Recently Diego De La Hoya has emerged as a budding young star who is just about ready to enter the big time. "But he kept hitting me behind the head.". Theres still a lot of work to be done, Diaz said, but its amazing the work that weve already put into this. "Ponle una putiza!" Key Principal: Joel Diaz See more contacts Industry: Physical fitness clubs with training equipment Printer Friendly View Address: 49375 Jazmin St Coachella, CA, 92236-3210 United States Phone: Employees (this site): Actual Employees (all sites): Actual Revenue: Modelled Year Started: ESG ranking: ESG industry average: What is D&B's ESG Ranking? It's where Garcia once got punched in the face so hard he understood that boxing wasn't for him. JOEL DIAZ STANDS on the ring apron while there's chaos all around him. That's where Diaz and his brother Antonio (or Too, as he's commonly called) trained. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com. With the boys gathered around me, I want to find out what they admire most about their trainer and pro fighter. "The Diaz brothers know what it takes to have a wonderful gym," said Brandun Lee, an unbeaten super lightweight (22-0) contender who has trained at the building. In a fight he'd been dominating, Bek dropped his guard for a literal second and suffered a sudden and violent knockout. Every day and every year, he'd turned so many spigots that his palm blistered then calloused. That's how state Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia describes the contrasts within Coachella Valley, part of the district he represents. Joel trains WBO champion Timothy Bradley and Timothy Bradley Sr. also helps train the amateur kids at their Indio gym. Diaz shouts between sneaking looks at two clocks. And in the cruel world of boxing, as he sits there and his team stands near, they can hear the voice of the man who just beat them. Its not getting a large amount of attention in my neighborhood but this unification clash between WBA and IBF cruiserweight titlist Murat Gassiev (26-0, 19 KOs) and WBC and WBO cruiserweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs) has historic ramifications tagged all over it. Explore . If he weren't watching men fight, he'd look like an appraiser examining a piece of art. But on the other hand, how can an official involved in prizefighting deny any fighter the right to make a million dollar payday if both parties are willing? Box-am Box-pro . The goal for many was always to work here, for a season or two, maybe longer, then return. He said that he expects the gym to live on long after he one day retires. But I was like, Wait, I have a building. Inside the Special Events Center's dressing room, in the Fantasy Springs Casino Resort, a boxer is bleeding. Until then, hes going to enjoy living his dream in the space that he created. I barely slept for a year while I was working on this, said Diaz, who has wonworld titleswith 13 differentboxers during his two decades as a trainer. Now its Gassiev versus Usyk and four world titles are at stake. That gave Diaz a dateto get an abandoned building he owned, whichhad been damaged by a fire, ready to open to his boxing clientele. : Thank you head trainer Joel Diaz of the Indio, Ca. ref: Rudy Battle Alfred Buqwana 110 . His last bout ever was a knockout win over the veteran Jos Luis Montes. "People come to this country for a better opportunity and a better life for their kids and their family, and they're fighting every step of the way to make that happen," Garcia says. Coach Diaz is one of the top boxing trainers in the world who has worked with many top boxing and MMA fighters. But I can finally sleep comfortably now.. 2,187 likes. Yes, you can learn things here as a boxer that will help you win. People want to know who I am, people wanna know how I got to where Im at, Its gonna be right there.. He was the first and only inductee into the inaugural class of the Texas Boxing Hall of Fame, an organization founded by El Paso promoter Lester Bedford in 2015. Order Online. The demand for labor followed. 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. Flores is 18 and has boxed since he was 7 years old. For this indiscretion, Cole was prohibited from working a significant fight in Texas for the next six months. As a pro Diaz brought him down to lightweight. The two met in 2018, at a boxing convention in Panama. He would fight one more time before retiring as a fighter and continuing as a trainer. Coles performance, said Matt McGrain, was astonishingly bad, an opinion echoed by many other boxing writers. He nods as he smiles and makes a fist too. "These guys" were the coyote and his family -- his wife, mother and kids -- who drove them for over a day from their rancho in the mountains of Michoacan, Mexico to an unincorporated part of eastern Coachella Valley. On April 4, 2012 Barrios was declared guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced to four years in prison. As the fists and shoulders of fighters brush by him, it looks as if their violence might spill over. And it sometimes translates to the actual, literal fight that is presented to us when we grow up in places like Coachella.". Too fought too, even though he wanted to go to college, but that wasn't financially possible. Maybe a couple miles more of running and a few rounds more of sparring. But thats boxing. Andrew John is a reporterfor The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Too knew about the problem because he'd been Joel's sparring partner and saw how his brother couldn't see the left hook. "Every time I went to a show or to a tournament, Lee would take five, six of us. "You should tell someone," Too told Joel. And so, it's back to yelling commands and instructions. 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. He's sitting in a foldable metallic chair, getting his post-fight medical examination. Elite boxers began showing up such as Terence Crawford, Omar Figueroa, Lucas Matthysse and others. I would sit at that table and eat, drink, write and sleep, Diaz said. 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. Munguia stopped by Los Angeles to meet with the media last week and spoke about Bennett and his upcoming first world title defense. 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. Thirsty for liquid, the burning desert absorbed each drop of blood. When WBA/WBO super featherweight champion Acelino Popo Freitas met Jorge Rodrigo Il Hiena Barrios in Miami on August 8, 2003, there was more on the line than just the titles. Boxing trainer Joel Daz bought and transformed the space during the COVID-19 pandemic. This win made Daz the number one rated contender and mandatory to then WBC lightweight champion, Stevie Johnston. Over the past few years the benefits of desert training are evident in the overwhelming success of those sweating and grinding in the sweltering desert gym in Indio. Yet, against Barrios, he had proven without a doubt that he possessed the heart of a warrior. He found his purpose in a strange world where he didn't even speak the language. But when it's time to fight, they train in Diaz's gym, in part because his strong personality reminds them of Mucio's father. He and Gracia have known each other for nearly 40 years. With nothing else to do, Diaz stops singing and helps Flores warm up. Instructions are yelled in four languages; English, Spanish, Uzbek and Russian. Were going to do that with this gym.. I can imagine what its going to look like when were done.. It's where the snowbirds live in million-dollar homes and car dealerships sell Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis that glisten in the sun. It's not a serious cut -- a notch above a paper cut, on the meaty part of the palm closest to the thumb -- but it hasn't stopped bleeding. More have arrived recently including the first female prizefighter to step in the gym full time in middleweight contender Maricela Cornejo. EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK: Joel Diaz: A Hard Knock-Life Documentary by Newman Studios. Boxing Home Schedule Champions Divisional Rankings P4P Historic Bouts Tickets On Saturday, June 18th, NBC Palm Springs had an exclusive first look at a documentary on the life of local boxing trainer, Joel Diaz. After10 years, its now paid off, Diaz said. The fourth brother in the Daz dynasty, Jesus,. Hes enjoying everything right now, and he wants everyone who trains and visits there to have that same feeling.. "They come from nothing," Diaz says. Luckily, a new smaller promotion company had just started in the Inland Empire called Thompson Boxing Promotions. Forty-five seconds into round eight, after being knocked down for a third time, Velasco spit out his mouthpiece and indicated to Cole that he was finished. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2022 Entravision All rights reserved. Daz, along with two of his brothers, Joel and Julio, are former professional boxers who fought for world titles after being raised in Coachella. This is our home now, said Antonio Diaz. Waiting for his time just like a scorpion in the desert heat. They also want to provide school supplies for less-fortunate families at the start of the school year and turkeys at Thanksgiving. If hotel rooms are even available, some will double their usual price. he shouts at no one and everyone at once. "Cordova was a tough opponent," Acosta says. Diaz, the eldest brother in a boxing family that produced two world champions in brothers Antonio and Julio, worked out of the Indio Boys & Girls Club for close to 18 years. On top of supporting his longtime friend, Congressman Ruiz awarded Coach Diaz a Certificate of Congressional Recognition for all the work he has done providing underprivileged kids in the valley with an outlet like boxing. Thats what Im doing.. Adjoining states in the west host a number of boxing cards including a world title contest that features a newcomer who, before knocking out a world champion, was erroneously categorized by a Nevada official as unworthy of a title challenge. She has to do the same work as the guys. And although Joel has long been considered one of boxing's best trainers, being part of Bivol's team, and Bivol beating Canelo, who hadn't lost in nine years, made people take further notice of what was happening in this boxing gym out in the desert. Analyst Steve Farhood, who was been with ShoBox since the inception of the series in 2001, called it one of the worst decisions he had ever seen.