Corrales wants to be ‘big, bad wolf’

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 8, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Diego Corrales is way too young to remember the old TV show "Father Knows Best," yet he can relate to the title of the program if not its general premise.

That's because Corrales' father had the good sense to direct his son, then a feisty 8 years old, into an established amateur boxing program.

Eleven years later, it's clear that Corrales has the potential to be one of the sport's brightest stars.

Only 15 months into his professional career, he's 14-0 with 12 knockouts and is co-headlining Friday's Top Rank Boxing card at The Orleans hotel-casino.

"It wasn't my choice," Corrales said Wednesday, reflecting on how his father directed him into boxing. "I was a firecracker as a kid and very hot tempered. I was getting into so many fights, I was suspended from school."

At eight?

Corrales nodded.

"So my dad said, 'You must really like to fight, so I'm going to take you to a place where you can fight all you want and no one will care.' At first I was upset about it," he said. "But I got to like it so much that it became a punishment when he wouldn't let me go to the gym."

Corrales immediately took to the gym and gym life, winning a silver medal in the Police Athletic League national tournament while he was still eight. Father having known best, a star was born.

"Boxing's never been a job to me," Corrales said. "I do it for fun and for the honor of my family. I love what I do."

Born and raised in Sacramento, Calif., Corrales straightened up in school and went on to earn a chef's degree in a culinary trade school before moving to Las Vegas earlier this year. He's trained by Kenny Adams.

"This is like a dream come true," Corrales said of his current situation as a young man of 19 with an experienced trainer and a major promotional firm behind him. "I've got a great team, a caring team. They all help me in their own ways.

"I owe them, and that's why I give 100 percent and give my best performance every time I fight. I don't want to let anybody down."

No one associated with Corrales has been disappointed yet. Coming into his 12-round junior lightweight bout Friday with the more-experienced Juan Macias, Corrales has won 10 straight fights by knockout.

Macias is 23-5-1 with 17 KOs and has won a pair of fights after losing three straight in 1995. Corrales called him a "quick starter who tends to fade" and will try to wear down the Mexico-based Macias in a fight to be shown on the Telemundo network.

"I've had some good tests and this is another one," Corrales said. "You're not going to become a great fighter by only fighting hand-picked opponents.

"I don't want to rush anything and I want to take the right steps at the right time. But I also want to show people that I'm not just some nice kid out here playing around.

"I want to be the big, bad wolf."

He gave signs of becoming a competent fighter -- if not the big, bad wolf -- as his amateur career progressed. At 17 years old he represented the U.S. in the Pan American Games, and he barely missed going to the Olympic Trials when he lost a 14-13 decision in the regional finals.

"I was 15 when I was in the gym working with (former world champion) Tony Lopez," Corrales said. "It was kind of a shock how well I could box. I decided then to take (boxing) as far as it can take me."

At 6-foot-1, he could outgrow the 130-pound division although he's hoping that's a couple of years away. As it is, the division is populated with legitimate world champions like Genaro Hernandez and Arturo Gatti, plus a handful of up-and-coming fighters like Corrales, Angel Manfredy, Jesus Chavez, Arnulfo Castillo and Roberto Garcia.

"Hopefully, I can run into my share of fights with those guys," Corrales said. "I'm going to stay at 130 as long as my body will let me and try to make a name for myself and establish myself as a great fighter.

"I want to rule the division."

He also wants to get out of the game fairly early, open a restaurant and put that chef's degree to work for him.

"I don't want to just hang around and fight," he said. "I don't ever want to be called a has-been."

His approach of hard work, commitment and, in time, a sensible exit seems ideal. Any father, let alone one who knows best, would approve.

ote "It wasn't my choice. I was a firecracker as a kid and very hot tempered. I was getting into so many fights, I was suspended from school." Diego Corrales

STEVE MARCUS / LAS VEGAS SUN