DIAZ MEETS MEDIA TO DISCUSS PACQUIAO FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 07 May 2008
World Boxing Council lightweight champion David Diaz hosts a media luncheon at Mi Tierra Caf? in San Antonio, Texas today to discuss his ?Lethal Combination? title defense against Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao.
Diaz, who represented the United States in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta has been in training for the past several weeks at the Jabb gym in Chicago but his handlers have been very secretive about his regimen.
Former NBN newscaster and reporter Romy Sajer told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that the handlers of Diaz have so far not allowed any Filipino media people to shoot footage of Diaz? workouts.
Diaz will be making the second defense of his title. In his first defense Diaz defeated three-division world champion Erik ?El Terrible Morales by a hard-earned but unanimous decision.
Diaz has twelve years of experience as a pro and indications are he is more than prepared to handle the pressure that comes with battling boxing?s pound-for-pound most exciting fighter.
Pacquiao who is scheduled to leave for Los Angeles on Saturday has been working out in Cebu and his hometown of General Santos City as well as the Wild Card gym of former business manager Rod Nazario in BF Homes, Paranaque when in Manila .
Sajer reported that in the annual ?Cinco de Mayo" celebration which commemorates the liberation of Mexico from French invaders, Diaz who was Grand Marshal during the parade in the Little Village Mexican neigborhood in Chicago?s southwest side was greeted with shouts of ?Viva Mexico" and ?Viva Diaz" by thousands who lined the parade route.
Reacting to the event Diaz said ?I felt it was a great parade. The people were terrific. The support they showed me as I work towards the fight with Pacquiao truly humbled me. I?m glad I had the opportunity to share this with my wife and little boy and with all of the families that turned out.?
The champion?s publicists said Diaz would crisscross the country to promote the ?Lethal Combination? showdown at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas on June 28. Diaz will travel to Phoenix, Arizona, San Antonio, Texas and San Diego, California for a series of press events to promote the fight before Mexican communities in these places.
While Pacquiao is likely to miss out on some of the promotional events arranged by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum he is expected to make up for the delay in his arrival by visiting several cities on his off-days from training at the Wild Card gym of Freddie Roach.
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