Press Release: David Diaz, 32-1-1 with 17 KOs, scored a come-from-behind tenth-round stoppage of Jose Armando Santa Cruz, 23-2 with 13 KOs, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday. With the win, Diaz put himself in the running for a shot at world lightweight champion Diego “Chico” Corrales because he now holds the WBC interim title in that weight class. At the time of the stoppage, Diaz was behind on the cards by five points with two judges and three points with the third. Diaz stated, “this was a typical fight for me. Silverio Ortiz, Cristian Favela, Jaime Rangel—seems like all my recent fights are wars with me winning in either the later rounds or by decision. This one was just like that. My body shots definitely hurt him and he was not able to extend his arms with his punches towards me in the early rounds.” Regarding the stoppage David said, “it was my second wind, I knew after the ninth that I might be short on the cards and that I needed to hurt him to get the win. When I dropped him the first time I knew there was plenty of time left in the round and he was badly hurt, I went right back at him and dropped him again. It was a good stoppage by the ref, otherwise he’d have been dropped a third time.” About the damage to his own face, Diaz laughed, “No biggie, everyone in Chicago knows this is how I always look afterwards. It’s been a long road since the Olympics in 1996, but I’m glad I stuck with it. The fans in Chicago have always been very supportive and I need to thank Dominic Pesoli at 8 Count for all his help over the last four years,” said Diaz.