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Photo © German Villasenor
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Friday night ESPN featured lightweight champion Juan Diaz, 26-0 (13), making another successful defense of his WBA title as he picked apart and dominated old schooled Canadian Billy Irwin, 42-6 (30). For nine rounds the twenty-one year old Diaz outclassed and out boxed his thirty-six year old opponent in front of his hometown crowd. While the cheers of the crowd filled the Reliant Center for their hometown champ, Diaz filled Irwin with punishing body shots and solid heads shots that eventually prompted the stoppage of the bout. Now Diaz looks ahead to the division's other titleholders and hopes to get a shot at unifying his title with a mega bout with the top guys in his weight class. As for Irwin, for years he had fought and pleased the fans but this fight was his last regardless of the result. In a ringside interview the Doghouse both fighters gave up their time to let our readers know their thoughts on the night and what the future holds.
Interview with WBA lightweight champion Juan Diaz
Benny Henderson Jr.: Hey Juan, give us your thoughts on tonight’s win over Irwin.
Juan Diaz: Well first I want to say thank you very much for driving four hours man. (Laughs) You know it was a great fight and Billy Irwin is a great fighter, he is a great person outside of the ring, he is very humble guy. The fight went on a little longer that I had planned but that is the way it goes sometimes.
BH: Billy took a lot of punishment, was there anytime in the fight that you were thinking to yourself man is this guy ever going to go down or quit or what?
JD: Yeah that went through my mind in the second or third round when I knocked him down I figured I would throw a lot of punches and try to get him out of there but he stood there and took the punches and took the punishment and he didn’t go down so my corner said you better slow down a little bit because you got nine more rounds to go.
BH: You are supposed to be fighting in April. Are there any name opponents at this time or anybody you would like?
JD: What I really would like is to fight another champion, but if that is not the case then Main Events and my manager will find somebody for me to fight.
BH: So far you have had a great career, youngest WBA lightweight champion and undefeated. Can you name some of your highlights so far in your career or some of the fights you are most proud of?
JD: Well one of the fights that I am not very proud of but I have to mention it because that’s what made me tougher and what has made me what I am today is a couple of years ago I was seventeen and I was fighting this guy Hernandez. He knocked me down in the second round for the first time in my career and he cut me right above my eyebrow and that night I think I barely won by one point, but I learned a lot from that fight. At any point I can be down on the floor and all I have to do is suck it up and fight.
BH: You have guys like Corrales and Castillo in your division whom are also title holders, if it was totally up to you who would you step in the ring with first to try to unify the titles?
JD: Both of those guys are power punchers and nothing is going to stop them so whatever guy they would put me against that is the guy I would love to fight. Both of those guys would be hard fights but that is what boxing is all about.
BH: Is there anything you would like to say in closing?
JD: Yes, I want to thank all the Houston fans for showing all their great support and for coming here and supporting me with their hard earned cash. (Laughs)
Post Fight Interview with Billy Irwin
Benny Henderson Jr.: Hey Billy, give us your thoughts on your bout against Juan Diaz tonight?
Billy Irwin: Well, I didn’t do what I wanted to do, I got sick last week and tonight I didn’t feel strong. I know a lot of people say that they are sick as an excuse so I have to give Juan credit for what he did but I didn’t do what I wanted to do and I am sorry.
BH: Looking back on your career what are some of your unforgettable moments?
BI: I really don’t now, I went to the Olympics, and I won the five titles and fought for two world titles and the second being thirty-six years old. I wish I would have done better, I was sick and I couldn’t perform better but I didn’t have the strength too.
BH: You say this is your last fight. Will it be hard to walk away from the sport?
BI: Ah I don’t know, I think me and my brother are going to probably take over a gym in and help train the kids or something like that. I never needed boxing but I love boxing, but I am going to miss it obviously.
BH: What would you say to the fans in closing since this is it?
BI: Just that I gave an honest effort every time and I tried my best and I am sorry that I couldn’t win the title tonight. I really thought I was going to win tonight, I thought it was going to happen. Last week when I started getting sick I got really scared and everybody at home knew and I thought if I fought through it, it would go away and I can’t believe a week later it hasn’t gone away. That sort of sounds that I am making some excuse and that will take away from what he did tonight and that is not fair because he did what he had to, but I think I could have done a lot better if I could have felt stronger, but I didn’t have it.
I would like to thank Juan Diaz and Billy Irwin for taking time out for the Doghouse.
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2005
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Interviews by "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr. (January 24, 2005)
