Boxing: Wait pays off for Diaz

By Thomas Gerbasi
MaxBoxing.com


Juan Diaz was always everyone's little brother. A kid in a man's world, the Texas lightweight followed in the shadows of his older and more experienced Main Events stablemates as he made his way through the murky waters of professional boxing.

He wasn't featherweight Rocky Juarez, a 2000 Olympic silver medalist.

He wasn't heavyweight Dominick Guinn, who turned pro at 25.

He wasn't even 140-pounder Francisco Bojado, a Mexican Olympian who entered the pros with the expectations of being the next Oscar De La Hoya or Julio Cesar Chavez.

He was just 16, left out of the 2000 Olympics because of his age, and forced to turn pro in Mexico for the same reason. By the time he turned 17, he was already 3-0 with three first-round knockouts south of the border, and ready to take the U.S. by storm.