by David P. Greisman
Long before Ricky Hatton tossed aside the headgear in favor of the professional ranks, Jose Luis Castillo was throwing down in the rings of Mexico, throwing caution to the wind and, win or lose, almost never going the distance.
While Hatton worked through his developmental stages, taking on limited but increasingly difficult competition, Castillo was working toward his lengthy run as one of the lightweight elite.
From 1996 to 2000, Castillo went to camp with the great Julio Cesar Chavez, training as one of the future Hall of Famer’s main sparring partners. And as the 20th Century wrapped up, Castillo began the next phase in his career with a win and a draw against Stevie Johnston.
The Johnston victory gave Castillo the World Boxing Council lightweight title – a belt that Chavez had held a dozen years earlier. And though Chavez fought on long after his best days were over, Castillo’s ascension marked a passing of the torch, the student becoming the master.
Castillo must have weathered countless left hooks to the liver in those sparring sessions, Chavez’ trademark manner of simultaneously sucking the air and the hope out of his opponents. It was trial by fire, Castillo running the gauntlet to see if he had what it took to hold his own with the elite.
It was the same punch that just might have let Castillo know that his time at the top is over.
With a minute remaining in the fourth round of Saturday’s main event at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Castillo launched a left hook at the head of junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton. Hatton responded with a left hook of his own that bounced off of Castillo’s shoulder, but the Mancunian Mauler followed with another that veered around Castillo’s elbow and into his body.
Castillo, whose face immediately soured, turned away, favoring his right side and taking a knee by the ropes. His body frozen, his breath stolen, Castillo let his mouthpiece protrude as referee Joe Cortez counted to 10. Hatton’s looping left, fittingly, had given Castillo the hook.
Castillo had spent five years draining his body to the lightweight limit, five years of dehydration and malnutrition that, to everybody’s benefit, culminated in the amazing May 2005 war with Diego Corrales. Castillo never made 135 again.
He was overweight for the rematch, above-the-limit for a bout with Rolando Reyes, overweight for the rubber match with Corrales. That latter fight, in the span of a couple hours, went from anticipated to canceled, disappointing fans and forcing the Nevada State Athletic Commission to suspend Castillo for the remainder of the year.
Castillo had endangered his health but had barely cracked 140. Yet he returned in January as a junior welterweight, seemingly rejuvenated and ready for action. Although he could only depart with a split decision against prospect Herman Ngoudjo, many felt that Hatton-Castillo would be an entertaining war between two gritty, valiant combatants.
Not so.
Hatton came out full of energy, exercising the bruising hold-and-hit technique that had stifled Kostya Tszyu two years earlier and had forced the longtime 140-pound king to retire on his throne. Out-muscled and out-hustled, Castillo was unable to avoid the grappling that limited his offense on the inside.
Until round three.
Over the first two stanzas, Castillo had landed just 18 of 67 power punches, 20 fewer than Hatton. The third heat looked to bring more of the same, but Castillo dug down and found a way to fight in the trenches, with hooks to Hatton’s head, uppercuts to his chin and shots to his body that led to two Cortez warnings for low blows.
In January, Juan Urango had hurt Hatton by digging into his stomach. Castillo’s best hope was to attempt the same. But a left hook veered below the beltline halfway into the fourth, and Cortez was forced to deduct a point. The scorecards never came into play; Hatton ended the fight just thirty seconds later.
For Castillo, the move to 140 was necessary if not belated. Hatton, though, was too strong for a fighter slowed and weakened by countless wars and years of making weight. For so long, it had been Castillo that had shown that his opponents didn’t belong on the same stage as he. This time, it was Castillo being sent off into the wings.
Chavez, who helped make the liver shot famous, had passed the torch to Castillo. Hatton, with his own left hook, may have snuffed out Castillo’s flame.
The 10 Count
1. Unlike January’s World Championship Boxing doubleheader, which featured Hatton-Urango and Castillo-Ngoudjo, Nevada’s rule calling for the use of 10-ounce gloves from lightweight on up fortunately had little effect on Saturday’s action.
On that January night, those extra two ounces appeared to influence the proceedings as the fighters adjusted to the extra weight and physically bigger gloves typically reserved for heavier fighters. Between the gloves, Hatton’s holding and Castillo’s less-than-stellar performance, the card did little to build momentum for this past weekend’s showdown.
For the moment, it seems as if the extra cushioning means that knockouts will become less frequent in the three divisions that no longer use 8-ounce gloves in Nevada – lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight. But even if the force behind the punches is lessened, headshots will still rattle brains, which could still lead to the serious injuries and deaths that apparently necessitated the rule change in the first place.
2. Max Kellerman’s post-fight interview with Hatton never touched on the idea of possible future opponents for the junior welterweight champion – and yes, Hatton is both the lineal and Ring Magazine champion, despite Michael Buffer’s announcing the Mancunian as “former undisputed light welterweight world champion” and despite all of the references to something called the IBO.
The 140-pound weight class is noticeably devoid of the depth it contained just a couple years ago – two of the four alphabet titlists are essentially anonymous on the American side of the pond, while Ricardo Torres and Paulie Malignaggi still need to prove themselves as top contenders. Unless Hatton decides to once again attempt the jump to welterweight, his people should work on convincing Juan Diaz to temporarily leave the lightweights behind.
3. On the non-televised undercard, Hatton’s younger brother Matthew won a unanimous decision over journeyman measuring stick Edwin Vazquez.
Matthew Hatton, who currently campaigns at welterweight, has compiled a record of 31-3-1 (12) against a nondescript ensemble of opponents. And although he gets to ride the coattails of his older sibling, his bout on Saturday could have had serious repercussions on the main event.
The brothers Hatton share trainers and cornermen, and Matthew’s fight coming just prior to Ricky’s reportedly left the latter rushing to get prepared and warmed up for his bout with Castillo.
In a way, Ricky can be thankful that being the sole fight on an HBO broadcast meant plenty of lead-in time for documentary features and talking heads.
4. Boxers Behaving Badly: Heavyweight prospect Travis Kauffman pleaded guilty last week to raping a 12-year-old girl in January 2005, according to Pennsylvania’s Reading Eagle.
Kauffman, whose sentencing is scheduled for September, faces 5 to 10 years in prison for the rape charge. He will return to court in August, though, to face allegations that he sold marijuana to undercover police officers on three separate occasions in March 2004.
Kauffman turned pro in January 2006, compiling a 10-0 record with 7 victories coming by way of knockout. Kauffman’s lawyer told the Eagle that his client would continue to box until his sentencing.
5. Former heavyweight titlist Ray Mercer remains winless in combat outside of the Sweet Science after losing via submission to cult street fighter Kimbo Slice at about 70 seconds into the first round.
Mercer seemed unprepared for a bout waged under mixed martial arts rules, while Slice – who trained under Bas Rutten – broke out Muay Thai knees, a double-leg takedown and the guillotine choke that forced Mercer to tap out.
Mercer had fought twice in K-1 kickboxing competition, losing via unanimous decision in 2004 against Akio “Musashi” Mori and, in 2005, by knockout against Remy Bonjasky.
6. Peter Manfredo Jr. continued his confidence-building comeback with a unanimous decision over David Banks on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights, Manfredo’s second appearance since his controversial April stoppage loss to super middleweight titlist Joe Calzaghe.
Since appearing on the first season of “The Contender,” Manfredo has, more than any of his fellow castmates, sought to, well, contend. Manfredo has fought six times in the two years since the show concluded, while Sergio Mora and Alfonso Gomez have appeared just three and four times, respectively.
Mora is set to face Kassim Ouma on the undercard of September’s Juan Manuel Marquez-Jorge Barrios pay-per-view, and Gomez will challenge Arturo Gatti on July’s welterweight tripleheader. But those bouts will only serve to show whether Mora and Gomez can move beyond the prospect level; Manfredo will reportedly meet later in the year with Allan Green, a fight that could move “The Pride of Providence” closer to another title shot.
7. As for this week’s Wednesday Night Fights, I’m looking forward to the main event – if only for the possibility that some brilliant headline writer will channel R&B singer Mark Morrison and use “Return of the (Yusef) Mack.”
8. With Sultan Ibragimov now holding a piece of the heavyweight pie, forgotten surname sharer Timur took the first step toward getting back into the mix by outpointing lower-tier fighter Timo Hoffman.
After Timur’s aesthetically displeasing losses to Calvin Brock and Tony Thompson, it was revealed that, contrary to previous claims, Sultan and Timur were not cousins. But with Timur’s propensity toward clinching, it wouldn’t surprise me if he and John Ruiz were related.
9. Speaking of Ruiz, a press release went out last week claiming that the former two-time World Boxing Association beltholder “has the best chance of bringing a world title belt back to America.”
“I’m waving my white flag to the public and reporters to let them know this is a new beginning for me,” Ruiz said. “I hope they join me in my rise to bring home the belt.”
I’ll believe this so-called “new beginning” when I see it. Until then, couldn’t “The Quiet Man” have, oh, I don’t know, stayed quiet?
10. Manny Pacquiao is hoping to someday become a lawyer, according to an article by BoxingScene’s Ronnie Nathanielsz. His first lesson will detail how best to advise one’s client to sign two contracts.
David P. Greisman’s weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com