Julio Diaz Vacates IBF Belt to Face Jose Luis Castillo.

Julio Diaz endured and surmounted many difficulties in order to win the IBF lightweight crown but has as of yesterday given it up amid a circus of potential lawsuits and threats from the sanctioning body to strip the Californian. After potential dates against former champion Acelino Freitas and

current WBA champion Juan Diaz failed to materialize, Julio Diaz was set to defend against the veteran Leavander Johnson on the eleventh of this month. That fell through when the chance to meet WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo in March came up. With the IBF threatening to strip Diaz and Johnson’s promoter Lou DiBella threatening to sue, Diaz chose to step down from the IBF throne instead.

Did he do the right thing? Obviously if Diaz beats Castillo, the answer is yes but if he loses….

Let’s look at the situation a bit. Diaz came up a very prized prospect in promoter Top Rank’s stable. One of his older brothers, Antonio “Tono” Diaz (not to be confused with the lighter weight Antonio “Chelo” Diaz) was a very accomplished welterweight (still fighting by the way) who holds wins over Cory Spinks, Mickey Ward, Ivan Robinson and Omar Weis. It was thought for a time that Julio could accomplish even more.

On the way up, Diaz knocked out two good undefeated fighters in Justo Sencion and Diaro Esalas and seemed on his way to a title shot after winning his first twenty-three fights. Sure enough, an IBF eliminator against In October of 2000, Angel Manfredy was next and Diaz performed very well against the much more experienced fighter. Unfortunately, the judges didn’t see it that way and awarded the fight to Manfredy.

A demoralized Diaz continued on to pick up a good rebound win against Verdell Smith before stepping in with unheralded Mexican fighter Juan Valenzuela. Disaster struck as Diaz was knocked cold on the ropes by a powerful shot in the first round. Valenzuela went on to defeat other favored fighters such as Ricardo Williams, Brian Adams and Eleazar Contreras, but Diaz had hit rock bottom.

Five months later, Diaz was back on the horse and picked up two quick wins against journeymen before beginning his real comeback. A dogfight against Ernesto Zepeda in which both combatants hit the canvas before Zepeda was stopped on cuts proved to be very good for Diaz. Fully restored, the Mexican – American again got off the canvas to solve another challenging puzzle, this one posed by Miguel Huerta.

Afterward another IBF eliminator materialized this one in March of last year against the larger and very tough Courtney Burton. Using his patient, canny skills and precise style that locates hurtful punches to vital areas at just the right moment, Diaz stopped Burton to finally regain what he felt should have been his over three years ago.

Diaz met IBF champion Javier Jauregui at the Sports Arena in San Diego two months later and was awarded a majority decision behind a brilliant career best performance that nullified the dangerous champion. Finally, Julio Diaz had climbed the mountain and realized his dream. Along the way, he had parted ways with Top Rank and had signed with Ringside Promotions by Sycuan. Unfortunately, his title was never going to be defended, dying in the muddy waters of the situation described.

By relinquishing his IBF belt and choosing to fight WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo instead of defending against Leavander Johnson, Diaz has chosen a path of great hazard. Castillo was the great Julio Cesar Chavez’s sparring partner while still a teenager and learned his lessons well. Now thirty-one, Castillo has beaten Stevie Johnston twice, Juan Lazcano, Cesar Bazan and most recently deadly Cuban southpaw Joel Casamayor. Many feel that Castillo beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their first fight but, was undoubtedly outclassed in the rematch.

Diaz will likely have a very difficult time against the hard-as-nails Castillo, who will have considerable advantages. Should Diaz pull it off, there will be few in the division he wouldn’t be favored to beat and lucrative matches against Juan Diaz and WBO champion Diego Corrales await. Lose against Castillo however and the now twenty-five year old will have to re-invent himself once again, a task that gets harder and harder each time it has to be performed.

Richard Eberline can be reached at richardeberline@fastmail.fm