By Rick Reeno
The most intriguing story of the week is the December 4th match up between Jose Luis Castillo and Joel Casamayor. Most appear to have Castillo as a solid favorite, they feel that Jose will be too strong for Casamayor. There are others who give Joel much more of a chance then there appears to be to the watchful eye. Some have Casamayor as an undefeated fighter. How can he be undefeated you say? There were as many experts, probably more when I think about it, that had Casamayor winning his fight with Acelino Freitas then there were having Freitas winning the fight.
He got the win over Diego Corrales in their first meeting by stoppage. Some say the doctor made a very bad stoppage, others say she made a good call. The rematch appeared to some fans as a clear win for Corrales and to others it was a very close fight won by Casamayor. In the mind of Casamayor, he has never been beat. The events the solidly that idea in his head are Freitas ducking him for years and Corrales promising him a third meeting and opting to face Freitas instead. The fact that fighters are reluctant to face Casamayor, it gives him that machismo attitude that he carries with him to the ring. Castillo is looked upon as the only man to take Floyd Mayweather to the point of near defeat. Castillo's first fight with Floyd was so close and disputed that a rematch was held to settle the issue of who really won.
Many have Castillo within their top ten rankings of Boxing's "pound for pound best". Castillo is rough, some even call him dirty and he may meet his match with respect to roughhouse tactics. Casamayor is without question, one of the dirtiest fighters in the game. Joel will throw low blows, use his head, throw a back hand, throw elbows and use any other trick that he can get away with. Castillo has a lot more to lose in this fight then Joel. Should Jose be the first to knock Joel out, it would be a huge feather in his cap. Anything less then a knock out or a dominating performance may bring the status of Castillo down as a pound for pound fighter. Casamayor can bring his career back to the top with one win here. Should Casamayor pull off a win, he is once again recognized as a top fighter and will be in the running for more big fights.
Arturo Gatti is gearing up for a January fight with Jesse James Leija, who recently defeated rising prospect Panchito Bojado to rejuvenate his career and earn him a payday against Arturo. Unsure is Gatti will be stripped of his belt since the WBC had stated that numerous times that if Gatti doesn't face mandatory Floyd Mayweather next, he will be stripped. Our friend Rob from www.rabbitpunchboxing.com has been informed by Roger Mayweather that a deal is already in place for Floyd and Gatti to meet. Floyd has a January 22nd HBO date, more then likely against Gianluca Branco. Should both men win their bouts, they will meet in May, and it is almost a given that it will be on pay per view.
The word going around is that Vitali Klitschko is watching the Andrew Golota-John Ruiz bout with more interest then any of the other heavyweight fights on Don King's heavyweight pay per view card in November. Klitschko may look to face the winner of Golota-Ruiz in a unification bout, should he get by Danny Williams in December. Vitali's desire for a rematch with Lennox Lewis have been re-sparked after Lewis stated to the press that he felt Danny Williams will beat Klitschko.
Evander Holyfield will get one last shot at glory against Larry Donald on the Don King promoted November pay per view. Donald can sometimes be a very frustrating opponent, not sure how much Larry has left in the tank himself, but it may be enough to beat Evander. Should Evander win, it will open the door for a final title shot against stablemate and current WBO heavyweight champion, Lamon Brewster.
Last but not least, don't be surprised is Sharmba Mitchell makes a move to welterweight, should he defeat Kostya Tszyu. It is appearing very likely that Cory Spinks will make the move to middleweight in order to challenge Felix Trinidad for a huge pay per view battle. Because Spinks will leave the division wide open, it has started the interest rolling with some of the bigwigs for a potential grudge match between Zab Judah and Sharmba Mitchell at welterweight. These two guys have traded words for years, very surprising that they have never met eachother because neither man is known for ducking opponents. Kostya Tszyu has already stated on the record with BoxingScene that he is looking to go up to welterweight as well, although Tszyu giving Judah a rematch without any title being at stake is very unlikely.
