Diaz Is Laying It All on the Line

For most fighters, getting into the ring against Jose Luis Castillo can be an intimidating experience. After all, they find themselves face to face with a two-time World Boxing Council lightweight champion, the owner of a 51-6-1 record with 45 knockouts, a man coming off a split decision victory over Joel Casamayor three months ago and a fighter who hasn’t lost to anyone other than Floyd Mayweather Jr. in more than six years. And Mayweather, a two-time winner over Castillo, was arguably the best lightweight in the world at the time.

For Julio Diaz of Coachella, however, when he steps through the ropes tonight at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Centers to challenge Castillo for his title, it will be a relief.

No more legal threats, no more demanding sanctioning bodies, no more angry promoters, no more financial hassles, no more depressing shadows cast by the presence of Diego Corrales.

Beating Castillo will be no easy task for Diaz (30-2, 22 knockouts). But at least the task will be solely in his hands, determined solely by his fists and those of Castillo.

On-again, off-again negotiations between Castillo and Diaz seemed definitely off when Castillo began seriously negotiating for a December match against Corrales. When those negotiations bogged down over finances, a new target date of tonight was set, but Castillo and Corrales couldn’t come to terms.

So Castillo turned to Diaz. One big problem: Diaz held the International Boxing Federation lightweight belt, which he won last May with a majority decision over Javier Jauregui. And with that belt came the obligation to fight mandatory challenger Leavander Johnson. Diaz agreed to fight Johnson before Castillo had given up on Corrales

Johnson or Castillo? Not much of a choice in terms of prestige, career advancement and future earnings.

Even in an age when a fight against a big-name opponent can be worth more than a closet full of championship belts, it is never easy to unbuckle a shiny title belt. But Diaz did relinquish his IBF belt in order to make tonight’s match possible.

“I have got to make it be worth something,” said Diaz of surrendering his title. “I have got to come through [tonight]. It is going to be very hard for Castillo to bring me down because I had to invest a lot.”

Castillo himself has a lot invested in tonight’s match. Corrales is standing on the horizon, still claiming he will meet Castillo if the Mexicali fighter is victorious against Diaz. Also for Castillo -- whose struggles to maintain his weight at 135 have made him determined to move to 140 -- a lucrative match against Kostya Tszyu is a future possibility.

“Before I can think about Corrales, before I can think about Kostya Tszyu,” said Castillo, “before I can think about anything, I have to beat Diaz.”

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In tonight’s semi-main event, IBF super middleweight champion Jeff Lacey (18-0, 14) puts up his title against Rubin Williams (26-1, 15).

Williams is nicknamed “Mr. Hollywood,” he says, “because I make my opponents see the stars.”

The oddsmakers aren’t impressed. The Lacy-Williams fight is considered so one-sided, no bets are being taken.

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To say the honor is belated is to put it mildly, but Jack Johnson will be inducted posthumously into the California Boxing Hall of Fame today, 97 years after he became the first black heavyweight champion by winning a 14-round decision over Tommy Burns in Australia. Johnson twice defended his title in this state, beating Al Kaufman in San Francisco and Stanley Ketchel in Colma. Both those fights were held in 1909.

Johnson was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act, a federal vice law. Spurred on by a Ken Burns documentary, a committee of political, journalistic and boxing figures, including U.S. Sens. Ted Kennedy and John McCain, is seeking a presidential pardon for Johnson, who is seen as a victim of racial injustice. Johnson died in a 1946 car accident

Also being inducted today are 1984 Olympic gold medal winner Paul Gonzales and fellow boxers Terry Norris, Frankie Duarte, Scrap Iron Johnson, Joe Orbillo, Stan Ward, Ruben Navarro, Oscar Muniz, Monroe Brooks and Jose Luis Cortero. Among those in the non-participant category will be Bud Furillo, former sports editor of the Herald-Examiner, and the late Jim Healy, host of a popular daily radio show, mixing sports and gossip, that aired for more than three decades in Los Angeles.