WBC Lightweight World Champion David Diaz is spending the last couple of weeks of the Chicago summer with his family, cheering on his beloved first place Cubs and staying in shape for his next bout.

This coming weekend Diaz will celebrate Mexican Independence Day with two Chicagoland appearances both of which have special meaning to him.

On Friday night, September 14, Diaz will walk super bantamweight prospect Francisco Rodriguez to the ring for his Solo Boxeo debut as he faces Ivan Rodriguez in the co-main event of "Pride", an action packed professional boxing card presented by Chicago’s 8 Count Productions at the Congress Theater.

On Saturday afternoon, September 15, Diaz will be given the honor of Grand Marshal at the Cicero Mexican Independence Day Parade. The parade starts at 12 noon at the corner of Cermak and Austin and runs eastbound on Cermak to 50th Avenue.

Said Diaz about the weekend, “I’m proud to be a Mexican American and I know how it important this weekend is. Francisco is a friend of mine and I’m happy to support him in the first of hopefully many Solo Boxeo televised fights.

The people of Cicero have been very supportive of my career, particularly when I beat Cristian Favela at Cicero Stadium last summer for the IBA title. I’m honored to be the Grand Marshal of their parade.”

About the rest of the summer the Chicago sports fan stated, “I’m just enjoying the beautiful weather we’re having in Chicago with my family and rooting for the Cubs, Bears and Fire. All of the guys on the teams in Chicago have always been very supportive of me throughout my career.

The Cubs won today so they’re staying in first place and the Bears open up tomorrow afternoon against San Diego so it’s a very exciting time for Chicago sports fans."

Speaking about his future plans, Diaz said, “I’m running to stay in shape, just waiting for some fights to happen and see how things shake out. When its time to get back to in the ring I’ll be ready.”

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