By Ricardo Lezama The legendary matchmaker who first entered the boxing business via management of Mexican legend, Marco Antonio Barrera, and became known for generating the best match ups at his post in Golden Boy, sits down with La Cartita News to relate to us all of the wisdom of over 2 decades in the business end of professional boxing.
Roberto Diaz, who was the long time matchmaker of Golden Boy, sat down with us virtually to discuss various opinions regarding Women’s boxing, the concept the best of the facing the best while also reminescing about his early journey to the world of professional boxing.
The Early Years: Diaz Joins Marco Antonio Barrera
As a manager of Marco Antonio Barrera, Diaz was in charge of matchmaking and various administrative, business oriented tasks as well as joining him in ardous training camps. Much to the surprise of this writers perspective, Diaz was also physically involved in the weight loss, sporting aspect of a fighters journey. This makes total sense since if you’re in the camp of a fighter, you should not jeapordize the spirit of the camp. Makes sense once explained, but we could not know a priori!
Even more curious, his chance meeting with Marco Antonio Barrera took place in a shopping center in San Diego. Diaz happened to have spotted Barrera and asked for an autograph, but neither him nor the legendary boxer possesed appropriate memorabilia. Ultimately, they exchanged numbers and contact information. Eventually, Barrera sent Diaz an autographed photo and other boxing relevant materials, like posters and other gear.
In those exchanges, Barrera eventually invited Diaz to join his management team, likely spotting a savvy probation officer who was bilingual as an asset. Who wouldn’t want someone whose a county level intelligence officer to join their ranks, right?
Over time, Diaz also became known to the growing staff of Golden Boy, which was just at its initial promotional onset. Just as Pac-Man was set to fight Barrera, Diaz joined the fray and became so highly regarded that he was given a budget to matchmake fights at various levels of a main event.
Opinion: Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta “Tank” Davis Is Encouraging
In our interview, Diaz was quick to point out the merit of high profile figures like Ryan Garcia and Tank taking on risky challenges.
Diaz also mentioned the desire for fighters to make the big fights as a positive change for the sport. While many predicted the outcome of it, the important thing from his perspective was the willingness to even make it take place.
Subsequently, Loma vs Haney has taken place, Teo vs Taylor and so on, in an indication that more and more boxers will risk pristine records for a notable legacy and risk!
Ultimately, one thing that fans associate with Diaz is the ability for him to stage unpredictable fights because of the similarity in skill, but difference in styles, accross the various fights in which he had a hand.
Full Interview: