Round 1
05-23-2005, 08:57 PM
May 23, 2005
By David Greene
In a rare move, executives from Showtime recently held a media reception at the Palm Restaurant on 50th Street in Manhattan, to honor WBC/WBO lightweight champion Diego "Chico" Corrales' sensational performance against the then-WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo, promoter Gary Shaw said he spoke to Corrales in the dressing room and told him, "That one punch will have changed your life." After coming back from two knockdowns in the round, Corrales battered Castillo on the ropes when referee Tony Weeks stepped in.
Shaw said that no discussions have been made on Corrales' next match, but continued, "We don't know if we're going to go to stay at thirty-five, or if we are going to forty. Maybe we would go to thirty-three if (Erik) Morales would come up a little," and added 133 would be "no problem," for Corrales.
Ranking the Corrales/Castillo fight among some of the greatest fights of the last forty-years, resident Showtime boxing historian Steve "Faraway" Farhood, summed it up, "If there is a better fight this year, than we saw in Las Vegas, then I'd like to be there."
In paying tribute to the 27-year-old Corrales, Ken Hershman, the senior Vice President of Showtime, said of the fight, "It was, in my mind, not only probably the best boxing match I'll ever get the privilege of witnessing, it was really one of the most remarkable sports events," ever.
Hershman then presented Corrales with the color version of the full-page ad Showtime ran after the fight that proclaimed, "A Fight For The Ages." Hershman also presented Corrales with a fancy watch.
After thanking everyone including Castillo, Corrales added simply, "I don't think I did anything really, really special. I went out and did my job, it wound up being a great, great fight, but it took two of us to make the fight what it was."
By David Greene
In a rare move, executives from Showtime recently held a media reception at the Palm Restaurant on 50th Street in Manhattan, to honor WBC/WBO lightweight champion Diego "Chico" Corrales' sensational performance against the then-WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo, promoter Gary Shaw said he spoke to Corrales in the dressing room and told him, "That one punch will have changed your life." After coming back from two knockdowns in the round, Corrales battered Castillo on the ropes when referee Tony Weeks stepped in.
Shaw said that no discussions have been made on Corrales' next match, but continued, "We don't know if we're going to go to stay at thirty-five, or if we are going to forty. Maybe we would go to thirty-three if (Erik) Morales would come up a little," and added 133 would be "no problem," for Corrales.
Ranking the Corrales/Castillo fight among some of the greatest fights of the last forty-years, resident Showtime boxing historian Steve "Faraway" Farhood, summed it up, "If there is a better fight this year, than we saw in Las Vegas, then I'd like to be there."
In paying tribute to the 27-year-old Corrales, Ken Hershman, the senior Vice President of Showtime, said of the fight, "It was, in my mind, not only probably the best boxing match I'll ever get the privilege of witnessing, it was really one of the most remarkable sports events," ever.
Hershman then presented Corrales with the color version of the full-page ad Showtime ran after the fight that proclaimed, "A Fight For The Ages." Hershman also presented Corrales with a fancy watch.
After thanking everyone including Castillo, Corrales added simply, "I don't think I did anything really, really special. I went out and did my job, it wound up being a great, great fight, but it took two of us to make the fight what it was."