by David P. Greisman
In the eyes of Jose Luis Castillo, Rolando Reyes was simultaneously a major obstacle and a minor nuisance, an opponent in the way of Castillo’s rubber match with lightweight champion Diego Corrales.
On one hand, Reyes’ experience paled in comparison with that of Castillo, the latter of whom had beaten Corrales, Julio Diaz, Joel Casamayor and Juan Lazcano, top-notch contenders, a murderer’s row that consisted solely of his opponents since June 2004. There were also other names on Castillo’s ledger dating backward in his career that surpassed any foe that Reyes had ever laced the gloves up against.
In contrast, Reyes’ biggest win was a knockout of Courtney Burton last summer, and the feat barely stood out. After all, Burton had been kayoed by Diaz and Ebo Elder in the fights preceding, and stopped by Lazcano four months after Reyes did the same. Burton’s track record had him tasting so much canvas that he had become as much a connoisseur of the mat as Paul Giamatti’s Miles was of wine in the movie Sideways. Never mind that Burton’s lone win in his past five appearances was an absolutely terrible gift decision over Emanuel Augustus.
Nonetheless, Castillo had to take Reyes seriously in order to prevent another in a recent streak of upsets involving late replacements and tune-up situations. Last August, Rocky Juarez dropped a decision to Humberto Soto, who had stepped in when featherweight titlist Injin Chi dropped out with an injury. The next month, Zahir Raheem embarrassed Erik Morales during a tune-up fight for January’s rematch between “El Terrible” and Manny Pacquiao. And in January, lightly regarded Carlos Baldomir shocked Zab Judah, diminishing Judah’s payday for his April pay-per-view against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The February card was originally slated for Corrales-Castillo III, but when Corrales suffered a rib injury in training camp, the bout was delayed. Castillo, though, is always game for a fight, and a hungry upstart like Reyes could provide a good challenge while seemingly bringing little danger, as long as Castillo was his usual focused, formidable self.
It was a great opportunity for Reyes to make a name for himself, to launch his career by piggybacking on Castillo’s name. If Castillo blew Reyes out, few would think anything of it, but if Reyes stood his ground and went for the upset, he would be praised for his bravery and rewarded for his efforts.
Unfortunately, Reyes went the way of Robbie Peden against Marco Antonio Barrera, and of Monte Barrett against Hasim Rahman, settling into a passive mode, never shifting into a second gear, never letting his hands go, and allowing the bigger name, the hungrier fighter, to move one step closer to his destination.
Reyes was content to last twelve rounds with the great Jose Luis Castillo, a moral victory that seemed, in the style of the hilarious Mike Myers “Coffee Talk with Linda Richman” sketches on Saturday Night Live, to be neither moral nor a victory.
It was similar to when a pugilist’s old sparring partner is signed to face his former employer, and after the bell rings, settles into the role he is used to, taking shots instead of taking the lead.
The crowd booed, and although Castillo blamed the dreariness of the bout on the reluctance of Reyes, part of the fault also lies in the caution that Castillo showed, half understandable, half underplayed.
Another Castillo of no relation, the junior bantamweight champion Martin, recently saw a unification bout with Fernando Montiel pushed back due to cuts suffered in Castillo’s January title defense against Alexander Munoz. The concern for Jose Luis Castillo against Rolando Reyes was that an injury could be inflicted, delaying once more the third Corrales fight, and as such the talk was that Castillo would take Reyes out early, minimizing the amount of time for an accident to happen.
Yet Castillo did not follow through with his promise for an early night, opting to box with restraint for a majority of the 36 minutes, selecting a dedicated body attack to slow down Reyes’ movement, and pacing himself to last the distance. He did exactly enough for an easy decision win, while Reyes decided that he did not want to win. With time remaining in the twelfth round, Reyes offered to touch gloves in the middle of the stanza, a manner of hero worship. Castillo, meanwhile, was relaxed and joking in his corner between rounds, unconcerned and unchallenged.
Castillo will move on to satisfy viewers with Corrales as his dance partner, a card now seemingly scheduled for June. Reyes, though, will move on out, out of the public eye and out of the contention that he could have sent himself into.
Reyes whiffed at the opportunity, satisfied with just being in the ring and being on television.
He became little but a tune-up, and in the process, the viewers tuned out.
The 10 Count
1. After their excellent fight on the Castillo-Reyes undercard, I would love to see both Jose Armando Santa Cruz and Edner Cherry again, against other lightweights, and perhaps in a rematch of one of the better fights this year. Cherry, though, who weighed in at 131.75 pounds and often gets on the scales under the lightweight limit, may want to consider a temporary move to junior lightweight or manage his poundage better. While he looked decent, Cherry was not as busy as usual, which may be a product of overtraining.
2. I’m sold, so far, on Andre Berto as a prospect, and would like to see him again. On a side note, it was quite smart of both Berto and Sechew Powell, both of whom appeared on Friday’s ShoBox card in Washington state, to wear Seattle Seahawks jerseys into the ring. Berto is from Florida and Powell from New York, but with the Seattle football team in the Super Bowl, the jerseys were an intelligent way to be temporarily adopted as hometown fighters.
3. A sort of visual irony on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, when, during the opening bout between Mary Jo Sanders and Iva Weston, one could see the name of the sponsor on the corner pads, “Just For Men.” Sanders, though, showed that the sweet science is not just for men, demolishing Weston with good combinations and vicious body shots. As Joe Tessitore pointed out, Sanders has sparred with male fighters like Hector Camacho Jr. and Bronco McKart. If she keeps improving and continues to get television dates, Sanders has the potential to bring legitimacy to women’s boxing.
4. The Friday Night Fights card came from Detroit, and with the Super Bowl dominating the city, celebrities were in attendance at the venue, including New England Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest and former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. The question, though, is whether or not the officiating crew was also at the International Conference Center, because they would have been necessary in the headline bout.
While apparently cruising to a points victory over junior lightweight Antonio Davis, Koba Gogoladze had three separate deductions for holding, and was close to being disqualified. Gogoladze pulled out a win that was much closer than necessary, and one question remains: how many penalty yards would the zebras have given for all of that holding?
5. Actual press release headline: “Punxsutawney Phil Predicts Lacy Victory.”
6. Jeff Lacy is getting publicity – beyond prognosticating groundhogs – for his March unification bout with Joe Calzaghe, thanks to an appearance in a Super Bowl commercial for the ESPN Mobile cellular phones. It was just a brief cameo, and Lacy was unrecognizable unless you were looking for him, but it’s still pretty cool, although it’s not on the level of lanky basketball player Gheorghe Muresan’s spots in the Sportscenter commercials from the nineties.
7. Thomas Hearns, who I have a bad habit of mistakenly referring to as Ronald (the name of his fighter son) continued his career by knocking out Shannon Landberg. Hearns is now 47 years old, two bouts into his latest comeback after a five-year retirement, and it is frightening that he allows himself more chances to take unnecessary damage. He is like two heavyweights that fought while old: Larry Holmes, who took on Oliver McCall at 46 and was still stepping between the ropes at 53; and Evander Holyfield, who at 43 still believes, wrongly, that he can become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
If Hearns misses the public eye, he should follow the paths of Holmes and Holyfield, but go on a reality show as opposed to into the ring. Holmes was a contestant on VH1’s “But Can They Sing?” while Holyfield performed on “Dancing With the Stars.” Perhaps Hearns should seek a spot on the next season of “The Surreal Life.”
8. Karyn Bryant, who joined the Showtime announce team as the network’s newest reporter and correspondent, has work to do to improve. While she is not replacing Jim Gray, she did perform the post-fight interviews on Saturday’s broadcast, and she needs to fine-tune the questions she asks. Her query to Jose Luis Castillo about when he would enter camp to prepare for Diego Corrales seemed momentarily unimportant, as I would have pressed Castillo about why he didn’t go for the knockout against Rolando Reyes. Still, she brings to the table both the right attitude and good experience in journalism, and she will definitely not be gimmicky eye candy like Lisa Guerrero on Monday Night Football.
9. David Tua and Shannon Briggs were supposedly signed to meet in April. Tua drops out. Samuel Peter calls out Briggs, Briggs calls out Peter, press releases upon press releases. Tony Thompson calls out Peter. Words are exchanged between Briggs and Main Events about Calvin Brock.
Just one question: when was the last time any of these five beat a fighter of consequence? Brock and Peter are the only two with quality performances against quality opponents of late, but it appears that today’s heavyweights are more adept at getting in print via their words than at doing the same with their actions.
10. Super Bowl results: This year, Pittsburgh Steelers. Next year, Washington Redskins, I hope.
