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Once again our man, Zev has volunteered to cover this fight for us. We all really do owe him a debt of gratitude for hie yeoman like service he does for the CBZ.
Per usual please keep all discussion of this fight to this thread. Redundant threads will be deleted.
thanks,
GorDoom
Early Results from Las Vegas
By Michael Swann (Ringside)
15 Rounds.com
Ruslan Provodnikov (4-0, 3 KO's) TKO 1 @ 1:46 over Willie Diamond (7-9-1)
Femi Fehintola (16-1) Majority Decision over Barbaro Zepeda (8-15-1)
Fulgencio Zuniga UD over Antuon Echols
Good evening everyone, we're about ready for the fight to start.
Referee is Joe Cortez.
Round One
Both start quickly, and both land to the body in clinch. Lots of clinching which is typical of a Hatton fight. Hatton shows quick hands by flurrying. Hatton getting off quicker and thus, wins the round.
Round Two
Some nice exchanges early with Hatton landing better. Hatton backs Castillo to the ropes with flurries. Hatton going to the body with frequency. Castillo looking to counter off the ropes. Hatton's round.
Round Three
Hatton quicker hands dictating the pace. Castillo is throwing and landing a bit more this round. Castillo going to the body and throwing uppercuts. Lots of punching in clinches. Castillo getting warned for low blows. Hatoon comes on late in round and is a factor in him winning the round.
Round Four
Much of the same in this round, lots of clinching and both try to go the body when this happens. Cortez takes a point from Castillo for a low blow. Hatton outworking Castillo and floors Castillo with a left hook to the body. Amazingly, Castillo doesn't beat the count. Fight over.
A bit shocking, Castillo looks like a very shot fighter.
Good win for Hatton.
Last edited by Zevl; 06-23-2007 at 10:57 PM.
OK, I was wrong. I'm not a Hatton hater, but I'm still not sold. He showed good power to the head and body. He's so wide open when he throw a punch. You would think a good counter puncher would make him pay.
Ouch, I overnapped for this fight. A sad end for Castillo, though he might get lucky with another minor title down the road. Too many wars with Corrales have depleted him.
I keep hearing how Oscar is gonna make a mega fight with Hatton, I guess for some vacant title. Poor Floyd has to be cringing over his prospects, but Hatton is gonna make some kinda huge fight soon. He won't last much longer and his time is now.
I was impressed. Call Castillo's miles whatever you want but he is and has always been a durable fighter. Hatton was all over him & hit him with a peach of a shot that would have paralyzed just about anyone. The guy deserves some credit.
Nice show for Hatton. I'm still not sold either, yet. He looked outstanding tonight, and deserves credit for the fight. His constant pressure is a nightmare. The fight went pretty much exactly like I picture most of Hatton's fights going.
But, Hatton wasn't the big show tonight, or even what was the most important on this night. Did anyone pay attention to the crowd? How intense was that? It sounded like a Manchester United soccer game. This is something boxing hasn't had in a long time, and it was great to hear and great to see. I was more intrigued by the crowd then I was the fight.
I amazed that a Hatton fight has managed only a dozen posts ... were all just not as interested as we once were it would seem.
Ricky Hatton lands a body blow to challenger Jose Luis Castillo during their IBO junior-welterweight title fight at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday. Hatton defeated Castillo with a knockout in the fourth round.
(Laura Rauch / AP)
Hatton's body of work wins it
Undefeated champion delivers a sledgehammer left to Castillo that ends the fight in the fourth.
By Steve Springer, Times Staff Writer
June 24, 2007
LAS VEGAS — It took a beat of the heart for the paralyzing pain to set in.
In that instant, Jose Luis Castillo took a step back and stared at the man who had just delivered the devastating blow to his rib cage on the right side.
But then the agony and the helplessness crept over Castillo as the air was sucked out of his body.
He spun around, his reflexes reacting to move him away from the human sledgehammer that had just battered his body, sunk to the canvas on one knee and remained there, head down, as referee Joe Cortez counted Castillo out at the 2:16 mark of the fourth round of Saturday night's main event at Thomas & Mack Center.
And just like that, it was over. Just like that, Ricky Hatton had defended his International Boxing Organization junior welterweight title, improved his record to 43-0 with 31 knockouts and set himself up for what he hopes will be a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Just like that, Castillo's hopes of regaining the status he had held as a world-class fighter before his suspension for failing to make weight a year ago had evaporated.
"He got me good," Castillo said before exiting quickly from the ring. "He got me with a perfect shot. I couldn't breath, I couldn't get up."
Indeed, even as the decidedly pro Hatton crowd of 13,044 celebrated with songs and cheers and the fighter from Manchester, England, responded by leaping to the top buckle of the ropes, Castillo remained on one knee on the canvas.
"Head first," Hatton said. "Then left hook, left hook and that's what finished him."
Hatton may already be a national hero back home, but in this country, he was known largely for his upset victory over Kostya Tszyu two years ago.
Hatton figured a victory over a name fighter, even one like Castillo who is five years older at 33, would pad his resume and give him leverage to land a Mayweather match.
With that in mind, Hatton came out aggressively from the start, landing a left hook to the right side of Castillo's face even as the opening bell was echoing.
Hatton appeared to be the quicker and stronger of the two fighters during inside exchanges.
"I really worked hard on this performance," he said. "I felt very strong inside.
"In the first round, I thought we were good buddies. In my heart, after the first round, I felt he wasn't going to last long."
Hatton won the first three rounds on two of the three judges' scorecards.
Then, before the knockout, Castillo was penalized a point by Cortez for a low blow in that fourth round.
Castillo (55-8-1, 47) was fighting at 140 pounds for only the second time. He had failed to make weight at 135 for a third fight against Diego Corrales last June, causing the Nevada State Athletic Commission to suspend Castillo for seven months and fine him $250,000.
In his first fight at 140, Castillo looked mediocre in winning a split decision over Herman Ngoudjo in January.
"I would think it is time for him to hang it up," said Castillo's promoter, Bob Arum. "At his age, that suspension was not just a suspension, it was a death knell."
While Saturday night's result has left Castillo's future cloudy, Hatton has a clear vision of what he wants.
"There was more action in the four rounds of this fight," he said, "than Floyd Mayweather has had in his entire career."
Gentlemen, start your negotiations.
--
steve.springer@latimes.com
I think I should give up the fight game. I'm seeing things no one else sees and I'm told there are obvious things that I just don't see. First of all, after the fight, all 3 announcers are saying castillo looked shot after the first round. I didn't see that. I thought he was doing okay. I thought joe cortez was involved too much. They were clinching but also hitting, let them fight out of it. I didn't think castillo was hitting low, mostly on the belt line. When cortez deducted a point for low blows, thats when I think castillo knew he was in a no win situation and took the knee. The liver shot was lethal, but castillo looked like he could have gotten up.
I don't like kellerman. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He needs anouther 10 years of seasoning before I'll take him seriously, just my opinion.
Still not sold on hatton. A strong, busy fighter, he just holds too much for my liking. I love to see the british fan enthusiasm though. Imagine cotto/hatton. 10,000 fights would be in the stands.
I didn't get the sombrero though. When mayweather did it, it was funny, hatton, I don't know. was he calling out delahoya? was he egging on the mexican fans?
kudos to hatton for bringing corrales wife into the ring.
A good win for Hatton to be sure. After you have seen a couple of his fights there isn't much new to see . His clinch and grab style is effective but ugly to watch , very much like John Ruiz but busier.
For some reason recent fights have seemed a bit of a letdown somehow. Most were ok just not ... exciting. Mayweather - DLH was too defensive , Cotto - Judah was good but even that seemed predictable , Hatton - Castillo was ok but only 4 rounds . Maybe its that we've seen all these guys so much that there are no real surprises... I dunno , anyone else finding the majority of "bigname" matches a little flat ? Quite a few top boxers are too defensive prefering to win by somewhat boring decision.
Looking forward to seeing Shane Mosely fight anybody and Manny Pacquiao is fun to watch.
Hopefully Kessler - Calzaghe happens as well.
I've soured on Hatton's style, but it's interesting to me how when Hatton mauls, clinches, etc., it's "ugly" and "dirty," but when Hopkins does it, it's "crafty."
I agree with Dig that Hatton deserves credit. I didn't see what the HBO crew were talking about with JLC being shot. Steward sometimes says things that sound insightful but he never elaborates. What did Steward see "10 seconds into the fight" that told him Castillo was shot?
Does Hatton have any choice but to move back up to welter? The only fights left for Hatton at 140 are Witter and Malignaggi.
I think Hatton was brilliant in victory.
I don't think Castillo is "shot".
I think Hatton deserves a ton of credit. Nobody else in the vicinity of 140 pounds would have knocked Castillo out last night.
No way. No how.
TKS
Ricky Hatton Remains a Megastar With Four Round Destruction of Jose Luis Castillo
By Antonio Santiago-June 24, 2007
Ringside Report.com
In a night of hats and stars, one came shining through with a golden weapon as Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, 43-0, 31 KO’s, retained his IBO and public’s Junior Welterweight Title of the world by knocking out one of Mexico’s favorite sons, Jose Luis Castillo, 55-8-1, 47 KO’s. The fight, televised on HBO World Championship Boxing, was not really the Super fight many had hoped for, but that was because of Hatton’s vast superiority. Castillo tried and he actually did land a few glancing blows, but Hatton acted like he had much more experience and quickly solved the puzzle provided by the Empalme, Sonora, Mexico, man. In non-televised action, Hatton’s brother Matthew Hatton, 33-3-1, 12 KO’s, out-pointed Puerto Rican Edwin Vazquez, 22-10-2, 8 KO’s, over 12 rounds, and Antwun Echols, 31-7-3, 27 KO’s, was upset by Fulgencio Zuniga, 19-2-1, 16 KO’s, who won a ten round decision.
Many human aspects were revealed prior to the fight. Castillo has been deeply effected by the death of ring arch rival Diego Corrales, a man Castillo seems to have reserved a spot in his heart for, outside of the obvious inside the ring rivalry both men had. Corrales’ family, on the other hand, is according to HBO analyst Jim Lampley, are taking Castillo to court based on the fact he fought Corrales while being overweight during their rematch, as case that, without trying to get too legal here, does not hold water because Corrales agreed to go on with the fight while in wide use of his faculties, so while Castillo can be accused of breach of contract, Corrales was given the chance to cancel the bout and he went on with it, so in that case it was his responsibility. The third item on Castillo’s worry list was his brother Cesar, who sadly passed away of an aneurysm a few weeks ago. So with all those things in his mind, one has to wonder, was he really in the right mindset to hold as large a fight as this one?
Hatton stepped into the ring wearing a blue Mexican hat. Whether this was done to show respect for the great country of Mexico or infuriate Castillo’s fan is not clear but Hatton’s best friend is Marco Antonio Barrera, who was by his side so in all likelihood it was done in goodwill. Then he went on and did what he really came to do in Las Vegas.
Castillo and Hatton quickly set an inside fighting pace that was sizzling. Hatton landed the heavier punches as he pinned Castillo against the ropes but Castillo retaliated with quick combinations to the body and head, but not quick enough to get the Champion’s attention. Shortly after the fight started, Hatton seemed to have barely tagged Castillo on the neck and Castillo went to the floor, but referee Joe Cortez did not call that a knockdown. Castillo tried to counter Hatton’s punishing attack but Hatton used his height Advantage fully to his advantage and did not give ground.
Round two was fought at basically the same pace as round one, with Castillo making it a little bit closer with hard flurries. Hatton, however, would not be denied. He could not. It was as if a higher power was carrying him straight to victory.
By round three, Castillo and Hatton both demonstrated a bit of frustration, and Castillo landed a low blow, for which he was penalized one point. Later in the round, Castillo complained of a low blow himself, but Cortez did not react. Castillo landed his best punches of the fight with a good uppercut and a long left that landed on Hatton’s chin, but each time, Hatton was out of his reach, taking most of the power away from both punches. That strategy was used also by another all time great Junior Welterweight, Aaron Pryor, when he beat Alexis Arguello in 1982. He may or may not be in Pryor’s league, but Hatton has proven he, along with Julio Cesar Chavez, Kostya Tszyu and maybe Juan Martin Coggi are among the very best the 140 division has seen since Pryor was Champion.
Round four was going on accordingly when suddenly, with about a minute to go, Hatton struck Castillo with a stiff left to the body. Castillo winced in great pain, and then he took a knee. It looked as if he may have been able to get up, but he did not, taking Cortez’s ten count while on one knee. It was that hard of a body blow, which ended the fight and gave Hatton win number 43 in a row.
Castillo may look for a few more fights. After all, he had the premise of his brother’s and his rival Corrales’ recent deaths, as well as the Corrales family problem under way. His mind was probably liable for one half bad showing and he will probably convince himself that, in the right state of mind, he may have stood a chance against Hatton. Truly, however, if he doesn’t want to see himself starring in ten round Spanish television events like Johnny Tapia and others before him, he should retire. He had a great career so far and reached his climax in the early 2000’s, with victories over Stevie Johnston, at least one robbery against Floyd Mayweather, JR., and other feats he probably will not be able to match.
Hatton, meanwhile, kept himself in the middle of a fight sweepstakes that include Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley and Mayweather JR. himself. Hats off indeed for Mr. Hatton.
Two ordinary fighters.
Hatton's flurry and clinch offense is excruciating to watch and almost impossible to root for.
However, Castillo has been such a dirty fighter throughout his career that i enjoyed seeing him stopped.
Actually it was the 4th round when Castillo was penalized for a low blow, a shot just below the belt.
The end for Castillo did not come suddenly either. Hatton was landing many shots, not to mention a half dozen left hooks to the body before the final fateful 7th left hook which corkscrewed Castillo to his knees.
I'm hoping Ron or some other experienced fighters here can tell us the difference in effect from a shot to the floating ribs and one to the liver. It looked to me like this was a shot to the floating ribs on the right side, which I'm guessing jabbed the lung and caused much pain and shortness of breath.
Same effect on Oscar when Hopkins landed his left hook on those short ribs.
Also the same effect on Johnny Tapia against Sandro Marcos, but Marcos landed on the armpit. I think Tapia just threw that fight claiming a liver shot.
Any takers?
From my point of view it looked like Castillo got hit in the kidney area, and not in liver, that was not Imo a liver shot.
Ron Lipton said Castillo looked like garbage. I only saw the final round. Hatton looked like an uncaged tiger in there. He really had the edge in speed. That punch was definitely more to the kidney area.
Impressive win for Hatton.
Do others feel that Castillo was shot before going in?
DING! Hatton has really mastered the punch and grab technique and no one has figured a way to effectively stop it (plus the refs have let him get away with it with no penalties). To deal with this, you need to time his rushes and be fast enough to make the guy pay on his way in, and neither Tszyu nor Castillo had that speed at that stage of their career (neither did Urango who was slow as molasses). Collazo caught up to this trick later in their fight, and IMO beat him on points (though he did not hit hard enough to put a real hurt on Rick until the very end). Remember how successful Ruiz was for a while doing this to men who were more skilled than him but not fast enough to make him pay (Holyfield, Rahman, Johnson)? As soon as he faced guys with better reflexes/quicker hands (Jones and Toney) and stricter refs, his crap style was rendered useless. I echo starlingstomp's disgust and frustration with this style. One, two, fall-in, clutch with one hand while continuing to punch with the other hand; ref breaks; one, two, fall-in, clutch.....Originally Posted by starlingstomp
I think Hatton gets a bumb-rap really, take a look at some Duran fights he did the same thing. Hatton totally reminds me of Duran if you don't believe me check out Duran vs Lampkin, or Duran vs Leonard 1. Hatton does not fight like Ruiz who throws one shot then holds and waits for the ref, then does the same thing again, one shot at a time, he fights like Duran. Hatton is still very busy fighting in close, to me it is just infighting, and there is nothing wrong with this style, it may not be fun to watch for some but he is certainly not the first to use this tactic. The way to beat it is just the way Leonard was beating Duran in there second fight until he quit, box box box.
Anyway everyone was complaining last week that the ref wouldn't let N'dou would fight close in the Malignaggi fight. Well whats the difference.
Bomma, you are right that Duran did use the smother/grab technique defense, but he never used that as his primary strategy or mode of offense/defense. There was much more than just punch and grab to Roberto. He threw multi-punch combinations in a very fluid manner. He was not just a hooker. His straight right came right down the middle like a laser. He could slip, duck, and turn his head at the very last second to avoid shots, and counter off those defensive maneuvers. It is not an exaggeration to say that 80 or 90% of the offensive sequences in the last few Hatton fights have been of the punch-and-grab type. Someone actually counted that, in the Urango fight, Hatton initiated a clinch every 11 seconds! So, to make a long story short, Duran used this technique on occasion as part of his arsenal. He never relied on it as his main modus operandi. My two cents.
Hatton is simply the real deal. I have always been saying it. He's a top class fighter with a strange style, but very effective. He's all over you all the time and has a vicious body attack. Always supremely conditioned. I think he can beat them all, Cotto, Oscar, Floyd etc etc. Too relentless and tough and I think he's a hard fighter tou outbox and even hurt....
I don't know for certain if he was shot. But I guess he had seen better days and at 33/34?, was a little ring worn witout doubt. But that's just it, if he was, then Hatton proved he was by dispatching him early. Had it went to decision over 12, Hatton would be criticised even more. Ricky got rid of a quality fighter early, a quality fighter who was a little past it which was exposed by Hatton's class
I have too say I was quite impressed with his hand speed and his foot speed even more so.
The exact same thoughts as myself. He looked ever so sharp. His movement side to
side was so fast and his punches had more zip than I have ever seen.
Ricky at 28 now is at his absolute peak maturity and strength wise.
Hatton and Cotto I think is the real test. It would be an absolute cracker. Two vicious body punchers with tonnes of stamina and great chins who both hate taking a step back. I would rather see that than either of them V Floyd, who though very talented lacks the excitement the two guys bring.
After watching the Hatton win again, it was obvious that the actual shot he KO'd Castillo with was the icing on the cake as he had landed several crackers preceeding it and Castillo's wincing shows this. Jose was literally being broken apart from the ferocity of the attacks
Cheers to the “Manchester Mexican”
By Bart Barry
15 Rounds.com
In the last few years Americans have had so many of our own prizefighters call themselves “businessmen” and lecture us about the economics of the craft that we initially failed to recognize a true ticket seller. We were late to the Ricky Hatton tea party. But we’re here now, we’re sorry about our tardiness and we’d like cheering lessons.
Lucky for us, last weekend there were 10,000 British teachers in Las Vegas to support England’s Ricky Hatton and sing “there’s only one Ricky Hatton!” through the Thomas & Mack Center until Hatton proved the lyrics true. Hatton took a junior welterweight fight many believed he might lose, and all believed would be competitive, and turned it to a rout – stopping Mexican Jose Luis Castillo at 2:16 of the fourth round.
Estimates are that Ricky Hatton sold 10,000 tickets for this fight, in England. That is, without benefit of an HBO miniseries or calling himself the world’s greatest fighter, Hatton caused more than 10,000 of his countrymen to travel more than 5,000 miles.
One such chap was Ian Hart, a Brit HBO showed in a pre-fight feature, asking, “Is there any American boxer that could sell 11,000 tickets in England?” Actually, Mr. Hart, the self-proclaimed greatest fighter in the world couldn’t sell 300 tickets in Michigan, his native state, before facing Oscar de la Hoya.
In fact, about the only fighter in the world who generates as much international interest as Hatton is Manny Pacquiao, and fiscal circumstances prevent most Filipino nationals from making semi-annual trips to a city quickly becoming America’s most expensive destination. But whereas Pacquiao is an athletic phenomenon surprised by his celebrity, Hatton is a showman.
Take last Saturday’s ring entrance. Preceded by a clip of Winston Churchill and followed by Mexican icon Marco Antonio Barrera, Hatton wore a blue-sequined sombrero and matching breastplate with “Manchester Mexican” across it. A well-balanced, humorous nod to his own heritage and the Mexican fighters Hatton calls “gods.”
One Mexican who deserves that appellation is Jose Luis Castillo, who achieved boxing immortality with the late Diego Corrales, and who would fight Hatton in the center of the ring and fight him on the ropes and fight him in the corners – if Hatton let him.
But Hatton did not let him. From the opening minute of the opening round, Hatton swarmed Castillo, hooked the Mexican’s left arm and battered the right side of his body. Castillo appeared old and slow. How much of this was attributable to Hatton’s intensity and how much was attributable to the cumulative effect of Castillo’s 63 previous prizefights will remain a point of contention.
But this will not: Castillo often starts slowly, and had he been allowed to find his range and rhythm, he would have troubled Hatton in the middle and later rounds. Because Hatton did not relent for the fight’s first four minutes, however, the fifth minute found Castillo’s legs weak, unstable and barely beneath his body.
Castillo felt this and decided to time Hatton on the way in, to soften Hatton’s leaping hooks. Once Hatton was inside and grappling, Castillo then borrowed the younger man’s legs – leaning on Hatton and peppering him with body punches. It was a good strategy, as far as survival strategies go.
But it was a strategy that relied on Referee Joe Cortez’s complicity. In order for Castillo’s improvised approach to work, the Mexican’s body punches had to be precise, and when they lacked precision they had to miss below Hatton’s waistline. At 1:27 of round four, Referee Cortez penalized Castillo a point for low blows, and resignation covered Castillo’s face.
If Castillo wanted a way to avoid the next 22 minutes after that, Hatton provided it a half minute later. After wrestling the Mexican to the ropes, he tapped Castillo with a left to the forehead. Castillo bent lower and brought his right forearm across his belly. In an instant, Hatton saw Castillo’s error and placed a left hook behind Castillo’s right elbow.
The button. The liver. The silver-dollar-sized spot between the bottom of the lowest rib and the top of the right hipbone. Castillo spun and shuffled away, his mouthpiece out by the time his knee touched the canvas. Referee Cortez made the 10 count in Spanish, but it was academic: Castillo wanted no more.
For those observers who’ve never been hit on the button, there’s this. The pain that is caused by a liver shot is best described as an internal explosion. It begins with nausea from breastbone to pelvis. A second later, the brain understands a vital organ is under assault. Then the legs lose their fiber. It is the most devastating punch in prizefighting.
It may have marked the end of Jose Luis Castillo’s career last Saturday, though probably not. Castillo still has his name and the memory of his battle with Corrales and that punchiest of adages: “Every great fighter has one great fight left in him.”
Look for Castillo to take 10 months off and announce a move to welterweight. Then we’ll see if promoter Top Rank will finance a retirement party for Castillo as it’s doing for Erik Morales in August.
For Ricky Hatton, circumstances are entirely rosier. Because of his record and style and charisma – and the names of Tszyu and Castillo on his résumé – Hatton can command a million dollars to fight anyone. He ought to abandon hopes of fighting Floyd Mayweather, unless he can convince “Pretty Boy Floyd” to boil back down to 140 pounds, and instead clean out the junior welterweight division.
That way, in a couple of years when lightweight champ Juan Diaz is ready to move up, we’ll have a great fight to make at junior welterweight. There’s no reason Hatton-Diaz, “Manchester Mexican” versus “Baby Bull,” can’t be the Fight of the Year in 2009.
Bart Barry can be reached at: bbarry@15rounds.com.
Hey Rafael, I do agree with you that Duran was a much better fighter then Hatton and didn't employ this rough-stuff tactic as much as Hatton because he had more in his arsenal, but I have seen earlier Hatton fights where he didn't fight this way also. Overall I would also say there were times especially early in his career when Duran was fighting lighter guys that he could bully where this was his main tactic in fights. He would mostly use this style on boxers to take away there length and make them fight close. This was his primary tactic against Leonard in there first fight and it worked brilliantly. It makes sense really how many of us wish that De La Hoya could have employed this style more against Mayweather.
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