Many might remember Roberto Diaz, as the matchmaker of Golden Boy Promotions, a duty he has now stepped away from. Now Diaz functions as an advisor in the sport of boxing, with one of the fighters he is working with being Jason Quigley, who has the fight of his life facing undefeated New Yorker, Edgar Berlanga, in a super middleweight bout, that will headline DAZN's telecast, from The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
ProBox TV News caught up with Diaz on Thursday afternoon as Diaz shared some insight on the bout happening this weekend.
"So, I went out to Dublin for the first time to see him do his homecoming, expecting him, obviously, to win, have a great night and then ride off into the sunset," ProBox TV News was told by Roberto Diaz directly. "It wasn’t because he’s at a point where he’s done, should retire, or anything like that, it was just that I thought that’s what was gonna happen. I was always very close with Jason, so, sure, let’s go support him in Dublin to show him some love, and then he wins."
Diaz then detailed the process of obtaining the fight. Quigley has had a rocky road over the past few years. Quigley lost his perfect record to Tureano Johnson in 2019 when he was stopped in the ninth round. Quigley would rebuild to get a three-fight win streak with one of his wins coming over Shane Mosley Jr., which is aging quite well. Sadly, for Quigley, he ran into the force that is Demetrius Andrade, a two-division world champion, who stopped him in two rounds, and seemingly relegated his status in the sport of boxing.
Quigley has only fought at super middleweight once in his last fight, as despite a few catchweight bouts, Quigley was a career middleweight before getting this fight against Edgar Berlanga.
Berlanga has mixed success himself in recent years. Berlanga started his career with sixteen straight first-round knockouts. Then that was followed by four straight decision wins, with each one adding further doubt. Berlanga has now returned to his old trainer, Marc Farrait, and is hoping to make an impressive debut with Matchroom Boxing as big fights are being whispered with his name involved including fighters like Jaime Munguia and Canelo Alvarez. Quigley is hoping to spoil the homecoming for Berlanga with his new promoter.
"He’s excited, he’s fighting in New York, there’s gonna be a lot of Irish," said Diaz. "Fighting against Berlanga, look, he’s not expected to win, Berlanga is already a big favorite, and that’s fine. I have always loved the role of underdog because you’re not expected to win, and that just makes victory sweeter. So, as long as Jason can put in everything during camp, doesn’t leave a stone unturned, and go in there; he has the experience, he has the talent, he has the Irish in him that is a fighter, so it’s time to go take your business and expose."
Diaz was realistic with a hint of quiet confidence as he simply stated the following.
"So, it’s not gonna be easy, Berlanga’s been active, Jason hasn’t, but that’s where experience is gonna have to come in," concluded Diaz."Let’s go Irish! Let’s go, Jason! Let’s do this!:
