By Dr. Peter Edwards (Photo by Paul Gallegos)
It appears that everyone is pushing for an immediate rematch between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, especially Corrales. An immediate third fight with Castillo would be a mistake.
In their first fight, Corrales got lucky, very lucky. After suffering two knockdowns in their initial meeting, Corrales was able to make a miracle comeback after he lost his mouthpiece twice and was given an abundance of time to recover.
The problem in the rematch was that Corrales believed his own hype. He let the entire "warrior" mentality that was bestowed upon him go to his head. As soon as the bell rang to start the fight, Corrales ran right up to Castillo and began to trade away at close range. The minute I saw Corrales choose the wrong strategy, I knew it was only a matter of time before Castillo closed the show.
What should of happened in the first fight, occurred in the rematch. Castillo won the bout with a convincing four round knockout. There are many who have made excuses for Corrales by citing Castillo's weight advantage as the deciding factor of the fight. The one person who was not making such excuses after the conclusion of the fight was Corrales. He simply said "he caught me with a good shot."
A case could be made that the rematch was rushed and Corrales, unlike Castillo, was not able to fully recover from the brutal first meeting. Is this a case of needing more time to recover or is Corrales suffering from a much bigger problem. Meldrick Taylor was never able to recover from the beating suffered at the hands of Julio Cesar Chavez. He was still competitive, but not even close to the same fighter that we saw prior to the Chavez meeting. Time will tell if the Corrales is suffering the same aftereffects from his meeting with Castillo or suffering the effects of a rushed return bout.
The weight advantage of Castillo played no role in Corrales' inability and/or reluctance to box his opponent instead of slugging. The rematch was not a toe to toe battle like the first fight. If you look at the rematch closely, Corrales was on the receiving end of a short lived beating. In only four rounds, Corrales was bleeding, his face was getting very swollen and he was continually getting drilled by power shots. Castillo was barely hit with anything of significance and his face was unmarked.
Unlike the first fight, Castillo was able to adapt by timing the punches of Corrales and countering with his hooks. Corrales on the other hand, did not display any of the boxing skills that won him the rematch with Joel Casamayor. He simply stood in front of Castillo and was waiting to be hit.
I just can't see the third fight being any different unless Corrales fights a perfectly timed boxing match as he did in his rematch with Joel Casamayor, but I don't think that he has it in him to repeat such a performance.
It all comes down to some very simple factors. Castillo is the stronger fighter and possesses the better chin. Castillo was usually stronger than most his opponents at lightweight. When Corrales moved up to 135 pounds, it marked the first time that Castillo would meet a fighter who could come close to his punching power. I emphasize the word "close" because it is not the same as hitting harder or hitting just as hard as the guy across the ring.
Personally I don't think Corrales should ever fight Castillo again. I think the style of Corrales matches up too well to Castillo and makes it a very difficult fight for him to win. There is still no guarantee that Castillo will even be able to make the lightweight limit.
There is one thing making Corrales hunt a third bout with Castillo and that is a fighter's pride. Sometimes it is better to walk away than let your pride affect your actions. Corrales is still the WBC and WBO lightweight champion, for the moment. He could make dozens of other big money bouts, there is no reason to seek another bout with Castillo.
The WBC has more or less tied Corrales' hands behind his back. It is a very unusual move for a sanctioning body to order an immediate rematch between two fighters, when one of those fighters was unable to make weight and as a result lost his chance to win the titles. Why on earth would the WBC demand Corrales to fight the same guy who lost his chance to win the belts on the scale?
Is it the big sanctioning fee they would receive from a third bout or favoritism towards the Mexican fighter by the Mexico based organization? A member of Castillo's camp was deliberately trying to tamper with the scale in order to deceive everyone into thinking that Castillo had made weight and his reward for all the controversy is another crack at the titles.
I feel Castillo won the fight fair and square, but I also believe that he should be the last guy that the WBC orders Corrales to fight or be stripped.
After suffering punishment in two consecutive fights, Corrales should move on and take it easy, not throw himself back into the fire. He has many years and fights ahead of him. The safety last road that Diego is taking could age his body quicker than a career consisting of 50 fights.
Corrales has to sit down and analize the situation with common sense and not motive himself to make the wrong decisions with his pride.