Manny poses toughest  test to champ, trainer

LAS VEGAS – David Diaz will run through a brick wall for his 78-year-old manager Jim Strickland.

“I just do what I got to do. If my trainer says ‘go and knock down that wall’ I’m going to go and knock down that wall,” Diaz told mediamen gathered before him inside the Events Center, the venue of the fight, Tuesday noon.

“And Manny is the big wall that I’ve got to go after,” he said.

Diaz and Strickland go a long way back, hooking up when the reigning WBC lightweight champion moved from Florida to Chicago in 2000, four years after representing the US in the LA Olympics.

They won their first fight as partners, against Steve Larrimore, and they never parted ways ever since, even if Diaz stopped boxing for two years only to return with a sixth round knockout of Anthony Cobb in September of 2002.

Diaz’ first and only loss so far after 36 professional fights came in February of 2005 when he was halted by Kendall Holt inside eight rounds. It was an all-win situation from thereon until Diaz took the WBC lightweight crown from Armando Santa Cruz in 2006.

On Saturday, their strong partnership will be tested anew, against Manny Pacquiao, and Diaz said the battle plan has been laid down the table.

“I think we’ve done everything in training. I ran, I jumped rope, I hit the bag. We watched films. We did everything possible. We have a plan and we’ll try to do it,” said Diaz.

“And if it doesn’t work out then it doesn’t work out. Then we go back to the basics of just going forward and throwing punches.”

Strickland, who’s been with past champions like Evander Holyfield, said beating Pacquiao in his own game is not a far-fetched idea.

“We feel pretty confident and we don’t feel anything different about it. Diaz is not being intimidated he’s a little bit more calm than I am,” he said.

“I visualize the fight very much like the Erik Morales. It will go down to the wire,” said Strickland as he looked back to Diaz’ 12-round decision over the future Hall of Famer in August last year.

He said he expects Diaz to climb the ring at around 146 or 147 lbs, and probably a little bigger than Pacquiao.

“I’d be very much surprised if it does not go the distance. And my biggest worry is some bad injury like an eye swollen shut, a bad cut. I hate to see a fight being stopped that way,” he said.

Strickland, like promoter Bob Arum, thinks that all Diaz needs to do is stay in the fight and look for the opportunity in the later rounds.

“If you get far and keep the fight at a distance there’s a chance you can stop him by a knockout,” he told Diaz.  – Abac Cordero