FightHype.com recently caught up with WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight champion Juan Diaz talk about his future plans and much more. Although he'd prefer to face super featherweight king Manny Pacquiao or unify the division with WBC lightweight champion David Diaz, Juan says that it's looking like his next fight will be against the WBO mandatory contender, Michael Katsidis. Check out what he had to say.
AC: Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on your big win over Julio Diaz. How would you assess your performance?
JD: I think my performance was really good. There's some things that I've been working on that I didn't do in the fight, but overall, I think that it was a very successful night for me and my team and I'm very glad with my performance.
AC: I know that you stated after the fight that you'd like to face Manny Pacquiao. There's been rumors of him facing Juan Manuel Marquez in a highly anticipated rematch or maybe David Diaz. I know you have some mandatories due also. Is there anything in the works at this point in regards to your next fight?
JD: At this point, I do not have anybody lined up. Well, actually, there's been talks of me facing my mandatory Michael Katsidis. I think negotiations are on their way right now and I have to wait and see what happens with that. My thing would be to fight Manny Pacquiao or unify the division with David Diaz, but sometimes, we can't do what we want and we just have to take it one step at a time.
AC: Like you said, sometimes you're not going to be able to do what you want and have to fight your mandatory in order to keep all the belts that you have. Do you plan on keeping all 3 of your belts?
JD: If possible, I would like to keep all 3 of my belts. The WBA and IBF are working really good with me. The only one is the WBO which said I have to defend. The other 2 are willing to work with me and one is not so bad. It might not be that bad to just defend and then go and unify the division. It's one of those things that sometimes the sanctioning bodies want you to give there #1 contender a chance and that's how it is.
AC: Whatever way it works out, when would you like to see yourself in the ring again?
JD: I would like to see myself in the ring again late January or early February, but a lot of times, with these big fights, the promoter tries to deal with the networks and you have to go with whatever date they give you. Right now, I'm just waiting to see who my next opponent is and then I know that the negotiations will immediately begin with the network. We'll see if it's Michael Katsidis or not and then we should know what date the networks have available for the next fight.
AC: How would you see a fight with you and Michael Katsidis playing out?
JD: Well, I've seen Katsidis fight, as well as a lot of people have seen him fight in his last fight on HBO, and he showed that he's a very aggressive fighter and can take a good punch. I think that fight would be a tremendous fight for the fans and myself because I like to go forward . In my fight with Julio, in about 1 or 2 rounds, I saw Julio staying in there with me and that was a great fight for me and exciting for the fans. That's my kind of fight, where we go toe to toe.
AC: I understand that your training camp is a bit unorthodox. What would you attribute your tremendous endurance and high workrate to?
JD: Well, I get up at about 6:30 in the morning and I meet my strength and conditioning coach and from there on, it's pretty much non-stop. I do about an hour of strength training and then I go swimming. Then I take a nap for about an hour and a half and then I go to the gym and do all my boxing and running, which I don't do any running, I do the stair master for 45 minutes. I think it's a big help that I do everything together and then on top of that, I go to school after all that long hard work. My body doesn't really have a chance to rest and I think that's what helps me with my endurance; going all day every day. When I'm going to fight, about a week before the fight, I slow down day by day and by the day of the fight, I don't do anything until I fight and I'm ready to go.
AC: Well Juan, is there anything you'd like to say to the fans in closing?
JD: I want to thank them for all of their support. I know I've had a lot of fans since the beginning, even when I had a lot of criticism. A lot of critics were saying that I wouldn't make it, that I couldn't punch, that I would make good fights, but never be a champion and now I'm a 3-time world champion. I want to thank them for believing in me and hanging in there with me. We're going to the top. Expect big, big things from the "Baby Bull" in 2008!