Iran Diaz. Photo from ONE Championship
BANGKOK — Mexican challenger Iran Diaz is getting all the help he can get ahead of his world title fight against Thai boxing champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai less than two months from now.
After Mexican ring legend Juan Manuel Marquez took the role of adviser, Diaz tapped another one of Mexico’s boxing stars in Juan Francisco Estrada to be his sparring partner.
“Like what I said before, we will need all the help that we can get to win in Bangkok this coming October,” Ernesto Salgado, Diaz’s trainer, said.
We are happy that Juan Francisco Estrada reached out to us and spared a little of his time to work with Iran.”
The odds are stacked against Diaz, who will be fighting in his first world title bout against an experienced Sor Rungvisai (46-4-1, 41 KOs).
But having Marquez, known to have one of the smartest minds inside the ring that made him a four-division champion, and Estrada, who is very familiar with Sor Rungvisai, surely boosts Diaz’s bid to claim the belt.
“He (Estrada) has given us some tips on how he thinks Sor Rungvisai competes, moves and strategizes inside the ring. It’s a big help. Sharing his insights on the Thai champion worked out in our favor,” Salgado said.
Estrada, who has gone to war with some of the best fighters in the stacked super fly class including Sor Rungvisai, who barely beat him by majority decision six months ago.
The 31-year-old Sor Rungvisai stunned the boxing world after toppling former pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez twice including a fourth-round knockout in their rematch last year.
He is defending his WBC crown for the fourth time in the main event of ONE: Kingdom of Heroes on October 6 before his hometown crowd at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.