Castillo-Corrales - "What's All The Fuzz About?"

By Johnny Ortiz

Since the fight between WBO/WBC lightweight champion Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo was fought, I have read what seem to be countless boxing reports of the fight by countless boxing writers. They all seem to be in unison in what have they have to say, that Diego Corrales got screwed because Jose Luis Castillo missed making the lightweight limit by two ½ or three pounds depending on which report you read.

I would now like to throw my two cents in, my comments will be strictly my own; my overall observation of the oldest sport began to take fruit when I was a mere lad of nine, that’s when my oldest brother Phil took me to the old Main St.Gym.

I put on my first pair of gloves at that age, boxing totally consumed me, I lived to be a fighter…I ate, slept and dreamt of boxing. I learned my craft well under the watchful eye of the great, legendary old trainer Duke Hollaway; he trained my brother Phil who would later fight the greatest bantamweight champion ever, Manuel Ortiz, not once, but twice. Many, many years later with my fighting days well behind me and now as co-owner of the gym of my youth, I would become a trainer and a boxing manager.

With that said, I will begin.

First off, a champion defending his title has to make the required weight in order to defend his crown, if not, he can lose or be stripped of his belt or belts at the scale. Even if the champ blows it at the scales, they can still fight if both parties agree to it, in this case due to the fact that it was the challenger who could not make the required weight, the Corrales camp still chose to go ahead with the fight, which would now be billed as an "Extra Attraction Bout." In days gone by, these fights were billed as "over the weight fights." The way some writers have alluded to, you would have thought that Diego was David facing Goliath…it was only three pounds!

No one wants to give credence to the fact that since the fight, Jose Luis has been very adamant in revealing that he had injured his ribs two weeks prior to the fight; that the injury prevented him from sparring for those two weeks. That alone would have hurt him in making the weight. Jorge Arce, who destroyed Hussiem Hussiem in two rounds, backed up Castillo’s allegation that he had indeed suffered rib injuries. Being in boxing for as long as I have, I have seen it numerous times in the gym where a fighter is injured close to a big money fight, they have toiled long and hard, they decide to hide the injury in order to go ahead with the fight.

You run the risk of the injury being found out. Had the Corrales camp been informed of the injury, you would have seen Diego go for the injured rib cage right from the get-go. I have seen the struggle to make weight on different levels; the assumption that some say Castillo did it on purpose is laughable as it is ludicrous. No.1, no fighter trains hard for three months not to fight for a world title he signed for, in this case, the one Castillo lost in his previous bout with Corrales. The commission caught Castillo’s doctor or cornerman trying to manipulate the scale with his foot, hoping to aid Jose Luis in making weight. Jose Luis had no awareness of it.

Why would they attempt such a thing if Castillo were purposely trying to avoid making weight? Being the reigning champion going into a title defense always commands the bigger share of the purse. Diego was guaranteed 2 million dollars while Castillo was to earn 1.2 million, does it make sense that not only would Jose Luis not be fighting for the WBO/WBC belts, but would also be fined 120,000 dollars, half of that going to Corrales? Had Castillo not had an injury and had made the weight, by knocking out Corrales he would be the one earning the lion’s share in the rubber match, but because the belts were not at stake due to the weight infraction, Diego as the champion, will again command the bigger cut of the pie.

Does it now sound as if Jose Luis didn’t want to make weight? Winning in the manner Castillo did, the three pounds he was over at the weigh-in would not have made a difference, given the fact that Diego had a two and a half pound weight advantage at the start of the fight…something no one seems to want to bring up. The timely left hook thrown by Jose Luis was on the money, it was the accumulation of the many left hooks and uppercuts Diego had been eating from the opening bell. They weakened Diego, leaving him susceptible to the one that finished him. One writer wrote that Castillo was probably stronger (three pounds?) for not having to make the 135-pound limit, that Diego did the work to get there and it probably cost him the fight.

I’m sorry, but Castillo did not take it easy during training, he worked just as hard as Corrales did. It’s what a fighter does. You would have to have been a fighter or trainer to know what I’m talking about. If a fighter is going through with a fight although he is concealing an injury, his training does not suffer, he has to make some adjustments, but he trains just as hard. Another writer wrote,

"Saturday night’s knockout bring up several thoughts, none of them good for Corrales or for boxing. The first was that a welterweight beats a lightweight most of the time. The question is why was a lightweight allowed to fight a welterweight in the first place? (weighing in at 138 put Castillo three pounds over the lightweight limit and two pounds under Super Lightweight) Why does the Nevada have an athletic commission if it does not enforce its rules and protect the fighters from the violent fraud (Fraud?) perpetrated on Corrales Saturday night?

It is not fraud when both camps agree to fight. Someone has to tell this guy that it wasn’t a welterweight fighting a lightweight, come fight time, Jose Luis Castillo did weigh in at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, but Diego Coralles went Jose Luis one better…he tipped the scales at 149½ putting him 4½ pounds away from being a jr. middleweight. After the weigh-in, Jose Luis put on 9 pounds, Diego gained 14½, he was the bigger guy when they first met in the center of the ring. It was more like a welterweight (Castillo) fighting a jr. middleweight. (Corrales) The fact of the matter is that they both trained hard. Both fighters were in tremendous shape for their first confrontation; they had to be in order to be able to withstand the brutal beating they both dished out. Going into the rematch and knowing what they had already been through, they were in the best physical shape possible. A fighter knows that the better shape he is in, the better it minimizes the chance he could be seriously or fatally hurt.

This isn’t a 9-5 job, in this line of work; the employee runs the risk of death. Let us not forget the recent Leavander Johnson tragedy or the gallant warriors that have gone before him. The writer should also be told that Diego Corrales showed his class when he said that Jose Luis won the fight with a clean shot, he never once mentioned the weight thing, so why should anyone else bring it up? If the beaten fighter has no complaints, why should anyone else have any? Was it because the fight ended so abruptly that it suddenly became fashionable to diminish Castillo’s achievement by beating the weight thing into the ground? I would also like to know is why it surprised anyone that the KO ended the fight? If not for the mouthpiece incidents in fight #1, wasn’t Castillo on his way to knocking out Corrales?

Jose Luis Castillo should be given the benefit of the doubt that he was truly injured leading up to the fight. I have yet to read any of the writers mentioning the 2½-pound weight advantage Diego Corrales enjoyed at fight time making him the bigger and stronger of the two. Nor have I read any of them giving Jose Luis any credit, when will they realize that Corrales was KO’d by a guy who was two pounds lighter in a non-title fight? I wrote in my last article that Diego could have an easier time in the fight if he used his height and reach advantages to stay outside, jabbing and throwing his huge right hand and big left hook whenever he spotted openings. Diego chose to fight inside and it cost him the fight…it is as simple as that!

By choosing to fight inside with the more compact and more polished inside fighter, Diego set himself up to feast on Castillo’s potent left hooks. Shouldn’t Diego have been taught to remember that it was Castillo’s left hooks that twice dumped him on the canvas in their previous fight? Diego also said later that he made a mistake by dropping his left hand, it’s the punch you don’t see that takes you out. I also wrote that the fighter who took the worst beating would be the loser, if you were able to read between the lines, I was thinking of Diego. The beatings he took in both fights will result in Diego never again being the same fighter, the third fight will end in the same manner, Diego’s only chance is to fight at a distance, but he won’t, the fighter in him will not allow him to, and it will again cost him dearly.

A trainer dreams of a 6’ lightweight who can punch like a mule with both hands, learning and using the huge physical and power advantages could have made Diego damn near unbeatable. You can make book that Jose Luis Castillo will make weight for the rematch if he is injury free. The final knockdown in Saturday’s fight was the tenth of Diego’s career, yet everyone seems to want to blame Jose Luis because he was three pounds overweight, get real, Diego was beaten by the better and lighter fighter.

And now I would like to emphasize my way of thinking. Considering myself somewhat of a boxing historian, I would like to point out that some of the great fighters of all time had interesting weight situations, these are but a few.

The incomparable Sugar Ray Robinson gave away 4½ pounds when he weighed in at 155½ pounds, when on 2-14-51 he fought and won the middleweight crown from champion Jake LaMotta who weighed the middleweight limit of 160 pounds. When he lost the title to Randy Turpin on 7-10-51, Sugar Ray came in at 154½ to Randy’s 158¼ pounds.

Ray outweighed Carmen Basilio in their first title fight 160 to Carmen’s 153½, even though he had a 6½ weight advantage, he lost the title.

In his greatest effort, he was thoroughly beating light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim when the 104 degree heat overcame him, suffering from the intense heat, Sugar Ray was forced to retire on his stool after the 13th round in a fight he was clearly winning. It would be recorded as the first and only stoppage of his career. The blistering heat in Yankee Stadium on 6-25-52 was so severe that referee Ruby Goldstein after being overcome by the heat was replaced by Ray Miller in the 10th round. The scoring at the end of the fight read: 10-3, 9-3-1, 7-3-3 all in favor of Sugar Ray Robinson. Ray weighed 157 ½; Maxim weighed 173 pounds…a 15½-pound weight disadvantage. Ray fought many fights giving away the weight advantage to the other guy. Ray fought 202 times, registering 102 KO’s.

Henry Armstrong, who along with Sugar Ray, may be arguably the two best pound for pound fighters ever, beat the great Beau Jack weighing 135½ to Jack’s 138½. When he lost in his welterweight title try against Fritzie Zivic, Homicide Hank weighed in at 140½ to Fritzie’s 145½. Henry held three different championships in three weight classes simultaneously, when he fought middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia on 1-3-40, he fought Garcia to a draw. Had he won, he would have held four titles simultaneously.

It’s interesting that during my tenure at the Main St. Gym, all of the old-timers who still hung around the gym, all of them to a man claimed Henry Armstrong was robbed big-time in the Garcia fight. Henry weighed 142 pounds for the title try; Ceferino came in at 153½. The champion outweighed Henry by 11½ pounds. In a fight that many are not aware of, Henry fought and lost to Sugar Ray Robinson on 8-27-43, Armstrong weighed 140, Ray clocked in at 145 pounds. In his last fight, Henry lost to Chester Slider, the weights were: Armstrong 141, Slider 147. Henry Armstrong fought 182 times, winning 151, 100 by KO. He fought over 40 fights giving away weight.

One of the top three lightweight champions in my estimation, Ike Williams, fought and beat Beau Jack, Ike weighed 142 to Beau Jack’s 146 pounds. On 1-20-50, Ike stopped former great lightweight champion Johnny Bratton on a TKO in the 8th round. Ike weighed 143 to Bratton’s 146. When Ike fought and beat former lightweight champion Sammy Angott...Ike came in at 134½, Sammy weighed 140 ½. Ike Williams fought 125 times…he scored 60 knockouts.

"The Toy Bulldog" Mickey Walker held both the welterweight and middleweight titles, on 4-29-29, Mickey fought and beat former light heavyweight champion King Levinsky. The Bulldog hit the scales at 172 pounds, King weighed in at 195 pounds. In one of the all-time great fistic achievements, Mickey challenged heavyweight champion Jack Sharkey. After fifteen hard fought rounds, Mickey managed to earn a draw. The Mick weighed 169½ for the fight; Sharkey tipped the scales at 198½ pounds. He beat a tough heavyweight in Johnny Risko; Mickey weighed 166 pounds, Risko 193½. On 9-26-32, Mickey took on heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, Max weighed 188 pounds to Mickey’s 174. Max stopped Mickey in the 8th round. Mickey Walker fought 163 times, winning 58 by KO.

I would be amiss if I left out four historical heavyweight title fights.

On October 16, 1909, going into the 12th round, "The Michigan Assassin" Stanley Ketchell landed a crushing right hand behind the ear of champion Jack Johnson, Jack rolled to the floor and arose slowly. He leaped toward Ketchell landing a terrific blow on Stanley’s jaw; Jack caught him again with a right hand on his way down. Jack Johnson scored a KO in a fight that was even going into the fatal round. Jackson: 205½ -- Ketchell: 170 ¼. An interesting side note is that two of Ketchell’s front teeth were knocked out from the force of the KO punch; Stanley’s manager Willie Britt had them made into a pair of dice.

When Jack Johnson won the heavyweight crown on 12-26-1908 from champion Tommy Burns who stood 5’7, the police in the 14th round stopped the close fight. The referee awarded the fight and title to Johnson. Johnson: 192 – Burns: 168. On the 4th of July 1910, Johnson fought James J. Jeffries who came out of retirement after losing 100 pounds; he stopped Jeffries in the 15th round of a scheduled 45 round fight. Johnson: 208 -- Jeffries: 227

On 7-4-1919, "The Manassa Mauler" Jack Dempsey won the heavyweight title from "The Pottawatomie Giant" Jess Willard who stood 6’6½ to Dempsey’s 6’1. Jack brutally KO’d Willard to win the coveted heavyweight crown. Willard: 245

Dempsey: 187.

That’s it, a nostalgic trip back into time, it was just to point out what a ridiculous thing was made out of a three pound weight advantage. And in a non-title fight no less.

These are just a few great champions who often gave away weight, believe me, there are quite a few others who did the same, they are just too numerous to mention.

Going back into the fight history of some of the all-time greats of yesteryear was also to illustrate a time when fighters were fighters. Giving away four, ten or twenty pounds, often even more, meant nothing to these past legends. Can you imagine someone suggesting to any of these fearless pugs that they had better not fight a guy who may be three pounds heavier? They would have been slapped for such an idiotic statement.

It is the fault of neither Diego Corrales nor Jose Luis Castillo, they are in fact…awesome warriors; it’s the people around the loser making all of the noise. I do not blame what a lot of today’s writers have to say, most of them are only aware of modern day fighting. There are certain excellent fight scribes who do very admirable work; they have what I call "the feel." The others will learn in time that boxing is boxing whatever era it was fought in. To reiterate, there was a time when over the weight fights were very common. Fighters don’t change, the people they do business with do. I believe the big money offered today has a great deal to with it.

Reading about the fight just bothered me to see Castillo catching so much flack over something that was totally out of his control. With the argument I presented on his behalf, people should lighten up on Jose Luis, he’s a fighter, he does what he does best…he fights! I hope after reading this you will understand where I am coming from…fair is fair, it is and always will be a two way street. They both have won a fight, they will fight again although I would like to see Diego consider maybe retiring, he does not need another beating, another fight taking vicious shots to the head are not worth the money, he has been in too many tough fights, he has made good money from his recent fights. Jose Luis only has a certain amount of fights left in him, I think he will hang them up when he thinks the time is right. With the money that will be thrown around for a rubber match, I do not think that certain people will have Diego Corrales’ best interest at heart.

No sooner than the kid got knocked out, they were screaming for a rematch. They should have been a little more concerned over his well being. I can understand Diego wanting the rematch; his pride had been hurt, with others…the money sign went up. Jose Luis made a side bet of $100,000 with Diego’s promoter, Gary Shaw, that is how confident Castillo was of finishing the job he started in their last fight. If Diego were my kid, I would tell him to kick back and enjoy the rest of his life. One of the reasons I got out of that part of boxing when I left the Main St. Gym was due to the ugliness of the game, I never really knew what went on behind the boxing scene until I became part owner of the most famous fight gym in the world. In the beginning, I thought I could make a difference, it didn’t take me long to realize exactly what I was dealing with, men I looked up to as a young kid turned out to be guys looking to make a buck, putting their boys in over their heads without blinking an eye.

WORLD BOXING HALL OF FAME

At our recent World Boxing Hall of Fame Board of Directors meeting this past Wednesday evening, we chose Corrales-Castillo as our Fight of the Year, the Fighter of the Year award will be presented to Jose Luis Castillo. It is only fitting that Diego, being our last year’s recipient; the award should go to his conqueror Jose Luis, especially leading into Castillo-Corrales III. Our October 22, 2005 26th Annual Banquet of Champions Dinner and Induction ceremony will be held at the Crown Plaza Commerce Casino in Commerce, CA. It is right around the corner. There are still tickets left for this unforgettable evening of champions. Our memorabilia and collectables show begins at 10:AM to 4:PM. For more information, ticket and table reservations call: (951) 782-9688 (909) 239-3541 (323) 728-9384. You can also go to our WBHF website: www.wbhf.org

UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND…PEACE AND GOD BLESS!

Johnny Ortiz is a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame Board of Directors and a former co-owner of the world famous, legendary Main St. Gym