Yo! Welcome into the House of L podcast. I'm Lauren Tom, thanks so much for hanging out with me.

Man, I'm so happy that this episode happened. I got to tell you, because you'll hear it inside the interview. We had a great conversation, and I just have always really, really liked this guy.

Let me tell you how I met David Diaz. There was a charity boxing event. I don't know if you know this, but I really enjoy combat sports. I really love MMA, I love boxing. I've covered a lot of fun fights,

but it's strangely enough with boxing, because they would like some promotion. We have had opportunities at the score, where I've gone to Las Vegas for big fights. I've seen some really, really good fights over the last few years.

And so I enjoy it. I've found that I truly enjoy watching a boxing match. There's something to it that Fight Night in Las Vegas, once we get to a place where things are a little more safe for people to go out into the world, I would highly recommend that you go to Fight Night if you can.

There's something about it, but even locally, even locally, if you get an opportunity to watch a live fight, take place. Man, you are, you're going to love it. There's an energy to it. Like Fight Night in Vegas, the only thing that I've seen that comes close is the all-star game.

And Super Bowl. That's the only thing that comes close to a title fight in Las Vegas. The energy that's in the building is that. So I love boxing, love MMA. And David Diaz, I met him at a charity event. He just happened to be there. And I knew who David was.

And I was just sitting there going like the champ is just literally walking around this place. And I wasn't sure that other people understood that David Diaz was in the house.

So we started talking and he said, you know, I listen to you on the radio. And I've seen you on TV and I was like, what?

Like, you know who I am. I'm like, wow. So we kind of struck up this, this friendship. You know, we, we started like talking on Twitter and Instagram stuff like that. And I just really liked this dude.

Part of the reason that he's on the podcast, though, isn't just because of the boxing. It's what he's done after the boxing, which I find so fascinating, which we get into inside of the interview.

But this guy, when you look at his resume, world champ, like, come on.

Olympian, go glove champion. He is a great representation of our city. And on top of that, he is a great representation of

Mexican culture in Chicago. And an incredible immigration story.

So we talked about all of that stuff. The man who went toe to toe with Manny Pacquiao. The man that beat Zab Judah. I think a couple of times.

This dude had a crazy record, 36, 4 and 1, 17 knockouts in his career and a world championship belt.

So I'm glad that we got a chance to talk. We talked about boxing and the dedication that it takes to be a boxer. And the amazing stuff that he's doing now, like, talk about a second act.

Like that's a lot of times athletes can't find their next thing after they're done. And David's worked a long hard time to find his. And I'm glad that he has.

You should love this conversation. Because this guy represents, man, he absolutely represents. If you're a Chicagoan, you'll feel this, but you don't need to be a Chicagoan to feel it.

The WBC lightweight world champion Chicago's own David Diaz here on the House of L podcast.

Hello, David. What's up, dude? How you doing, my brother? I'm doing great. How about yourself? I can't complete, man. I can't complete. Good. I'm glad to hear that, man. Thank you. You can see me. No, I can't see, but that's okay. I only need the audio. Okay. So, so don't worry about that. Okay. I'm going to hit record right now. No problem. Okay.

This meeting is being recorded. Of course it is. Man, I really appreciate you. You spend in a few minutes with me and talking about some stuff, man. Let me, let me start with this question, man. I want to know.

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