David Diaz is scheduled to square off against Humberto Soto March 13 on the under card of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This fight will be for the vacant WBC lightweight title once held by Diaz. This bout represents a crossroad fight for both fighters. I was recently afforded the opportunity to have a nice chat with the former champion. Here is what he had to say:
Q: David, how are preparations going for your upcoming fight against Humberto Soto?
A: Well, they’re actually pretty good—can’t complain. Everything’s been marching along pretty good so we should be primed and ready for the 13th.
Q: This fight will be for the vacant WBC lightweight title that you once held. How does it feel to be getting another shot at this title?
A: It’s great. Not everybody gets to fight for the title again and it’s a golden opportunity and we have to try and take advantage of that..
Q: Now this will only be Humberto Soto’s second fight north of the junior lightweight division. Do you think your natural size advantage and experience at the weight class is something you can utilize in this fight?
A: I hope it is. I hope I can be the stronger guy that night and we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.
Q: You will be fighting on the under card of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight, and I’m just curious, how do you see this one going down?
A: Actually, this one’s going to be pretty tough. I just got to see how he takes Clottey’s defense away because he’s got a tight defense and it’s going to be something to see what he can do against that.
Q: Now when you fought Pacquiao, you were stopped in the ninth round but a lot of observers in the boxing community feel that you did better against Pacquiao than some of his more recent larger opponents—guys like Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and Miguel Cotto. What is it mean to you to have that distinction that in the last couple of years, people think that you performed better against Pacquiao than anybody?
A: Well, I mean it just shows that I come to fight. Whether it be Pac-Man or whether it be anybody else that I’m fighting, I come to fight and try to get the best performance I can out of it, and you know what—to do a little better than these other guys—yeah, it feels good.
Q: Negotiations for the proposed mega bout between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather never got worked out, but instead, Mayweather is now scheduled to face Sugar Shane Mosley. What are your thoughts on this one?
A: That’s going to be a tough fight for Floyd, but I still think Floyd is going to have the upper hand on this one.
Q: Aside from your loss to Pacquiao, the only other loss in your professional career came at the hands of Kendall Holt. What did you learn from that experience?
A: To listen to my corner. My corner was telling me to stay inside, don’t go toe-toe, don’t be standing up with the guy, and you know, I wanted to show them—hey, you know what, he’s got nothing on me. He actually didn’t up until the referee stopped it, but you take those fights and you move on.
Q: David, if you beat Humberto Soto, where would you like to go from there?
A: God willing, everything will come out alright—unify. I mean that’s the only proper thing that I think a champion would want to do is fight another champion, and to unify would be awesome.
Q: Do you have any regrets in your career thus far, and if so, what are they?
A: No, I don’t have any regrets. I mean everything that’s been played out in my career, I take it because it’s been a learning experience. Yeah, finally it has taken me awhile to get to the championship fight, I don’t have the bank account that I would like, but hey—you take what’s given to you and hopefully we can build on that.
Q: You’re going on 34 years old, David. You just mentioned earlier that you ultimately want to unify the titles in the lightweight division, but how much longer do see yourself fighting professionally?
A: Professionally at this level, maybe two good years. Two good years, that’s all. I got two good years to try and become undisputed if everything goes well on the thirteenth. If not, then we will start looking for the exit. Yeah, because you know what, we’re getting up there and we can leave this sport for the young guys.
Q: Do you have an official prediction for your upcoming fight with Soto?
A: No, no predictions. I’m not Nostradamus.
Q: Okay, David. For my final question, do you have anything else you would like to say to all of your fans out at East Side Boxing?
A: To all my fans out at East Side Boxing—I really appreciate your support. Thanks for hanging in there for me, and God willing, everything will come out alright on March 13 and we’ll be champions again.
Q: Great. Thank you, David. Thank you very much for the pleasant conversation and I wish you the very best of luck in your fight.
A: Thank you very much, I appreciate that.
source: eastsideboxing.com
Q: David, how are preparations going for your upcoming fight against Humberto Soto?
A: Well, they’re actually pretty good—can’t complain. Everything’s been marching along pretty good so we should be primed and ready for the 13th.
Q: This fight will be for the vacant WBC lightweight title that you once held. How does it feel to be getting another shot at this title?
A: It’s great. Not everybody gets to fight for the title again and it’s a golden opportunity and we have to try and take advantage of that..
Q: Now this will only be Humberto Soto’s second fight north of the junior lightweight division. Do you think your natural size advantage and experience at the weight class is something you can utilize in this fight?
A: I hope it is. I hope I can be the stronger guy that night and we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.
Q: You will be fighting on the under card of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight, and I’m just curious, how do you see this one going down?
A: Actually, this one’s going to be pretty tough. I just got to see how he takes Clottey’s defense away because he’s got a tight defense and it’s going to be something to see what he can do against that.
Q: Now when you fought Pacquiao, you were stopped in the ninth round but a lot of observers in the boxing community feel that you did better against Pacquiao than some of his more recent larger opponents—guys like Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and Miguel Cotto. What is it mean to you to have that distinction that in the last couple of years, people think that you performed better against Pacquiao than anybody?
A: Well, I mean it just shows that I come to fight. Whether it be Pac-Man or whether it be anybody else that I’m fighting, I come to fight and try to get the best performance I can out of it, and you know what—to do a little better than these other guys—yeah, it feels good.
Q: Negotiations for the proposed mega bout between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather never got worked out, but instead, Mayweather is now scheduled to face Sugar Shane Mosley. What are your thoughts on this one?
A: That’s going to be a tough fight for Floyd, but I still think Floyd is going to have the upper hand on this one.
Q: Aside from your loss to Pacquiao, the only other loss in your professional career came at the hands of Kendall Holt. What did you learn from that experience?
A: To listen to my corner. My corner was telling me to stay inside, don’t go toe-toe, don’t be standing up with the guy, and you know, I wanted to show them—hey, you know what, he’s got nothing on me. He actually didn’t up until the referee stopped it, but you take those fights and you move on.
Q: David, if you beat Humberto Soto, where would you like to go from there?
A: God willing, everything will come out alright—unify. I mean that’s the only proper thing that I think a champion would want to do is fight another champion, and to unify would be awesome.
Q: Do you have any regrets in your career thus far, and if so, what are they?
A: No, I don’t have any regrets. I mean everything that’s been played out in my career, I take it because it’s been a learning experience. Yeah, finally it has taken me awhile to get to the championship fight, I don’t have the bank account that I would like, but hey—you take what’s given to you and hopefully we can build on that.
Q: You’re going on 34 years old, David. You just mentioned earlier that you ultimately want to unify the titles in the lightweight division, but how much longer do see yourself fighting professionally?
A: Professionally at this level, maybe two good years. Two good years, that’s all. I got two good years to try and become undisputed if everything goes well on the thirteenth. If not, then we will start looking for the exit. Yeah, because you know what, we’re getting up there and we can leave this sport for the young guys.
Q: Do you have an official prediction for your upcoming fight with Soto?
A: No, no predictions. I’m not Nostradamus.
Q: Okay, David. For my final question, do you have anything else you would like to say to all of your fans out at East Side Boxing?
A: To all my fans out at East Side Boxing—I really appreciate your support. Thanks for hanging in there for me, and God willing, everything will come out alright on March 13 and we’ll be champions again.
Q: Great. Thank you, David. Thank you very much for the pleasant conversation and I wish you the very best of luck in your fight.
A: Thank you very much, I appreciate that.
source: eastsideboxing.com
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