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Jose Luis Castillo and Diego “Chico” Corrales fought each other twice last year in Las Vegas - both fights were great but neither was without controversy. Their first match took place on May 5, 2005 at the Thomas and Mack Center and saw Corrales come back from two knockdowns in the tenth round to score a TKO over Castillo. The controversy in this fight revolved around Corrales spitting out his mouthpiece when knocked down thus gaining more time to recover. This fight, by the way, was named “Fight of the Year 2005” by the Boxing Writer’s Association of America. They met again on October 8, 2005 and Castillo scored a decisive KO in round 4. Unfortunately for Castillo he did not win the Lightweight Title because he did not make weight coming in 3 ˝ pounds over after three tries. For this weeks’ fight Castillo stands to forfeit 25% of his purse if he doesn’t make weight so he’s being carefully monitored by his trainers, promoters and the WBC. Will doing what he has to do to make weight take too much out of Castillo? Will coming off a devastating KO affect Corrales confidence?
In HBO's second installment of "Boxing After Dark" this year, Jhonny Gonzalez outpointed Fernando Montiel to retain his WBO bantamweight title. In the co-featured bout between two unbeaten prospects, Paul "The Punisher" Williams stopped Walter Matthysse in the tenth round. This fight card was featured at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Fighting for the opportunity to face bantamweight kingpin Rafael Marquez, Jhonny Gonzalez defeated Fernando Montiel by split decision. It was a tactical fight that was devoid of sustained action, yet both fighters displayed a great deal of technical skill and professionalism. However, in boxing the big punch sells and neither man helped his marketability to great benefit. Jhonny Gonzalez, of Mexico City, retains his WBO Bantamweight title and raises his record to 33-4 (28 KOs), while Montiel, Los Mochis, Mexico, falls to 32-2-1 (24 KOs).
In the seventh and eighth rounds, boos from the crowd started to come in at a sustained fashion for the first time in the fight. The HBO commentators were trying to hype the action up with verbiage, but there was no mistaking the dullness of the combat. However, in the middle of the tactical foot war, Montiel landed his best punch of the fight with an overhand right that landed on Gonzalez just before the end of the eighth round. Gonzalez once again resumed his role as aggressor in the ninth, pressing forward and landing a couple of body shots here and there.
The tactical boxing match continued into the tenth round, with Montiel countering infrequently and Gonzalez unable to land devastating blows on his elusive foe. Midway through the round, Montiel slipped as a consequence of the perspiration that had accumulated on the paint in the middle of the ring. That was one of the more memorable moments of the fight. In the eleventh round, Montiel realized that he would need to become more aggressive and started to come forward. While he did pick up his work rate, he was unable to get any effective scoring done. Montiel came out for the twelfth round flurrying and moving, and seemed to win the first 2:30 of the stanza. With 15 seconds left in the fight, Montiel raised his hands in celebration prematurely, allowing Gonzalez to step in and land some effective punches and possibly steal the round.
The official judges' scorecards at the end of the fight read as a split decision win for Gonzalez, with two cards reading 118-111 and 116-112. Those tallies over-ruled the 115-113 card that had Montiel victorious. Montiel will now probably have to return to the super flyweight division to rebuild after this loss.
As for Gonzalez, he now stands as the most viable challenger to bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez. This fight would be a very exciting fight with two fighters who are offensive minded. I would pick Marquez in this one, however, as Marquez's big punch and speed advantages are hard to argue against.
On June 3 we will be treated to the final chapter of one of the legendary trilogies of all time. When Jose Luis Castillo, 54-7-1 (47 KO), and Diego "Chico" Corrales, 40-3 (33 KO), square off on Showtime, they will be fighting for the right to say they truly were the better fighter. Not to mention the WBC and Ring Magazine Lightweight Championship.
Last May, Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo met in a fight that was anticipated to be fight of the year. Little did anyone know it would end up becoming the fight of the decade. After back-and-forth action that had both men shaking off shots that would drop welterweights, Castillo knocked down Corrales twice in the tenth round and appeared to be on his way to the win of a lifetime. After the second knockdown, Corrales spit out his mouthpiece and was deducted a point that would become inconsequential. Corrales, rejuvenated from the reprieve, battled back manfully and stopped Corrales on the ropes in later in the tenth round.
The media adulation that ensued made the rematch one of the most highly anticipated fights in years. However, when both fighters weighed in, Castillo failed to make the 135 pound limit. After a second weigh in, and a corner man being ejected and suspended for trying to rig the scales, they agreed to fight at a catch weight of 147 the next day. From the opening bell, Castillo controlled the action and his strength advantage seemed to be insurmountable. After winning the first three rounds big, Castillo blasted Corrales out in the fourth with a picture perfect left hook.
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