joel diaz boxing gym indiojoel diaz boxing gym indio

Every second is used by the prizefighters. . How a trainer in California's Coachella Valley built one of the most important boxing gyms in the world - ESPN Skip to main content Skip to navigation Search You have come to the Philippines Edition, for other ESPN editions, click here. We dont have any women for her to spar so she spars with the men.. Im about helping the community, Diaz said. "A lot of the people are just like me. Back to the chaos of the boxing gym where the hungry people fight. "Cordova was a tough opponent," Acosta says. Joel Diaz worked for a while with Lee Espinoza at the Coachella Boxing Club before opening up his own gym. It's been almost 40 minutes since the sun set on Coachella Valley, and now it's Acosta's turn to fight. "You should tell someone," Too told Joel. The inference was that Marquez was free to quit right then without tarnishing his record. That, along with intelligence, is how he trains everyone here to fight. Located about 24 miles southwest of Indio, Palm Springs is still home to many celebrities. Hes still working to complete the entryway and his office inside the gym, off Indio Boulevard, but the rest of the 6,250-square foot space has been transformed from a gutted building to a gym that will soon host current and future world champions. He won another fight in 2015 and though by now he was visibly paunchy, he still managed to go 10 rounds to beat Gabriel Martinez in 2017 with occasional flashes of his old explosive volleys. To sacrifice, doing backbreaking work, while being apart from the ones they loved. JoJo Diaz, an Olympian from the Los Angeles suburb of South El Monte, beat Tevin Farmer last February to secure the International Boxing Federation's super featherweight title in Miami. No matter what obstacles get in the way, you have to find a way to get through the hard times and keep fighting to overcome those obstacles., CONGRESSMAN RAUL RUIZ AWARDS JOEL DIAZ WITH CONGRESSIONAL HONOR. Women's boxing divisional rankings: Ryan shakes up welterweight division after impressive win, Arrest warrant issued for Nate Diaz after brawl, Sources: Smith-Eubank rematch set for June 17, Gervonta Davis says he's the face of boxing and he's right, Inside fight week for a boxer and his trainer: A miner's vest, a bean dip can and plenty of fruit salad, Bivol no longer an afterthought after beating Canelo -- and lots more superfights are ahead, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. And it sometimes translates to the actual, literal fight that is presented to us when we grow up in places like Coachella.". While hes had some help, Diaz has done the majority of the work himself. With the boys gathered around me, I want to find out what they admire most about their trainer and pro fighter. Word was spreading that there was something going on in that desert gym in Indio that was making champions. No loss is good, but Diaz says he's learned from it. They also want to provide school supplies for less-fortunate families at the start of the school year and turkeys at Thanksgiving. He trains about 20 professional boxers, and with three of them fighting the next day, tomorrow will be busy. Diaz comes from the Palmdale, California area and will be the hometown favorite over the Filipino Mercito Gesta who is based out of San Diego, California. "Those types of values and principles are instilled in the kids many times. We always have a lot of things going on, said Joel Diaz. That gave Diaz a dateto get an abandoned building he owned, whichhad been damaged by a fire, ready to open to his boxing clientele. The Diaz brothers initially found homeless men and women squatting in the building and asked them to leave. In 1987, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided that neither the state of California nor Riverside County could dictate authority over the various American Indian tribes, it changed the landscape for good and brought professional boxing to the forefront. The reach for glory finally within their grasp. Yes, you can learn things here as a boxer that will help you win. EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK: Joel Diaz: A Hard Knock-Life Documentary by Newman Studios. Some of the biggest names in the sport includingTimothy Bradley Jr., Terence Crawford, Lucas Matthysse, JoJo Diaz, Victor andVergil Ortiz and Julio and Antonio Diaz have trained and sparred at the club over the years. Powered by IBofP 2021 A post shared by Jorge Newman (@jorgenewman13). Reminders of that past are everywhere on the valley's east side, in schools and parks named after Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. Everyone else, including Mucio -- whose voice is hoarse from yelling throughout the fight -- stands around, trying to process the loss. Mucio walks beside him. A lot of the boxers are just like me.". For this indiscretion, Cole was prohibited from working a significant fight in Texas for the next six months. 445 East Florida Ave. 2nd Floor. In the nearly two years that followed, Diaz walked through nihilism's dark desert as a man angry at God. While Diaz was reluctant to accept any offers, many have insisted. Indio boxing trainer Joel Diaz is 2-0 last week after Tito Acosta's first-round knockout win over Janiel Rivera & Dmitry Bivol Retains WBA light heavyweight title against Canelo Alvarez. The boxer, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist from Uzbekistan named Bektemir Melikuziev -- everyone calls him Bek The Bully -- nods. But here my son can just focus on boxing and only boxing and sharpen his skills.. ON A THURSDAY night in early April, when the valley's mornings and evenings are still cool, there's a growing tension in the last place where Diaz fought as a professional. That's where Diaz and his brother Antonio (or Too, as he's commonly called) trained. From an administrative standpoint, boxing in Texas during the reign of Dickie Cole was frequently described in terms befitting a banana republic. The anonymous architect of In Boxing We Trust, a web site that went dormant in 2010, wrote this description: Near the end of round 11, about a milli-second before the bell rang, Freitas landed a ROCK HARD right hand shot flush on Barrios chin. He lost his first four amateur fights. They're kids with parents who are agricultural, construction or service workers. Indio District Office. In his rationale for calling out Cole, BWAA prexy Joseph Santoliquito leaned heavily on Thomas Hausers critique of Coles performance in The Sweet Science. He's still in the ring, talking into a microphone, saying he wants to fight for a world championship next. He returns to the dressing room that not even an hour before had been so full of excitement. The gym is clattering with noise from the various boxers working in the different stations. As the water supply diminishes, some of those golf courses consume up to a million gallons a day. Joel and Antonio began telling people about the project and many began offering to help for free. Three years ago Diego De La Hoya, Jamie Kavanagh, Manuel Mendez and brothers Jessie and Diego Magdaleno arrived. Once a highly touted prospect he states his biggest loss was to Regis Prograis in 2017 when he fought the soon to be light welterweight world champion and was stopped in the second round. If he weren't watching men fight, he'd look like an appraiser examining a piece of art. "Mr. Diaz," the doctor said, "you can't fight anymore." More: Olympics more important than major titles for some women golfers, More: Strong and silly, Sarah Robles of Desert Hot Springs, is off to Tokyo, hoping to lift her way to another medal. Barrios wanted to turn the fight into a street fight and was reasonably successful with that strategy. The super lightweight fight will take place at the Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California. Facebook; Twitter; Facebook Messenger; Email This was a roughhousing 39-1-1 Argentinian fighting an equally tough 33-0 Brazilian. Thats what Im doing.. He's nonetheless working to finish the entryway and his workplace contained in the gymnasium, off Indio Boulevard, however the remainder of the 6,250-square foot area has . He served 27 months and never fought again, retiring with a record of 50-4-1. Diaz is back in the dressing room and back to joking with Gracia. In the second fight on the card, another one of his fighters, Grant Flores Jr., is warming up for his second career fight by stretching and jumping around. Make of that what you will. Mucio comes into the locker room to say a prayer and Diaz gives him some last-minute advice. That amount shocked him, considering $5,000 was the most he'd been paid until then. Back then, to raise funds for travel, Lee sold raffle tickets where the prizes were pigs and cows and TVs. "WE STARTED WITH THIS," says trainer Librado "Lee" Espinoza, pointing at a yellowed newspaper article taped to the wall of his gym. Recently former WBC super featherweight champion Francisco El Bandido Vargas has become part of the team and is preparing for a showdown against Englands Stephen Smith at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Dec. 9. "No, it's OK," Gracia says, trying to keep the doctor away. In round eight, another accidental head butt widened and deepened the gash. What happens when a boxer kills his opponent? Andrew John covers sports for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Whether he makes it into the Hall will depend on how much a No Mas can count against one, but he warrants serious consideration when he becomes eligible. They make a fist, then give him a thumbs up. Health Clubs & Gyms. Diaz most notably trained Timothy Bradley Jr, a five-time world champion, and with Antonio as his trainer partner has helped guide others to titles in more recent years before they wereforced out of the Boys & Girls Club last year when it shut down to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Daz, along with two of his brothers, Joel and Julio, are former professional boxers who fought for world titles after being raised in Coachella. More have arrived recently including the first female prizefighter to step in the gym full time in middleweight contender Maricela Cornejo. Theres nothing to do but focus on boxing, said Ortiz Sr. whose family is based in Dallas, Texas. Joel Diaz 18: 3: 0: 4 KOs 2 KOs; wiki. When asked how he felt about Nevadas denying him an attempt to fight Golovkin, a wide grin appeared on the Mexican youngster. As the fists and shoulders of fighters brush by him, it looks as if their violence might spill over. He dabs away the blood and looks at everyone. By law in Texas (and in most other states), a boxing promoter must purchase insurance to cover medical costs in the event that one or more of the fighters on his show is seriously injured. As he explains it now, a few months after that experience, Joel walked into the boxing gym in downtown Coachella. We knew that he came like from nothing, no connections, no money, and then after that he had troubles and it wasnt like easy at all for him, says Jorge Newman. It reminded me of George Foremans obliteration of Joe Frazier back in the 1970s. Team Diaz is a big part of the Coachella Valley boxing community. When Acelino Freitas turned professional in 1995, he streaked from the gate with 29 straight KOs, one of the longest knockout win streaks in boxing history. Mucio has a fight sometime in June or July, so in a few weeks, they'll return to train again in the Coachella Valley. Im going to keep that table here forever.. Luckily, a new smaller promotion company had just started in the Inland Empire called Thompson Boxing Promotions. To make the hurt worse, he was one round short of qualifying for California's boxer pension. Riverside Tamale Fest to Feature Food Competition, Music, Dancing, Felon Convicted of Killing Girlfriend, Fleeing to Vegas with Young Son, Blaze Damages Abandoned Restaurant near Jurupa Valley Animal Shelter, Man Caught with Cache of Super Toxic Illegal Drugs Sentenced, Blaze in Santa Ana River Bottom Quickly Stopped, Felon Suspected in Altercation Outside Motel in Rancho Mirage to Stand Trial, Two Injured When Car Crashes into MoVal Residence, UPDATED: Charges Filed Against Man Suspected in Sexually Motivated Messages with Teen. Find Related Places. Click below for an exclusive look at the first trailer for Joel Diaz: A Hard Knock-Life by Newman Studios. Another boxer training with them, world super bantamweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev, will defend his two titles in March. THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON Diaz leaves for San Antonio where he'll join his brother. After seeing those fields, the man drove them home where the Diaz brothers met their mother, sister and another brother. On October 19, 1996, Joel lost a twelve-round decision to undefeated IBF lightweight champion Philip Holiday in Wembley Indoor Arena, Johannesburg. Bethany Mollenkof for ESPN. The bout was televised live on ESPN. Diaz knows it was an accident. Diaz surrenders to New Orleans police after brawl, Paul launches series for up-and-coming boxers, Ramirez to defend WBO title vs. Shimizu in July. More than anything, he looks relieved. In about a week from Acosta's fight, the Coachella music festival will start. We dont treat her any differently than we do the men, said Joel Diaz. Advertisement. event bout wiki. The list goes on. Thank you head trainer Joel Diaz of the Indio, Ca.. 29 views, 2 likes, 0 loves, 1 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Chiropractor Indio, Ca. His job was irrigation. a voice among the many in the dressing room yells. When Tim Desert Storm Bradley arrived as a pro in 2004 he had been passed over by various promotion companies who felt he was too small to fight at the super welterweight class he had participated in as an amateur. After a 12 months constructing his personal boxing gymnasium in Indio, doing a lot of the work by himself, coach Joel Diaz is near opening it to the neighborhood. In boxing and in life, it is always better to give than to receive. While wrapping his hands, Oscar Gracia, who helps train fighters at Diaz's gym, accidentally cut Angel "Tito" Acosta, their boxer on the main event. He nods as he smiles and makes a fist too. He couldn't risk losing the money or the opportunity, so he waited until after the fight. The pain of Mucio unexpectedly losing her father -- who trained them both -- in July 2021. With nothing else to do, Diaz stops singing and helps Flores warm up. Now its Gassiev versus Usyk and four world titles are at stake. He'sexcited about it, and I'm happy for him.". When he was active as a fighter Antonio captured the IBA world welterweight title and fought many of the best fighters in the world including Sugar Shane Mosley for the WBC welterweight world title in November 2000. Boxing Home Schedule Champions Divisional Rankings P4P Historic Bouts Tickets Last year, the event drew 750,000 attendees. This is going to be a popular place for boxers to come and have training camp and be a part of that.. In his first bout, a promoter paid him $400 then filed for bankruptcy as soon as the fight ended. His gravelly voice, built for teaching people how to fight, makes you wonder whether he has found peace at 50 years old, or whether he's too busy to give much thought to what he lost more than a half-life ago. Cole was the third man in the ring for the Nov. 25, 2006 bout in Hildalgo, Texas, between Juan Manuel Marquez and Jimrex Jaca. The Brazilian fans urged their hero on but to no avail as Barrios rendered a pure beat down on Popo during virtually the entirety of the 11th roundone of the most exciting in boxing history. Its helped everything come together.. He's on the main ring, next to the banner with his logo on it, a gamecock wearing boxing gloves, circled by the gym's name: Joel Diaz Training Camp. "The doctor says if you want to go to the hospital, they can take you," a member of the team translates for Acosta. Photos: Boxing trainer Joel Daz to open new gym in Indio Skip to main content If hotel rooms are even available, some will double their usual price. Step it up Vergil, he shouts to one of the fighters Vergil Ortiz Jr., a welterweight from Dallas, Texas. That side is where most of the Coachella Valley's tourist industry is centered. The pain of losing a child during pregnancy. More recently, Cole worked the 2014 fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Orlando Salido at the San Antonio Alamodome. The idea that it was easier to show the separation of Mexican farmworkers, than to explain it, was something that'd been happening for decades. He says this side of Coachella is where fighters come from, and he swells with pride whenever he sees them on television. Were going to do that with this gym.. "What's going on?" Andrew John is a reporterfor The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Joel trains WBO champion Timothy Bradley and Timothy Bradley Sr. also helps train the amateur kids at their Indio gym. When Im not here, thats gonna be a legacy that is gonna stay behind because its the story of my life. More. Boxing pound-for-pound rankings: Did Gervonta Davis make the top 10? "Tengo que ir?" Joel Diaz "I told him when he came to the gym [last week], 'The problem is not you. The Vaseline and the cotton swabs. Find him on Twitter: @Andrew_L_John. All he had to do was win and he'd fight for a world title. Heavy bags, speed bags, weights, chin-up bars and two boxing rings are all used simultaneously by the different boxers. Needing a space to traintheir boxers, including professionals and young amateurs, Joel and Antonio moved their operation to KBX Fitness, the North Indio gym of UFC featherweight Cub Swanson and his brother, Steve, also a mixed martial artist. Way too many distractions. They've sacrificed for all of this. Then came the coronavirus, forcing one of boxing's most respected trainers to put a plan into action. I appreciate what people are doing. He's 32 years old and wants to be a world champion again. . But by the time he got to high school, he'd won 55 of his next 57 fights along with two national titles and knew exactly what he was born to do. he sings. Not just them, but everyone here. Right now we have Maricela Cornejo and Vergil Ortiz getting ready to fight in Cancun, Mexico on Nov. 16.. Later, Freitas tarnished his image with a No Mas against Diego Corrales, but he had gone down three times and knew there was no way out. The Diaz brothers want to use the building for more than just boxing. He says he will because next time he just might cut off Acosta's finger. It's a welcomed distraction from the importance of this fight. It became a case of brawler vs. boxer/puncher and when the brawler caught the more athletic Popowho could slip and duck skillfullyand decked him with a straight left in the eighth, the title suddenly was up for grabs. Mercito Gesta vs Joel Diaz Jr at Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio Filipino boxer Mercito 'No Mercy' Gesta will take on twice beaten Joel Diaz Jr in a 10 round Lightweight bout. Boxing Pro 21 bouts date w-l-d last 6 result; 1997-04-26: Jose Luis Montes: 9 17 0: Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio W-TKO. "It's fine," he says. "If Arely knew about this, she'd drop you with a punch to the liver," Diaz tells Gracia. To be fair, Bennett has seen many fighters in the past with undefeated records who were not up to challenges, especially against the likes of Golovkin. Directions Advertisement. Back at home in Dallas there are too many distractions. Too knew about the problem because he'd been Joel's sparring partner and saw how his brother couldn't see the left hook. Social media influencers will be there too, charging thousands of dollars for a single post. See a problem? It's the stomach pain from hunger while trying to make weight. But Diaz said he couldnt be more excited about eventually having a training facility of his own, after 18 years of training boxers, including several world champions, at the Indio Boys & Girls Club. During his post-fighting years, Diaz worked as a bodyguard for the type of men Chalino wrote songs about. While still yelling instructions, Diaz is organizing who'll fight next. As one of the more well-respected and well-known members of the Coachella Valley, because of his success in boxing and his friendly yet direct nature, many in the neighborhood already knew of Joel and also have offered to help. Joel Diaz fought for the IBF world title against South Africas Phillip Holiday in 1996 and lost by decision. "Put him in the oven and slowly cook him, and when he's done, take him out.". He's wrapping hands and tying gloves. They'll come and leave along with the part-time residents that make this place their part-time home. These later wins, though against lower level opposition, somewhat softened the memories of the Corrales and Diaz fights, both of which this writer attended at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. More: The pandemic shut down his boxing club. Located about 128 miles east of Los Angeles and 95 miles north of the Mexican border, the Indio Boys and Girls club gym is roughly in the middle of nowhere unless you like golf. That his young boxer was able to have the kind of homecoming fight that he. Hence the watch list, which is designed to call attention to egregious errors in scoring by judges and unacceptable conduct by referees.. The elder Cole, now 87 years old, served 21 years as head of the Texas Department of Combat Sports Regulation before stepping down on April 30, 2014. Indio Joel Diaz Boxing Academy. He could have left, opened a gym somewhere else, but he didn't. Freitas looked out of shape coming in to the Diaz fight and that proved to be the case as he was so gassed at the end of the eighth round that he quit on his stool. "Nobody pushed me, I pushed myself," he says, remembering how he'd wake up to run hours before school. Thirsty for liquid, the burning desert absorbed each drop of blood. Raise your punches a little higher.. Its isolation eliminates distractions. Box-am Box-pro . If things go well for some of these boxers, maybe they'll fight as the main event in those places. Another loss to Rosado, and the only thing to learn from it might be that his potential isn't as high as they all thought. Now all I have to do is make it shine. His chief second bullied him into coming out for another round. Diaz has trained professional fighters for more than a decade out of his gym at Indio Boys & Girls Club. The fourth brother in the Daz dynasty, Jesus,. Between rounds, Diaz keeps teaching. Diaz, 47, said he expects the new gym to open in March. (Marquez elected to continue and stopped Jaca in the next round.). So, it is something that we really admire, not just as a professional but as a human being and that is why doing the documentary was something like just an achievement because we already wanted to know more about his life.. Motivated because he'd discovered what he was good at, even if, when he first started, he'd come home with his shirt full of blood. Neither fighter looked good in their fight in Malaysia but when Pacquiao floored Matthysse several times during the fight, it raised some red flags. Questions ahead of Paul vs. Diaz: Can Diaz box? Complaints of ineptitude, says the WBAA, will be evaluated by a rotating committee of select BWAA members and respected boxing experts. In subsequent years, says the press release, the watch list will be published quarterly in the months of April, August, and December (must be the new math). The rest is history. If he wins tonight, against Angelino Cordova, who has never lost and is five years younger, they want to fight for the world championship next. There also will be an area for weight machines and a space at the front desk to purchase merchandiseof the world-famous boxers who train at the gym, including unified super bantamweight champion Murodjon MJ Akhmadaliev, Olympic welterweight silver medalist Shakhram Giyasov, Olympic flyweight gold medalist Hasanboy Dusmatov and Olympic middleweight silver medalist Bektemir Melikuziev.