“It was a flash knockdown,” Diaz explained on Leaveitinthering.com radio show. “It was a punch that [Robb] threw starting from the bottom to the top and I didn’t see it. No one saw it. It wasn’t powerful. It wasn’t strong or nothing. It didn’t put me on my ass but it made my hand touch the canvas. That’s what happened. After that, I had to show everybody what I have. I couldn’t go down like that.”
Diaz didn’t attack recklessly. He just put up his guard, got back into a rhythm, using his heavy hands, hard combos and pure tenacity.
“[Robb] was landing a couple body shots on me. None that really hurt me but he was landing some body shots,” Diaz explained not with a tone of denial that says, “Actually, I was hurt,” but the way a carpenter explains why he built a chair a particular way. “I’m not gonna lie. His power punches to the face, he had a couple of them behind him, you know? A couple of them that were hurting and a couple that weren’t- but it’s boxing. You can’t expect not to get hit. It was a war, man, and me and him went toe-to-toe and we stole the [show] that night. The guy was a pretty tough opponent but we stuck through it.”
For a kid with 10 rounds of boxing going into his first eight-rounder on short notice against a fellow undefeated fighter, Diaz was putting everything on the line and himself to the ultimate test. In the end, it was mental and physical toughness that got him through.
“Yeah, to tell you the truth, it was about toughness,” he explained. “We were toe-to-toe and going punch-for-punch-for-punch-for-punch. Most of mine were landing. Most of his were landing. I was eating some of his punches. He was eating some of mine and it was a pretty tough seven rounds. It was the toughest fight I have ever had in my career and I am barely starting.”
That first big test was tough. Diaz hit the deck and almost immediately jumped back, a rookie move. While no one wants to get knocked down, the best thing a downed fighter who is still mentally fresh can do is take the eight-count and then rise after gathering himself. Live and learn, says Diaz.
“It wasn’t that serious. It happened but I learned from it,” he said. “I learned I shouldn’t back up with my hands down. I shouldn’t lower my guard, period, but it happened so fast. But as a professional, I should have at least stayed down six or seven seconds. But like I said it wasn’t a very powerful shot. I didn’t have no spaghetti legs. That’s why I got up. I didn’t react like I should have. It was good, man. It was good.”
The hard part after that was getting back into the moment and finding his rhythm.
“Afterwards, that is when I had to think beyond it. I couldn’t stop thinking about that knockdown,” Diaz said, “but I had to stop thinking about the knockdown; otherwise, it would have gone a whole other way. But the knockdown taught me a lot. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen a lot in my future. That’s about it.”
To say that once Diaz got off the canvas, he reasserted control over the fight is to do Guy Robb a disservice. The kid came to win and though he had lost the first round on my scorecard, the fight was on the table for either. With Diaz down, it was Robb’s for the taking. But Diaz wasn’t having it. For the next five rounds, fight fans live and at home were in for a violent treat as Diaz endured hard body shots and right hands to land both of his own along with a nasty left hook. In the seventh, Diaz began to land shot after shot and referee Vic Drakulich, sensing it was better to save a prospect than further the public beating, ended things mercifully.
It was a banner moment for Boxing 360, the company that promotes Diaz Jr. Once again, they had entered a perceived underdog and emerged victorious. For Diaz, he had entered as an unknown quantity and emerged as a fighter who possesses heart, will, power and, above all, toughness. It’s going to take a lot to get this one down and keep him there.
“If he wants it, the rematch is out there,” Diaz said in praise of Robb, who gave him the gift of self-knowledge. “If he is up for it in a couple of months, I am always up for anything that will boost my career. We train for hard for fights like this. We didn’t think it would be that tough. I have to give my respect to Guy Robb. I didn’t think I was going to have too much trouble like that but that’s where training and hard work comes into play. I give my respect to Guy Robb.”
Diaz had never been down in a fight before. While he is happy knowing he can get back up and quickly recover, he has zero plans of returning to that situation. Still, it was nice to get answers to questions about himself.
“I didn’t. I really didn’t,” Diaz answered when I asked if he had known he could recover well after a knockdown, much less get up. “I hadn’t felt a punch like that. Getting dropped like that…it wasn’t the punch but...I mean, it was a punch, but getting dropped like that wasn’t in my book at all. I didn’t really like that. From now on, I am going to keep those guards up, for whenever you hear that bell, the guard is going to stay up, no matter what. We are going to practice that more and more.”
Another piece of good news is that Diaz came away with virtually no injuries. Whatever soreness he might have seemed to heal or is healing fairly quickly.
“After the fight, I really didn’t have too much hurtness,” said Diaz. “My hands recovered well. My face, just some bruises. It goes away. I am actually going to start training on Monday. I don’t like to take a long time off. They gave me a date of February 17 up in Chicago. I’ll just wait and see what my manager and my promoter got for me. We’ll just take it from there, you know? I like to stay ready for whatever comes my way.”
For then, at least that brief moment he was on the radio, Diaz enjoyed the victory. As of press time, he was back in the gym, readying for another battle to come.
“It actually feels really good,” said Diaz of those answered questions. “I heal fast; I got up off the canvas really fast. It feels really good. It doesn’t take so long to get the picture. I can heal real quick. I’ll be in the gym once again in a week- and I will be ready again.”
No doubt that when the call comes again, this is a man who will continue to answer and say “Yes.” Lucky us.
Boxing 360 News
Boxing 360 prospect, Brownsville’s Travis Peterkin, 4-0 (3), won last weekend against 2-3-1 Steve Tyner. The card was significant to the company because, for the first time, they were the promoter of record. Hopefully, this burgeoning company builds on this moment and keeps it going. Currently, they have a number of very interesting prospects.
