Pacquiao seeks fourth belt tonight

LAS VEGAS (AP) — David Diaz realizes he might just be a speed bump on Manny Pacquiao’s road to history. He’s still determined to make that trip as rocky as possible tonight.

Diaz, the unlikely WBC lightweight champion from humble Chicago roots, is among the biggest admirers of Pacquiao’s evolution from a 106-pound scrapper into a three-division champion who’s attempting to move up for a historic fourth belt at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Pacquiao is a heavy favorite in the sports book and among most educated observers, who can’t imagine Diaz standing up to Pacquiao’s unparalleled combination of speed and power. Even if Pacquiao (46-3-2, 34 KOs) is a bit slower carrying five extra pounds, as Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach suggests, it’s tough to imagine Diaz trading 12 rounds of blows with the Filipino action hero.

Even Diaz isn’t sure what chance he’ll have against the Pac-Man. But after years of being underestimated, he’s ready for another shot at the improbable.

“I just want it to be a war,” Diaz said. “I want it to go down as one of the greatest fights of the century. If I come up on the short end of the stick, then so be it, but I want people to remember it.”

Diaz (34-1-1, 17 KOs) also has defied expectations with much less fanfare than Pacquiao. Diaz took this formidable fight for the $850,000 payday that should help him to buy a better car than his 1991 Honda with no air conditioning, but also for the chance to test himself against the world’s best.

After beating out Zab Judah for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, and after winning his title through a stunning 10th-round knockout in a fight he was losing, Diaz has learned to believe in himself when everybody else discounts him.