Pedro Diaz Only Training Cotto and Solis, Rumors of Khan and Others Were False

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    Diaz is focused on making Solis heavyweight champion

    Ever since the resurgence of Miguel Cotto in his last two fights against Antonio Margarito and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Pedro Diaz has been a hot commodity in spectrum of trainers. Particularly when it comes to Puerto Rican fighters and one Amir Khan, who has recently let go of Freddie Roach of his services and is on course to hire 2011 trainer of the year, Virgil Hunter.

    Diaz spoke to ThaBoxingVoice.com regarding the Khan rumors. According to Diaz, “Khan never reached out to me, so whoever was saying that is false.  It’s false, especially since I feel Amir already had the best trainer in the world in Freddie Roach.  I respect Freddie and look up to him as a trainer, but no, Amir Khan never reached out to me.”

    Among other names mentioned with Diaz’ name were Puerto Rican prospects Luis Cruz and Jonathan ‘Butter’ Gonzalez; 2 prospects that some were high on and have recently disappointed. But Diaz says those rumor of him training Gonzalez and Cruz are false as well. “I’m not working with (Jonathan) Gonzalez or Luis Cruz. Do they stop by the gym? Yes.  Do they get work with us while we are in camp? Yes. Both guys are tremendous talents. They each have their respective trainers. We’re not working with either guy. Both guys are great talents and will bounce back, but I’ve never worked either corner to begin with,” explained Diaz

    The fact of the matter is Diaz is focused on two fighters at the moment; Miguel Cotto and Cuban heavyweight Odlanier Solis. Solis has tons of talent and potential. He even challenged for a world title last year against Vitali Klitschko where he suffered an ACL injury that sidelined him for the rest of the year. He’s back now, recording a victory in May of this year with a bout coming up in October and a possible showdown with Tomasz Adamek possibly in the works for December. Conditioning will be key.

    “We’re not looking ahead of the fight of October 12. Just like Cotto, we’re not looking at names just the fights in front of us.  Conditioning wins fights, so it doesn’t matter who we fight, that’s what will win fights, conditioning.” Diaz said.

    However to most, that is the one thing holding back Solis’ talents, his weight and conditioning. Although he came in lighter than Vitali Klitschko for their fight, he was 246 and is known for weighing upwards of 260 to even in the low 270’s. That’s a far cry from the 91 kilos or 200 lbs Solis was in the Olympics.

    To Diaz, the explanation is simple. “Solis had to put on weight to fight in this division. When you put on weight, you have to burn the fat and turn it into muscle. It’s all a process, if you noticed in the Klitschko fight he came in lighter than Klitschko (albeit by 1 lb). He can’t fight at 91 kilos anymore; he has to keep the weight to be a factor in the division.”

    Keeping the weight is one thing but coming in not toned and flabby is another. That has been something Solis has been guilty of numerous times. Skill isn’t the only thing needed when taking on the best in the division, mainly the Klitschkos and guys like Alexander Povetkin and David Haye, who seem to come into fights in phenomenal shape. Diaz has been with Solis for the 4 fights before the Klitschko fight and Solis has been extra heavy in some of those fights. In his last fight, he was also in the 260’s in May. So what gives?

    “That’s when he was in Germany, I wasn’t working with him. He’s coming down and it’s a process. What happen to those guys he fought while he was overweight. In the Monte Barrett fight, the hooks were still landing, and Barrett got knocked out. Once the conditioning is there, he’ll be world champion but it’s impossible to get to 91 kilos anymore; he has to keep the weight to be a factor in the division. You’ll see the best Solis ending this year but we need to keep the weight and exercise it better to be a force in the heavyweight division. “

    Diaz has made great strides with Cotto especially keeping him on a training regiment where he feels Cotto is ready for high altitude training. Maybe there’s something on course with Solis as well and maybe he can be the factor most thought he was out of the Olympics.

     

    For Full Audio of This Interview Click Here:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thaboxingvoiceradioshow/2012/09/23/pedro-diaz-joe-cortez-and-tony-weeks