Joel Diaz: “The only way to beat Manny Pacquiao was to knock him out. If Bradley out pointed him, he was not going to win”

17 Submitted by on Fri, 12 December 2014, 02:37

This weekend, former WBO welterweight champion, Timothy Bradley, returns to the ring against tough former titlist, Diego Chaves. The bout will be the first for Bradley since losing his undefeated record and title to Manny Pacquiao. While some people questioned Bradley’s strategy to go for a knockout in the rematch, he also gained respect from a lot boxing fans for the choice to try and end the fight without going to the judges again.

In part 1 of my “On The Ropes” interview well respected boxing trainer, Joel Diaz, I talk with him about Tim Bradley’s upcoming return this Saturday against Diego Chaves. I got his views on possible dirty tactics by Chaves and what he thinks a win will do for Bradley’s career. I also get Diaz’ thoughts on Bradley’s loss to Manny Pacquiao and if he thinks the strategy was the wrong one to win the fight. Here is what Joel Diaz had to say.

Jenna J: Your fighter, Timothy Bradley, will be fighting in Las Vegas this Saturday against Diego Chaves. How has the training camp gone?

Joel Diaz: The training camp has been great. Timothy is ready to go, he is waiting for the moment. We started training a little over two months ago due to the fact that he gained a little bit of weight after his last fight. He had to take some time off, he had an injury on his calf on his right leg but everything went well, we came back to the gym and focused on the weight so that we didn’t have the same problem that we had going into the Provodnikov fight.

Once we started losing the weight, we focused on training camp, which gave us eight weeks of training camp and he’s looking great. He is on weight already — he was at 152lbs today and he’s basically closed camp with like one hundred and forty eight rounds. Other than that, he’s ready to go physically and mentally, we’re just waiting for Saturday.

Jenna J: Diego Chaves is known as a little bit of an aggressive fighter, a little bit dirty at times. What are you expecting from him?

Joel Diaz: We prepared for the best but I also prepare for the worst. I know Diego Chaves, I’ve seen him — I was actually there on both of his fights here in the United States. I was there when he fought Keith Thurman, I personally know him as well, I had a chance to talk to him and I was there when he fought Brandon Rios.

Chaves is a very rugged fighter, I am aware of that and I also know that he is tough. But due to the fact that he was disqualified in his last fight because of his dirty tactics, he can either learn his lesson and not do it again and be very careful coming into the fight and not make the same mistakes. He knows that all eyes are on him and if he’s gonna do it again, we’re ready for it. I just gotta be very careful and talk to the ref.

Tim himself can get aggressive at times but we’re gonna handle it very professionally. We know he’s gonna be a little frustrated with Timothy’s speed, so if he’s gonna get dirty, of course we’re gonna take it the best possible and professional way to not make it a dog fight. We want to give the fans the best possible fight.

Jenna J: Are you at all worried about Tim in terms of his health because in two of his last four fights he got injured a little bit, especially his feet and legs. Are you worried about him becoming injury prone at all?

Joel Diaz: Of course, I’m always aware and I’m always concerned. Injuries can happen at any moment and it’s happened three times with him, that one time when he fought Miguel Vasquez when he had a rib injury and fought, then he had an ankle injury with Pacquiao and then he had a calf injury with Pacquiao.

We always think about it and we make adjustments, we improvise every time. Of course it’s a big concern but we’re gonna fight and Tim knows that. If any injury occurs, we already know how to deal with it. Depending on the magnitude of the injury, we can either follow the fight and he’ll be okay, if not, we’ll just stop. The most important thing is taking care of him, that he’s okay.

Health wise, Bradley is great, he’s good. His feet have given him problems but he’s a strong guy and he heals fast. He went to therapy and he’s good now. Early in camp it bothered him a little bit but it was all about just getting in training and focusing on the fight and it’s not an issue anymore.

Jenna J: The fight with Diego Chaves happened because other opponents were unfortunately not available. Kell Brook was a possibility and even Miguel Cotto was mentioned before. How big of a fight is this for Tim in terms of setting it up for a big fight in the future?

Joel Diaz: It’s a big fight because Bradley right now is at a point where he can’t afford losing this fight, everything is at stake because Tim Bradley needs to win this fight and big names are mentioned.

Like you said, a Kell Brook fight, a Miguel Cotto fight, there’s a lot of fights for Tim Bradley next year but right now we’re not thinking about that. Right no our minds are set to fight and beat Diego Chaves. The strategy right now is just to beat Diego Chaves, after that, look for bigger and better things.

Jenna J: In Diego Chaves’s career, people have noticed that he seems to tire late in fights. Do you think Tim’s best gameplan is to push the pace early so he can take Chaves out of there?

Joel Diaz: We know that Diego Chaves is a dangerous fighter through the whole fight but we notice that he fades as the rounds go. Four of five rounds maybe he’ll be strong but at the same time, Tim needs to maintain a pace where he’s gonna be doing damage. If you don’t do any damage to Diego, of course you’re not gonna make him fade.

Our strategy for this fight is basically be smart, be effective and wear him down because Bradley gets stronger in the later rounds, that’s the difference. Chaves fades in the later rounds and Bradley gets stronger in the later rounds. That’s what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna take Diego Chaves into deep water.

Jenna J: Before this fight was made, Tim had his long awaited rematch with Manny Pacquaio. In that fight Tim was looking for the knockout, do you regret that Tim didn’t use his boxing and athleticism like he did in the previous fight with Juan Manuel Marquez?

Joel Diaz: It was a different story with Manny Pacquiao. With Manny Pacquiao, it was more of a personal issue in the way that the controversy in the first fight put us in that spot where we had no other choice but to knock out Manny Pacquiao. Even though Bradley doesn’t have that knockout power, we tried to go in there and in one way or another stop Manny Pacquiao or knock him out. Other than that, we were not gonna win.

We felt like we owed the fans, we owed the boxing world something, and that was that controversy fight against Manny Pacquiao the first time. The rematch, the only way to beat Manny Pacquiao that night was to knock him out. Even if he boxed him and out pointed him, he was not gonna win because the world of boxing was upset due to the controversy of the first one.

We knew that we had to beat him clearly or we had to knock him out, there was no other option. As you can see, the decision was ridiculous — Bradley was winning the first five rounds up to the sixth round we were four to one and when he had that injury on the calf, he couldn’t box anymore, he couldn’t move around, he couldn’t set the weight on his legs and what he did was, he decided to go forward.

Even though we did not win the fight, the fight was a lot closer than the judges gave it. They gave a ridiculous decision; it was like a shut out. The judges gave Tim maybe one round and that was the point, there was no way that Bradley was gonna win the fight unless he knocked Manny Pacquiao out.

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17 Responses to "Joel Diaz: “The only way to beat Manny Pacquiao was to knock him out. If Bradley out pointed him, he was not going to win”"
  1. wbox says:

    Can you write anything about Floyd and Jail as means of escape against Pacman. Floyd might escape again using jail to fight Pacman. Floyd seems to be too much pressured nowadays?

  2. Joel diaz said the first fight was a good decision and the 2nd one is ridiculous. LOL

  3. kaith says:

    Move on Joel Diaz, accept that Bradley lose that two fights with Manny

  4. wynwyn says:

    jenna please write only article about pacquiao and mayweather covincing the latter to fight. I will no longer read articles unless it is about the pacman and the ducker. please tell gayweather that he sould not be afraid of the pacman. i will respect if he fights pacman even if he lose. please convince floyd!!!!!

  5. reyocs says:

    SAY WHAT?????????????????

  6. randy detalo says:

    Of course, Joel Diaz have to admit the fact that it is too hard to win against pacquiao because pacquiao could not give his opponent a chance to outwork or outdone him..Pacquiao is always a busier and greatly possess superiority or dominance mentality over his opponent…

  7. Jonas Lucas says:

    We all know that the first fight with Manny Pacquiao was ridiculous decision when Timothy Bradley awarded the split decision. Joel Diaz knows that, everybody in the world knows that decision wad ridicoulous one. And he said the second one was ridicoulous than the first fight, even grade 6 students knows the fact.

  8. nazeemshit says:

    bradley cant touch pacman as simple as that

  9. erap says:

    Joel is butt hurt and delusional.

    Accept the fact Tim lost in both fights.

    Move on.

  10. Jakolero says:

    Joel Diaz is talking out of his ass. Oooohhh it stinks so bad! LOL!

  11. PACMANUSA says:

    Diaz you are a stone cold IDIOT !

    Bradley was beaten by Pacquiao in BOTH fights PERIOD !

  12. jackechobravo says:

    I respect this man ,diaz.Who personally admt that ,preparing a fight with pacquiao is too difficult for him and to his boxer.Unlike some of their other fights.Even him can’t predict pacman’s style of fighting in the ring.Good luck to next fight with chavez.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Floyd is scared to get busted up or kod

  14. Anonymous says:

    I have no respect for Gayweather. He’s like Roy Jones. you can dish it but you can’t take it

  15. Anonymous says:

    Gayweather is sleepless this past few months bec. he’s scared that he will face his nightmare.

  16. MR MOHAMMED-ALI ASHRAF says:

    EVERYONE THAT KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT BOXING KNOWS THAT MAYWEATHER ONLY FIGHTS THE SAME STYLE OF BOXER’S. COME FORWARD STRAIGHT LINES BIG FLATFOOTED FIGHTERS. VERY NEW CHAMPION’S OR GREAT FIGHTERS ON THE WAY OUT OR ARE WAY PASSED IT. HELL I WOULD BACK KHAN TO DEMOLISH MAYWEATHER HENCE THAT FIGHT IS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. THERE’S MORE MONEY THAN PACMAN BUT HE WILL NEVER FIGHT KHAN. THEN THERES PACMAN THS IS WELL THE EEasier FIGHT OF THE 2 AND HIS LAST FIGHT AS NEXT IS KHAN. PERSONALLY THE OLD REAL FLOYD CAN AND SHOULD BEAT PACMAN STILL THERE’S A HUGE POSSIBILITY OF FLOYD KO PACMAN IF MANNY WALKS ON TO ONE. I STILL PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT MANNY WOULD WALK THROUGH FLOYD’S POWER BUT THERE IS STILL A CHANCE. PACMAN SAME PACMAN AS BARERA OR GOLDEN BOY PACMAN HAS ALREADY WON AS FLOYD IS GENUINELY SCARED. ALSO PACMAN CAN WIN AND STOP FLOYD UNDER 10….