No lack of motivation for Pac-Man, Diaz

LAS VEGAS – We know David Diaz is tough. Heck, the guy drives around Chicago in a 1991 Honda Accord, with no air conditioning. That's no easy feat during those 85-degree, 85-percent humidity summer days.

But simply being tough won't be enough for Diaz to retain his WBC lightweight title when he faces Manny Pacquiao at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in an HBO Pay-Per-View bout on Saturday.

Trainer Freddie Roach concedes that Pacquiao, who will be fighting as a lightweight for the first time in a career that began as a 106-pounder in 1995, has given up some speed to put on some weight.

Regardless, though, Pacquaio figures to be faster than Diaz.

So Diaz has to figure out a way to win a fight in which his opponent almost certainly will be faster and most likely will be the harder puncher. To many, that's a losing proposition. But Diaz hasn't been dissuaded from his opinion that he'll pull off the year's biggest upset.

"How many of my fights have I been the favorite in," asks Diaz, who is 34-1-1 with 17 knockouts and is about a 4 1/2-1 underdog at the Mandalay Bay sports book. "But I usually come out on top, don't I?"

Logic would say that Diaz has little chance to win, which cynics would say is why promoter Bob Arum made the match. Arum has both fighters under contract, but Pacquiao is one of the game's most bankable stars while Diaz remains a relative unknown and the decided B side in this equation.

Diaz, however, is self-assured enough to know others' opinions don't matter. So long as he truly believes he has a chance – and he does – he'll be competitive.

He represented the U.S. as the 139-pounder in the 1996 Olympics but didn't get the kind of push post-Olympics that most fighters get. As a result, he retired briefly for two years.

Since his return, it has been a struggle for him to draw attention. He fought his way into contention with a series of wins over tough, but lesser known fighters in bouts where the pay was low and the stakes were high.

He took advantage by winning the vacant title last year with a decision over veteran Erik Morales, who had badly faded by that point and was only a shell of himself.

But Pacquiao is nowhere near the end of the line, a point that has been driven home to Diaz repeatedly during the promotion. Diaz understands the doubters, and knows that until he beats a big name in his prime, he's going to forever carry second-tier status.

"This is my chance to knock down the wall," Diaz said. "Manny is the wall and I've got to go knock it down."

Diaz said he'll be at his physical peak for the bout, which probably won't matter much if Pacquiao is at his peak, as well. An at-his-best Pacquiao would beat an at-his-best Diaz 99 times out of 100.

It's likely, though, that Pacquiao won't be at his best when he steps into the very ring where he's scored victories over future Hall of Famers Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manual Marquez.

There have been persistent, credible whispers that Pacquiao hasn't prepared as diligently for Diaz as he had for Marquez or Barrera in his last two outings, a point that Pacquiao, Roach and Arum have worked hard to dispute.

"Manny is in great shape, tremendous," said Roach, one of the game's few straight talkers. "His condition is no issue."

But Pacquiao fought a brutally physical fight with Marquez just three months ago, the kind of bout that saps the life from a fighter. A six-month vacation would have been the minimum he needed to shake off the effects of that grueling bout, though a year would have been preferable.

Little more than three months later, though, he'll be back at it against a guy who has pointed his entire life toward this moment.

And Pacquiao concedes his motivation isn't as high against a lesser known opponent like Diaz, words of caution for anyone supporting the Filipino superstar.

"Sometimes, it's hard to get motivated to fight a guy like (Diaz) because he is not a name guy like Morales or Barrera," Pacquiao said in an astonishing, and rare, moment of candor.

The fight likely will be decided as much by Pacquiao's ability to regain his focus mentally and to treat Diaz as a threat as it will by any of their physical gifts.

In order to negate Pacquiao's speed, expect Diaz to machine gun a jab at him. A hard, consistent jab is a surefire way to neutralize a big speed differential.

But Pacquiao is a swarming, pressure fighter who hasn't let a jab dissuade him from wading in and firing in the past. When Morales beat Pacquiao in 2005, he did it in large part by establishing his jab and punishing Pacquiao on the way in to attack.

Diaz' problem is twofold. Morales' jab is better than Diaz', but Pacquiao also made adjustments to it when he met Morales in two subsequent bouts and wound up stopping Morales both times.

While Diaz, who will make a career-high $850,000, has more motivation knowing this really is his last shot at the big time if he doesn't win, Pacquiao has motivation of his own.

A win would make him the first Filipino to not only win a world championship in four weight classes, but also to become the first from his nation to win a lightweight belt. Pacquaio has a great sense of nationalism and deeply wants to make his countrymen proud.

He also knows that if he defeats Diaz and wins the lightweight belt, he'll have another mega-million-dollar showdown awaiting him. A bout with super lightweight champion Ricky Hatton is the top choice for his next big fight, promoter Bob Arum said, though a third bout with Marquez is also there if financial terms can't be reached with Hatton.

This is a fight that Diaz can win, but given the incentives that are there for Pacquiao, it's going to be a fight that he will win.