DIAZ TRADES TITLE FOR CHANCE AT ANOTHER.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES Boxing

Julio Diaz gave up his International Boxing Federation lightweight belt to challenge Jose Luis Castillo for his World Boxing Council belt, so you can bet he wants to make that move bear fruit.

``This is very exciting for me,'' said Diaz, who will square off with Castillo in the main event Saturday at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. ``I think it is a great motivation just because I already gave up my title, which I worked very hard for, just to get this fight.

``I have got to make it be worth something, and I have got to come through. That is pretty much what is getting me going, and it is going to be very hard for Castillo to bring me down because I had to invest a lot.''

Diaz, 25, of Coachella, won the IBF belt from Javier Jauregui via majority decision last May 13 in San Diego. Diaz (30-2, 22 KOs) then verbally agreed to fight Levander Johnson, currently the IBF's No. 3 challenger.

Instead, he signed to fight Castillo when negotiations for a fight between Castillo and World Boxing Organization champion Diego Corrales fell through.

Diaz wanted to put his IBF belt on the line against Castillo, but Johnson's promoter, Lou DiBella, threatened to take Diaz to court for backing out of their deal, although a contract had not been signed.

Rather than go through all that, Diaz decided it was best to give up the IBF belt. This will allow Johnson to fight No. 4 contender Stefano Zoff on May 21 in Italy for the vacant IBF belt, satisfying DiBella.

It was the right move. This is a much bigger fight for Diaz, as Castillo is considered to be among the top two lightweights in the world - Corrales is the other.

Defeating Johnson, who might be highly ranked by the IBF but is 35, would not have done much for Diaz's career. A win over Castillo would do it wonders.

``It was difficult in the beginning,'' Diaz said of relinquishing the title, ``but after I analyzed everything, I just started to look ahead. I wanted to go for something bigger and better.''

Looking ahead is the key. But let's look back for a minute. It was April 26, 2002. A highly ranked Diaz went into a fight against Juan Valenzuela with a 24-1 record. Valenzuela was 14-4 and supposedly a stepping stone for Diaz on his way to a title fight.

Valenzuela stopped Diaz in the first round at the Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore, south of Fresno.

Diaz, undaunted, roared back. He won his next four fights, three by knockout, before taking on tough Courtney Burton in an IBF title elimination fight.

Diaz stopped Burton, who came in 20-1, in the 11th round last March 19 in El Cajon. Less than two months later, he took the title from Jauregui.

``That built confidence in me and made me stronger,'' Diaz said of the technical knockout of Burton. ``Burton was a big, strong lightweight. The way I ended that fight motivated me a lot more, so when I fought Javier Jauregui, he just seemed like a small guy.

``That is the reason that I am not getting intimidated by an oversized lightweight like Castillo.''

Diaz said he and Castillo were negotiating to fight each other a couple of years ago, but the deal never got signed.

Perhaps, it was suggested, he is fighting Castillo at the right time. What he has accomplished since the loss to Valenzuela would indicate he has grown quite a bit.

``In the beginning, I was just a young prospect with a lot of heart and a lot of will to win every fight,'' Diaz said. ``But when it comes down to a hard fight like Castillo, you need a lot more than that.

``You need the experience and the maturity in the ring to pull out a tough fight like that. I think I am a lot more prepared now than I was before.''

Castillo, who is 51-6-1 with 45 knockouts, may have been in deeper with Corrales. But he knows beating Diaz will be a difficult task.

``I do not think I have fought anyone quite like Julio,'' said Castillo, of Mexicali, Mexico. ``Stevie Johnston and Joel Casamayor had awkward styles and were very difficult to fight sometimes. Julio is more of a guy that wants to fight, that likes to engage. He is fast, and he is quick, so we do have to worry about that.''

--Castillo not looking ahead: There is a lot on the horizon for Castillo if he gets past Diaz. His and Corrales' camps have said they would again negotiate for a title-unification fight.

Castillo, who has had trouble making the 135-pound lightweight limit, also figures to move up soon to junior welterweight, where a fight against IBF champion Kostya Tszyu would bring a large purse.

Castillo said he has resisted the temptation to look ahead.

``I know how important these fights are for what I want to do in the future,'' he said. ``I know that before I can think about Corrales, before I can think about Kostya Tszyu, I have to beat Julio Diaz, and that is all I am thinking about.''

--Lacy-Williams: Featured on the undercard, Jeff ``Left Hook'' Lacy defends his IBF super middleweight belt against Rubin ``Mr. Hollywood'' Williams.

Lacy, of St. Petersburg, Fla., will attempt to make the second successful defense of the belt he won by stopping Syd Vanderpool in the eighth round last Oct. 2 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

--Hall of Fame banquet: The California Boxing Hall of Fame, in association with the Golden State Boxers Association, will hold its annual induction banquet Saturday at Steven's Steak House in Commerce.

There's good news and bad news. The bad news is it's sold out. That's also the good news.

Boxers to be enshrined are Joe Orbillo, Oscar Muniz, Paul Gonzales, Monroe Brooks, Ruben Navarro, Stan Ward, Terry Norris, George ``Scrap Iron'' Johnson, Jose Luis Cotero and Frankie Duarte.

Posthumous inductees include former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, broadcaster Jim Healy, boxer/trainer/manager Canto Robledo, manager/trainer Bill Slayton and writer Rodolfo Garcia.

Bud Furillo, talk-show host and former sports editor of the defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, is one of nine to be inducted into the non-boxer category.

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Jose Luis Castillo won the WBC lightweight title last June against Juan Lazcano.

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