David Diamante Says He Hasn’t Cut His Hair since 1988 — The Story behind It

David Diamante's trademark phrase "the fight starts now!" and his hair has gained equal attention in the sports industry.

His hair, which is almost long as his height, creates a juxtaposition with his custom-made tuxedoes and profession.

But Diamante proudly flaunts his dreadlocks despite the dreads being unconventional for the fraternity of public-address announcers. And he has been doing so since 1988. 

The Story behind David Diamante's Hair 

Diamante opened up the story behind growing his dreadlocks in an interview with Boxing Life Stories in December 2020.

And it turns out that he stopped cutting his hair in high school after a tremendous change in his life. 

As per his accounts, Diamante started playing the drums in his fifth grade. He found a punk rocker named Darren in his school, and the duo started a rock band. 

Eventually, the famed announcer started getting serious about the music scene.

Meanwhile, he also got into drug addiction with his friends. They would smoke marijuana and all other stuff on the track where they used to skate, ride bikes, and get into fights. 

Diamante's addiction was already inviting troubles. Yet, the 50-year-old couldn't see it for himself. He toured places with his crew and played at shows and vans.

And all that temporary bliss fell out of place when the lead singer of their band was killed. Following that, he got into a ruinous fight and shattered his knee bone into eight pieces. 

The injury prevented him from playing the drums again. As a result, Tim Berry replaced him in his band, and the crew moved to Richmond without him. 

For most of his life until then, Diamante cared for his band as his family and believed it was his home. He was admittedly even ready to give up his life for his team members. 

So when the band moved on without him, the drummer's life changed once and for all. He had no friends and no home as he had already moved out of his parent's house. 

Upon realizing he was disillusioned, he stopped cutting his dreads and tried bettering his life, albeit stumbling upon multiple trials and tribulations. 

David Diamante on Cutting His Hair

Elsewhere in the aforementioned interview, Diamante shared his dreadlocks felt as if they were majestic and bore spiritual connection.

He implied they were also metaphorical, adding that different people had different ways of perceiving his looks. 

David Diamante hasn't cut his hair since 1988. (Photo: David Diamante/Twitter)

The television personality mentioned how some people assumed he grew his locks to be a character.

He explained people's judgment about him wasn't true and clarified that he wasn't disturbed by that assumption. 

In his own words, he had realized that his dreads were just a part of him and admittedly wasn't offended by people calling him the "dread guy."

Diamante shared he didn't think about his dreadlocks a lot and had stopped cutting them because it just felt right.

The ring announcer remarked he would cut it the day he felt like doing it, a similar statement he had provided to The New York Times in December 2011.  

"Will I cut it tomorrow? Maybe. Will I cut it later today? Maybe. Probably not," Diamante had replied when asked what he planned to do with his locks. He also added that he didn't do future trips and lived in the present.