"I’m the bigger guy, I’m the stronger guy, and there’s a different power coming to Chavez."

BoxingTalk:  Julio, what’s the latest on your fight taking place in Miami, and have they found an arena for your fight against Jesus Chavez to take place yet?

Julio Diaz:  From what I know everything is still good.  Miami is still the place, and it’s going to be at the Silver Spurs Arena.  It doesn’t really matter to me where the fight is though, my mentality is in the fight not where it takes place.

BoxingTalk:  Julio, you are finally going to see some action next month against Jesus Chavez.  How is training going for that fight?

Julio Diaz:  Training has been going perfect.  I’m very excited.  We’ve already had 100 rounds in sparring, so I’m ready.  I’ve been put through some hard conditioning since I know this will be a hard fight.  Fight Chavez is a like fighting a worse case scenario for me.

BoxingTalk:  What makes fighting Chavez a worst case scenario for you?

Julio Diaz:  Chavez comes at you all the time.  He’s durable, and he’s not going to let me dance around and let me breathe.   He’ll be in my face throughout the entire fight, and it will be fast pace all the time.  Saying that, on the good side, all this means Chavez will be a good target for me.

BoxingTalk:  Since your proposed fight with Acelino Freitas never panned out because he retired, you had to wait for Chavez to get better from an injury that happened while he was training for you last year.  How has your “on again off again” schedule affected your training?

Julio Diaz:  Not at all.  It was irritating me a little bit, especially with Freitas.  He showed he was a coward by trying to get out of the fight then unretire.  He didn’t have to retire to not fight me, I wasn’t going to hurt him that bad.  But he’ll be the last guy on my list to fight before I retire.

BoxingTalk:  Do you feel this lay off has helped you or hurt you?

Julio Diaz:  I don’t think it will hurt me, but it didn’t help either.  My last fight went 12 rounds so I’m grateful for getting some rounds in.  Since then, I haven’t been fooling around in the gym, I’ve got plenty of my sparring in.

BoxingTalk:  Chavez has not fought in over a year since his tragic win over Leavander Johnson.  Do you think the time Chavez has taken off will benefit you in the ring?

Julio Diaz:  I think it will.  He’ll be a little off for a couple of rounds.  It will take him a couple rounds to get his routine and stamina back.  That gives me a couple rounds to get the momentum and to get my game plan going before he does.  I pray for him everyday because I know how his shoulder can get injured.  I run to the internet every morning hoping I that I don’t see the headline, “Chavez pulls out of fight due to injury.”

BoxingTalk:  You have had some impressive wins since your loss to Jose Luis Castillo in March of ’05.  Are we now seeing the best Julio Diaz there is, and can we expect to see an even better Julio Diaz in 2007?

Julio Diaz:  I’ll tell you the truth, this is a great Julio Diaz that the world will see against Chavez.  I never make any false accusations or say anything to hype a fight.  I’m going to give it my all.  I learned a lot during my Castillo fight, and I’m doing this fight for myself this time.  No excuses, you will see everything I’ve got until my last breath in the fight.  I’m so hungry for this victory.  It’s so frustrating that I’m always so close to the championship, and didn’t cut it.  But here I am again!

BoxingTalk:  How do you see this fight going with Chavez next month?

Julio Diaz:  My conditioning has been run around getting ready to bang it out if I have to with Chavez.  I’ve been working to fight, not to box.  I’m the bigger guy, I’m the stronger guy, and there’s a different power coming to Chavez.  Look at what happened to Oscar De La Hoya’s power and Roy Jones Jr.’s power when they moved up in weight.  Chavez is coming up from 130, and with a move up in weight comes different power.

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