By Sammy Rozenberg
When Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales step in the ring this coming Saturday, pride and bragging rights will be on the lines. After waging war in what is considered one of the best action packed fights of all time, the two combatants are ready, able and willing to do it once more.
One thing is for certain in the rematch, there will be plenty of pain dished out by both fighters and the fight is likely not going to go the distance.
The maneuvering behind the fight makes the entire event even more interesting. Win or lose for Castillo, Top Rank is looking to make some big fights from the aftermath. Miguel Cotto, the undefeated junior welterweight prospect is reportedly in the wings as a possible opponent for the winner.
Cotto is shaping up to be the Arturo Gatti of the new millennium. The kid has the skills, he has the heart and stamina, but his jaw is not as strong as the other three characteristics. A bout with Cotto against either man would be a potential fight of the year candidate.
This is the kind of fight where some people may root for Castillo, just to have a third fight happen. The first fight was brutal at times to watch, fought at a monstrous pace and rarely had a moment where either fighter took a break. I was humbled by what I saw take place in the fight.
The boxing fan gets dumped on so much, more so than fans of other sports. This fight is almost like an apology proposal to every fan who bought one of the many nauseating pay-per-views this year. After watching the pay-per-view main event between Hasim Rahman and Monte Barrett, I realized that fights like that are the reason the sport of boxing is losing fans. This weekend's card is the reason the rest of boxing public stays. Like a patient contender, if we wait around long enough, eventually we receive our reward.
This fight is more than a reward, it's lotto ticket disguised as two fighters who are willing to die in the ring to win. The two fighters are very civil towards eachother and rarely shows any harsh feeling towards the other, but deep down they exist.
To this day, Jose Luis Castillo is convinced that one more solid punch would of won him the fight. He blames the referee for calling a halt to the action after Corrales took out his mouthpiece upon hitting the deck for the second time in the tenth round. At the very least, Castillo feels that referee Tony Weeks should have disqualified Corrales. All of that anger and frustration of being so close to victory and having it slip through his fingers is going to explode in the rematch.
Corrales claims that his head was clear after the second knockdown and he only took out his mouthpiece the second time to catch his breath. He wants to prove to the public, but more so to Castillo, that the first fight was not a fluke.
Both men have something to prove. It's going to be very hard to copy the drama of the first fight but that won't stop either man from trying as hard as they can to make their rematch live up to the reputation of the first encounter. They both claim that they will go in there with the same gameplan as the first fight, something I doubt very much.
My gut tells me that the first couple of rounds will play out like Diego's rematch with Joel Casamayor. Corrales will use his physical advantages to box Castillo from the outside. Don't get me wrong, Chico is a drama fighter. At some point his chin will be tapped and a fight will inevitably break out.
Castillo is going to be much busier with his body attack. He wants to slow Corrales down in the fight and breaking down the body is his specialty. Remember, the drawback to targeting the body is the fact that you leave yourself open for counters to the head. Once Corrales connects with that first hard shot, the machismo of Castillo will be unable to resist the urge to slug.
We have to embrace a fight like this and enjoy it for however long it lasts. These type of fights do not come around very often. These days you have a better chance of making Michael Moore vote for George Bush, than watching a pay-per-view fight that lives up to the hype. This is our celebration, our reward for supporting the sport. We deserve it and it appears that all of the big wigs behind the scenes agree.
