous decision over Brandon Rios.
Coming off of a knockout loss to Marquez one fight prior, Pacquiao seemed to show that his body and mind were well up to the task as he was simply too fluid and fast for the come forward style of Rios.
Still, Diaz is far from convinced.
“I saw him against Brandon Rios,” Diaz affirmed. “And just watching the fight with Manny and him, I’m not going to lie, in the later rounds the fight became boring a little bit. He doesn’t have the spark. He doesn’t have the killer instinct that he used to have a few years ago.
“He’s getting older,” Diaz added. “A lot of fights. A lot of wear and tear. Plus, coming from a loss, the one he had, it’s big.”
CHECK BELOW FOR all-access Pacquiao-Bradley II press conference coverage from Los Angeles as well as other boxing updates…
,
Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
Click below to access the full-length interview with Joel Diaz (Photo: Naoki Fukuda)
By Chris Robinson
On Sunday afternoon I caught up with trainer Joel Diaz, primarily to get his thoughts on the rematch that is set to take place between his fighter Tim Bradley and Manny Pacquiao this April in Las Vegas.
In June of 2012, Bradley upset Pacquiao via split-decision in a result that caused a great deal of backlash. Diaz admittedly was affected by all of the controversy that swirled around the first match and is preparing Bradley to erase all doubts the second time around.
Check below for highlights from my discussion with Diaz.
Just another fight…
“It’s just another fight. We’ve been in the ring with the guy already. We already know what he’s got. We already know what he’s going to do. We already know the strategy to beat him and most of all, we’re going into the fight against odds, as always.”
Staying away from controversy…
“People always underestimate Bradley. I can tell you it’s not going to be easy for Pacquiao to beat Bradley. [The fight] is going to give us peace of mind. Because of the controversy, the majority of people in the world didn’t think Bradley won that fight. So now we’re going into this fight with the mentality that it cannot be a controversy. We’re going to have to go in there and win and worst case scenario, we lose, that’s just the way the sport is.”
Learning from the first Pacquiao fight…
“What we learned from Pacquiao is Pacquiao is a strong fighter. He has speed but at the same time his speed is not fast enough to catch Bradley because in that fight you saw that the commentators misinformed the whole world; making Manny Pacquiao the great fighter, which he wasn’t. At the end of 12 rounds, Tim’s face was completely clear and clean. Tim Bradley wasn’t even sore from his face. He hardly got hit.”
Not the same Manny…
“Manny Pacquiao was only fighting 30 seconds out of every round. We learned that when you can’t hit your opponent, obviously you get frustrated. Pacquiao just got frustrated, obviously because he couldn’t hit Bradley. This time around, I know that with a little help that Juan Manuel Marquez put in for us by putting him to sleep, I just think that Manny Pacquiao, at this point in his career, he’s not the Pacquiao that he was three or four years ago.”
Ready to fight…
“Timothy’s confidence is high after he beat Juan Manuel Marquez. He’s a more mature fighter. He knows what to expect because he’s been in the ring with Manny. We just want the whole world to know that we’re ready to fight and most of all we want to walk away with no controversy.”
CLICK THE THUMBNAILS for exclusive access inside the boxing world…
.
Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
Trainer Joel Diaz speaks with HustleBoss.com about the April 12 rematch between his fighter, WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley, and Manny Pacquiao.
Click the thumbnail for more…
Continue reading
Chris Robinson catches up with Diego and Jessie Magdaleno in Las Vegas inside of the Top Rank gym as they reflect back on a memorable 2013 campaign that saw them link up with trainer Joel Diaz and his hotbed of boxing in Indio, Calif.
Continue reading
Chris Robinson catches up with Indio, Calif.-based trainer Joel Diaz and gets his thoughts on Mikey Garcia’s big 8th round TKO victory over Roman Martinez on Saturday night on HBO. Diaz gives praise to the newly-crowned WBO junior lightweight champion and admits that he has to look at him as a potential opponent in the future for his fighter Diego Magdaleno
Continue reading
Chris Robinson catches up with Indio, Calif.-based trainer Joel Diaz and gets his thoughts on Mikey Garcia’s big 8th round TKO victory over Roman Martinez on Saturday night on HBO. Diaz gives praise to the newly-crowned WBO junior lightweight champion and admits that he has to look at him as a potential opponent in the future for his fighter Diego Magdaleno
Continue reading
Chris Robinson catches up with trainer Joel Diaz, as he speaks ahead of his fighter, WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley, who faces off with Juan Manuel Marquez on Oct. 12 in Las Vegas
Continue reading
Chris Robinson was on hand inside of the Indio Boys and Girls Club in Southern California as junior lightweight prospect Diego Magdaleno (23-1, 9 KO’s) put in some mitt work with trainer Joel Diaz ahead of his Sept. 28 fight with Edgar Riovalle on the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Brian Vera clash inside of the StubHub Center in Carson
Continue reading
Chris Robinson was on hand inside of the Indio Boys and Girls Club in Southern California as junior lightweight prospect Diego Magdaleno (23-1, 9 KO’s) put in some mitt work with trainer Joel Diaz ahead of his Sept. 28 fight with Edgar Riovalle on the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Brian Vera clash inside of the StubHub Center in Carson
Continue reading
Miguel Cotto, left, and Tim Bradley (Photos: Naoki Fukuda)
By Chris Robinson
On Saturday afternoon, former three-division world champion Miguel Cotto confirmed what had already been speculated, as the Puerto Rican star announced via his personal Twitter that he will be returning to HBO’s airwaves on October 5th.
Cotto also revealed that he will be working with Top Rank, his original promoter dating back to his pro debut, while trainer Freddie Roach will serve as a new face in his corner.
Definitely some big changes for Cotto, who saw his previous two contests, decision losses to Floyd Mayweather and Austin Trout, be co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, with the former being televised by Showtime.
Continue reading