Diego “Lower-Throat” Cortez is a rising star in Muay Thai, a fast-paced, full-contact sport generally known as the “artwork of eight limbs.” Utilizing each fists, shins, elbows and ft, Cortez has compiled a file of 15-0 with eight knockouts.
Curiously, his hardest battle wasn’t the one which left him with a fractured proper hand. It wasn’t the one which break up open an eyebrow. And it most likely gained’t be the one on Feb. 1 towards a nine-time champion for the WBC Muay Thai Nationwide Beginner Middleweight title.
No, probably the most tough battle for Cortez, 21, was the one he selected three years in the past. After graduating from highschool with a 3.9 grade level common, Cortez declined a scholarship provide from the College of Kansas to pursue a profession in martial arts.
Full-time athlete
With cash saved from ready tables and catering, Cortez drove from Indio, California to San Antonio, the place he grew up. He rented a room from a pal, labored three jobs to assist himself and saved what he might to begin his personal enterprise. Regardless of little sleep and far exhaustion, he additionally made time to work on Muay Thai. “That was tough,” Cortez mentioned.
Contemporary out of highschool, he logged greater than 60 hours every week as a stretch practitioner, power and conditioning coach and driver for UberEats. When Cortez wasn’t working, he was coaching, seven days every week.
Two years after leaving California, Cortez had saved sufficient to outfit his pal’s storage with gear and begin a coaching enterprise, Havoc Athletics. His web site consists of testimonials from happy purchasers.
“Diego simply fully made it to the place he is usually a full-time athlete,” mentioned Bobby Peek, Cortez’s coach. “I’ve by no means seen something like his degree of dedication. On his twenty first birthday, he didn’t exit and get a drink. He was within the health club working. That’s how he celebrated.”
Cortez is making ready for Chase Brooks (22-5), his opponent for the WBC middleweight title in Largo, Florida. A local of Tampa, Brooks has gained 9 Muay Thai championships at 160 kilos. Win or lose, Cortez will characterize Staff USA on the Pan-American Championships Feb. 13-16 in Mexico Metropolis. “I’m honored,” Cortez mentioned, “and really excited to characterize my nation.”
‘The toughest work I’ve ever had’
Cortez got here to martial arts on the behest of his mother and father, who needed him to study self-defense. A 13-year-old soccer participant at Smithson Valley Center Faculty, Cortez was massive for his age and insecure about his physique. “I needed to shed extra pounds,” he mentioned.
He discovered a Muay Thai video on-line and found a health club close to his house in Comal County. Peek agreed to coach him. Initially, Cortez didn’t impress.
“He got here to me as a chubbier child,” recalled Peek, head coach of the San Antonio department of Ambush Muay Thai. “His motion was actually awkward. I didn’t see something in him on the time, to be trustworthy, so far as being a aggressive athlete. However that modified.”
Cortez started waking up at 5 a.m. to raise weights. He turned fats into muscle and labored ferociously within the health club. “I assumed he would burn out, he was going so arduous,” Peek mentioned. “However he saved that tempo. He’s the toughest employee I’ve ever had, and we’ve had a man who was ranked No. 1 within the nation as a professional.”
Peek is referring to Peter Stanonik, who gained the WBC Muay Thai USA middleweight skilled championship in Could.
As Cortez’s talent and promise accelerated, a bombshell dropped. The younger fighter’s mom and father determined to maneuver to California to assist their mother and father. Though Cortez promised to return after highschool, Peek didn’t see that taking place. Cortez can be close to the seashore. He’d make new pals. “I assumed I’d by no means see him once more,” Peek mentioned.
A world of alternatives
After wrestling for 2 years at La Quinta Excessive Faculty, Cortez returned and resumed coaching with Peek. The child tore by each opponent, knocking out most with knee strikes to the liver. In June, he gained a Thai Boxing Affiliation nationwide match in Ardmore, Oklahoma. “He’s solely had one powerful battle,” Peek mentioned. “Exterior of that one, he’s steamrolled everyone.”
The coach understands Cortez’s potential in addition to anybody. Peek is a former Muay Thai nationwide newbie champion at 155 kilos. He’s additionally a Muay Thai matchmaker and promoter, a commentator at main fights. He predicts Cortez will flip skilled with the purpose of competing within the UFC (United Preventing Championship).
“Together with his work ethic,” Peek mentioned. “I can’t rule something out. He can go so far as he desires to go.”
Cortez envisions a world of alternatives, both within the U.S. or in Thailand, the birthplace of Muay Thai. After his WBC middleweight title battle in February, Cortez will determine whether or not to proceed in Muay Thai or transition to combined martial arts (MMA). Regardless of the case, he aspires to turn out to be a world champion.
“Ever since I began preventing,” he mentioned, “I really feel like I discovered what I used to be meant to do.”
