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05/08/2005 Archived Entry: "Corrales, Castillo Set New Standard"
Corrales, Castillo Set New Standard
By J.D. Vena
If a fight between Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao is to be tagged as the Fight of the Year, then they better have another one before year’s end. Should it happen, not only would it have to be more exciting than their thrilling first war, it would have to top the one fought last night at Manadalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas between two division champion, Diego “Chico” Corrales and two-time Mexican champion, Jose Luis Castillo.
Come to think of it, Morales and Pacquiao should just save their breath for such a tall order and just fight each other again for the right of best jr. lightweight in the world. Because not only did Diego Corrales’ shocking, come from behind knockout of Castillo earn him the honor as the world’s best lightweight, their dramatic war surpassed the efforts and excitement of any of the Ward-Gatti blockbusters or other epic bouts of year's past. In fact, last night, another classic rivalry was born.
I know, some of you may think I’m jumping the gun a little bit but I beg to differ. From round two until the bout’s dramatic finish, Corrales, the WBO champ and Castillo, his WBC counterpart, stood toe-to-toe and absorbed a terrific beating, a thrashing which would have discouraged any proud champion or any of your favorite blood and guts folk heroes. The two valiant champions never faltered. With Castillo bleeding profusely from a cut above his right eye and Corrales’ left eye nearly closed, both landed murderous and sharp punches to each other’s head and body until one was saved from the back and forth onslaught.
Toward the later rounds, the wear finally appeared to take its toll on the Sacramento native. During the 10th frame, arguably the most dramatic in ring history, Castillo, fully charged and sensing Corrales’ unraveling landed a flush left hook as Corrales was leaning toward him. The blow dropped the lanky Corrales on his back and sent his mouthpiece out of what you would think would be a hurting jaw. As he has done after all of his knockdowns, the resilient Corrales made it to his feet but was dropped soon afterwards by another left hook, a punch that has always given him problems.
Corrales, trying to manage referee Tony Weeks’ count as properly as possible, stood upright at the count of nine. Whether it was intentional or not, Corrales who removed his mouthpiece on his own cognizance, dropped the mouthpiece on the mat, allowing more time for him to recuperate. Weeks correctly deducted a point from Corrales, but the brief delay was worth every second. With the experience and outstanding finishing ability of Castillo, who entered the bout with an impressive record of 54-6-1 with 46 stops, the end for Corrales, who was near the brink of destruction, seemed imminent. But little did viewers realize, Castillo was somewhat of a wounded duck himself.
As Joe Goosen placed the mouthpiece into Corrales’ mouth, he told his desperate charge that he “better fight him on the inside now!” Corrales met his determined foe in ring center, poised for what many thought was soon to be a bleak fate when suddenly, Corrales’ powerful left hook crashed into Castillo’s hardened skull. Corrales, himself an outstanding finisher and full of self-belief, began unloading power punch after power punch. Castillo, dazed and confused continued to punch with his taller opponent until three more power shots, a left hook, right hand-left hook combo to the jaw turned Castillo into a defenseless heap. The ever brave Castillo who doesn’t know how to fall down instinctively remained standing only limp and Weeks saved the plunging fighter from his stubborn gallantry and from absorbing another murderous shot.
It was another story book finish, one that you could only dream about or see in Hollywood. Only Corrales could have envisioned this flip-flop ending as anyone who has seen the capacity of human punishment couldn’t have foreseen such a remote comeback. Last night’s valor displayed by Corrales proved that he is capable of withstanding more punishment than any of us imagined he could absorb. Interestingly, Castillo, who doesn’t know what canvas tastes like, shares the same gumption that only the heroic Ward, Gatti, Basilio, Morales and Corrales possess.
As mentioned earlier, Corrales not only cemented his claim as the world’s best 135-pounder, he may have boosted his stature as the sport’s most exciting boxer, if not one of the most courageous. Corrales’ impressive resume shows that he was stopped twice in his 42-bout career. On both occasions he was saved by the referee’s discretion, which he thoroughly disagreed with. Usually, when a one-sided fight is stopped and the loser claims that he could have continued or even pulled out an unlikely victory, their claims usually fall on deaf ears. I guess we can acknowledge that Corrales really believes he could have won the two fights he was stopped. After what I saw last night, I believe he could have at least finished his fight with Floyd Mayweather, a bout which he was floored five times and finished or even pulled out a victory over Joel Casamayor, who stopped him on cuts two years ago.
So, thanks Erik and Manny, for that nice appetizer back in March. But right now, I’d love seconds and thirds of Corrales-Castillo with fava beans and a nice bottle of chianti.
Replies: 3 Comments on this article
I agree with both comments. The funny thing is, there were plenty of writers present at the event since the BWAA annual ceremony was held in Vegas the previous night. We were denied a credential despite inquiring about it over a month ago. I'd imagine this will be a hot topic on Fridays ESPN show. Is there one by the way?What's also sad is the amount of people who didn't tune into this one. It's a shame, though interest in boxing is at an all time low, I don't think there have been better bouts since the beginning of the millenium. We've had two trilogies between Morales and Barrera and Ward and Gatti, plus many more memorable slugfests. Hopefully, we get a trilogy, if not, at the very least a rematch between Corrales and Castillo.
Posted by JDVena@cyberboxingzone.com">JD @ 05/09/2005 04:14 PM EST
I could not agree more with the first comment. This was the best fight I can remember seeing in a long, long time. It is certainly one of the greatest fights in history. But I'm disgusted with the lack of media coverage from ESPN. This fight should had been the top story on saturday nights Sport Center. But not a word of it was mentioned. I guess there is politics in sports coverage too!
Posted by jobe @ 05/09/2005 10:31 AM EST
I have been a boxing fan for 31years or since I was 12. I have seen some horrific wars. But, I must say that for sheer excitement this fight was the best. The competiveness of both men can only be seen if one watched the fight. It is impossible to describe the heart and desire of these two great warriors without thinking back to the days when fighters left everything they had in the ring ala Arguello-Pryor I/Hagler-Hearns. The courage that these two showed should be a lesson to anyone who truly desires greatness. I am not saying that a boxer has to take unnecessary punishment to prove a point but, there comes a time in every person's life where you have to give caution to the wind and go for yours. This is what happened last night and like Corrales said, it was an honor to witness this.
Posted by keb0@msn.com">kevin @ 05/08/2005 11:14 PM EST
