Monday Morning Maui Sports: At 13, Micah Diaz is already a two-time national boxing champion

Nante Manangan has coached the South Side Boxing Club out of his home on Kaiwahine Street in North Kīhei for more than 30 years, but he has never had a two-time national champion until Micah Diaz won his second USA Boxing title in a six-month span last week at the Junior Olympics in Las Vegas.

Diaz has been boxing for less than three years, but Manangan knew he was “very special” the first time he stopped by to try boxing practice in the facility that Manangan has in his backyard and garage. Manangan said on Thursday that Micah Diaz is the first two-time national champion boxer ever from Maui.

“I told the parents that this kid is special, very special,” Manangan said Thursday at practice in his backyard. “He’s got fast feet, a good boxing IQ, and for the short time that he’s been boxing, he’s really impressive.”

Diaz won the 90-pound intermediate title in Las Vegas on June 20, just seven months after he won the 80-pound intermediate title at the USA Boxing Open National Championships in Richmond, Va., in December.

Diaz admitted he was nervous going into Las Vegas, despite already being a national champion.

“I was nervous because I went up two weight divisions,” Diaz said Thursday. “So I knew I’d be fighting stronger, faster opponents.”

It didn’t phase Diaz as he won four straight fights in as many days in Vegas, all by sweeping the five judges’ scoring cards. He beat Yusufu Sanu of Pittsburgh, Pa., on June 17; Ahmad Lowery, of East Orange, N.J., on June 18; Jayden Rabago of Fort Worth, Texas, on June 19; and Anthony Aceves, of Bakersfield, Calif., in the championship bout on June 20.

“I was training two times a day every day, training hard, getting prepared,” Diaz said. “It felt good, I was excited. … I just knew I was going to fight someone really good, each day was tougher.”

Former professional fighter Kili Madrid sends his son to Manangan’s gym and coaches there, too. Madrid has been one of those impressed with Diaz’s prowess.

“Micah’s potential is limitless,” Madrid said. “He does stuff that kids his age don’t normally do. He can do whatever he wants to do. He’s unbelievable.”

Diaz enjoyed the trip to Vegas with his dad Mike and mom Tiana after sewing up the national title.

“It felt pretty good, because after the fights we had fun, we were doing roller coaster rides and went to the water park,” Micah Diaz said. 

When asked what the best part of the trip was, Micah Diaz didn’t hesitate.

“It was winning,” Micah said. “Winning was definitely the best part.”

Micah Diaz has three younger siblings, 5-year-old Makua, 4-year-old Tehani and 2-year-old Michael. Micah already has advice for his young brothers and sister.

“If they work hard and dedicate themselves they can be whoever they want to be,” Micah Diaz said.

It is clear that Micah Diaz has learned that kind of sage advice from the 69-year-old Manangan, who served as Hawai’i State Boxing Commissioner from 2017 to 2024.

“Not just inside, but out of the ring, he teaches discipline, respect,” Diaz said, adding that he respects his opponents “after the fight.”

While he usually stays home to work, Mike Diaz made the trip to Las Vegas with Tiana Diaz earlier this month. Mike Diaz stopped by the facility with his son on Thursday.

“For me to be able to be there and just share that moment with my son, it makes all the hard work, the dedication worth it, it just shows that it pays off,” said Mike Diaz, who played football and baseball at Maui High School before graduating in 2010. “It was such a blessed experience.”

Mike Diaz sees a bright future for his oldest son.

“I like boxing for him, but whatever he wants to do we’ll support him,” Mike Diaz said. “He’s an athlete, so he has the ability to do what he wants.”

Mike Diaz is glad he took his son to Manangan’s homemade gym as a 10-year-old.

“Two years ago Coach Nante saw potential and he told me that Micah was going to be a champion,” Mike Diaz said. “Coach Nante put a lot of time, knowledge and all the other coaches … they put in all this time into Micah and this is just a product of their knowledge.”

Rico Manangan, Nante’s son, works closely with Micah Diaz on a daily basis.

“He has good ethic, he dedicates himself every day,” Rico Manangan said. “He has good support from his family — they hold him accountable not just here, but also holds him accountable when he goes home, which is a huge thing because not everybody has that.”

Nante Manangan asked his son if he agreed with his assessment of Micah Diaz soon after Diaz came to that first practice.

“He has that natural ability and drive,” Rico Manangan said. “To be a champion you have to have, like, not just work hard and want to do it — you have to have something special a lot of people don’t have. Micah has that.”

Told that his son is the first two-time national champion from Maui, Mike Diaz smiled widely.

“That’s history, that’s unreal,” he said. “God is good.”

“Monday Morning Maui Sports” columns appear weekly on Monday mornings with updates on local sports in the Maui Interscholastic League and elsewhere around Maui County. Please send column ideas — anything having to do with sports in Maui County — as well as results and photos to rob@hjinow.org.