In this video interview with our friend Marcos Villegas at Fight Hub TV, junior lightweight titleholder Joseph Diaz Jr. discusses his expectation to return to action by August/September and why he’s not interested in having an immediate rematch with Tevin Farmer, whom he beat for the strap. Check out some excerpts from the interview below...
Diaz on tentative plans to return:
“At least I have something to look forward to — whenever I work out I have that tentative date to motivate me to push a little more and keep going. Because these fighters — that’s the thing about some of these fighters, man — these fighters gotta stay disciplined day-in and day-out, especially if you’re a young fighter in the game...you wanna make sure that you’re still working out through these dark times.
“Like for me, it’s okay for me because I have my breaks and I have my dates where I know that I’ma be fighting so I have a whole training camp scheduled and I have everything lined up. So with me I make sure I don’t blow up as much as I should during my off season. I still eat whatever I want and stuff but I don’t fuckin’ Gervonta Davis style on ‘em and stuff like that. I make sure I limit myself. So with these up-and-coming fighters, they gotta stay locked-in, man.
“Like I know they’re going through some hard times right now, and I know that it’s hard probably financially and everything but through these dark times, man, that’s what’s gonna make you. You just gotta absorb everything that you’re going through right now and just use that as motivation, use that as fuel to just keep on pushing because, like I said, I know everything’s gonna clear up after this. Let’s just hope that it’s sooner than later...”
On if an immediate rematch with Tevin Farmer is going to be his next fight:
“Nah, I don’t wanna fight Tevin right away, man. I feel like there’s no need. I really just like beat him down, man. I took everything from him and what pisses me off the most is the DAZN commentary didn’t give me as much credit as I should’ve. Tevin Farmer was Tevin Farmer.
“Tevin Farmer fought exactly how he fights, it’s just that I came in with a good game plan, I came in hungry, and I came in ready and I knew what I had to do to defeat Tevin Farmer. And that was staying persistent, attacking the body right away, and just staying on him and making sure that I’m not stepping back and making sure that I’m always constantly putting that pressure on him. And I feel like I broke him down, man. I broke him down but these commentators started saying otherwise and with me, that’s what I hate. I hate when people start making excuses on the losses.
“If you’re gonna take a loss — like with me, I lost against Gary Russell, he was the better man that night. Yeah, things probably could’ve changed but at the end of the day it made me who I am, it made me the fighter I am today. I learned a lot from that loss to Gary Russell Jr and there’s no hard feelings, he beat me that night. I’m not making no excuses. But like with Tevin Farmer and these guys, they’re saying that — I don’t know what he’s saying but supposedly that he was sick and some shit like that, or he injured his hand.
“But at the end of the day when fighters are fighting, nobody’s going in there 110%. Everybody’s going in there with some type of injury due to training camp...so for him to even say some type of excuse like that it just, I don’t know man. It just makes me mad and I feel like I beat him fair and square, I feel like I was the better man that night, and I feel like yeah there is a rematch clause but I want to defend my title first before I give him the rematch.”