By Michael Katz
It was only five weeks that I was AWOL from the Net, but in that time, obviously Jose Luis Castillo got very old.
Hasim Rahman and Antonio Tarver didn't look so fresh, either.
There will be an attempt to catch up some later on what happened while I was so rudely interrupted, for now, Topic A must be Castillo and the man who knocked him out with a liver shot just below the arm pit, Ricky Hatton.
Losers are usually more interesting, even without rising livers, but for this fight we should obviously concentrate on the Brit Man who will undoubtedly play a starring role in boxing's near future. The 43-0 (31 knockouts) Hatton, the first man to drop Castillo, immediately replaces Miguel Cotto as the hot flavor of the month.
Hatton may be a tough brawler inside the ring, but outside, he is as smoooooth as Red Skelton's Guzzler's Gin (ask granddad about the comic's classic skit). He says all the right things. He dedicated the bout to Castillo's late rival, Diego Corrales. He told the Mexican fans “I'm sorry I put it to one of your heroes” and asked them, since he fights like one of them, to give him their allegiance. After the fight in loud and raucous - but not sold-out - Thomas & Mack Arena, he was asked who's next.
He said he was up for battling Mr. Guiness, probably more rounds than he gave Castillo, after all, it's a “real smoooooth drink.” He called out Floyd Mayweather Jr., whom he imitated on the way to the ring by wearing a large sombrero and his crew sporting the same kind of “I Love Mexico” shirts used by Pretty Boy on the way to his victory last month over Oscar de la Hoya. The flattery stopped as soon as the bout started - he's no Mayweather inside the ring. But the smoothie soon had the No. 1 pound-for-pounder quickly ready to end his “retirement” for the Mancunian candidate.
Hatton goaded the Pretty Boy rather neatly. He said it would be an “honor” to fight him, especially after a fourth-round stoppage of the man who gave Mayweather his two toughest fights, but added, “If I fought Mayweather, he'd run like Forrest Gump.”
He said that his brief time with Castillo produced more excitement than all of Mayweather's fights. And, lo and behold, Tiny Tim Smith, my linear successor at both the New York Times and New York Daily News (but my predecessor at boxingscene.com), reported Sunday that Leonard Ellerbe, who has all along maintained Floyd's retirement was “real,” was ready to sign contracts “now.”
Was it just something Hatton had said? Or was it, perhaps, the fact that in his dressing room he received a congratulatory call from an even bigger possible opponent, Oscar de la Hoya? Suddenly, the Mayweather clan wants Hatton to take out the pen.
He's too smooth for that. If there is a chance of facing de la Hoya next year, Hatton probably will go on a four-corner attack. The supply of opponents that could fill the MEN Arena in Manchester is endless. Already, fighters from Joel Casamayor to Vivian Harris are calling him out. The winner, however, will probably be Paulie Malignaggi. As one Mayweather camper told me, “Hatton wants to fight at Madison Square Garden.”
Malignaggi may not be an “elite” fighter, but he is a huge local attraction and New York is a hell of a better attraction than most American burgs for the wild Manchurian fans who follow Hatton.
Many of my colleagues seem bemused by the Manchester fans. Frankly, by the time the bell finally rang to start the highly anticipated match, I was rooting whole-heartedly for Castillo, though I was wise enough to not follow my instincts and take the almost 2-1 odds on him. Ian Darke, the genial British TV voice of boxing, cast a rather unflattering eye, or ear, on the full-throated chanters and muttered something about, “They're soccer fans.”
Okay, they were having a good time, singing along to the five-piece brass band that sat in their midst, singing the British national anthem and other ditties through the tedious Art Pelullo undercard (back in January, a couple of Web Sites ago, I asked the musical question, “Why can't the English learn how to sing, or better yet, why can't they learn NOT to sing).. Like I told Darke, “Jingoism is inappropriate to second-class powers.” He cleverly retorted that my country was dangerously on the path of becoming Bush league.
It seemed bush when the Brits booed the Mexican flag, the Mexican anthem and, finally, the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Sore losers. Mind you, I was the first kid on my block to get married in Birmingham, which makes my daughter half-English, and some of my best in-laws are Brummies.
(The worst though was when Pelullo's favorite ring announcer, preceding the great Michael Buffer, introduced the singers of the three national anthems. When it came to the singer from Sheffield, announcer Mike Williams said, “Here to sing the world's greatest national anthem….” Surprisingly, she did “God Save the Queen” and not the “Marseilles.”)
The question of the day was just how much of Hatton's dominant performance was Hatton and how much was the faded Castillo. I was not among the many who thought El Terrible would show up empty, excusing last January's struggles with Herman Ngoudjo as just another rust-ridden, unenthusiastic performance thrown in by good fighters who still somehow manage to win on off-nights. I thought his aggressive counter-punching style would give Hatton trouble.
Even at first, when Castillo seemed to be on rather shaky legs, stumbling around the ring, seemingly no match physically for the bigger and yet quicker Englishman, I did not jump to the obviously correct conclusion that he was terrible, not El Terrible. He was often a slow starter and I was willing to give him time to sort things out. In the third round, he seemed to be coming on - he would later say “the fight was getting more interesting” - landing a couple of nice uppercuts that momentarily backed up Hatton. At the end of the third, I marked “close, close round” in my notebook and, like two of the judges, scored it for Hatton (the capable Duane Ford gave the round to Castillo).
But in the fourth, well before Referee Joe Cortez (who had another bad night) undeservedly took a point from Castillo for allegedly low blows, well before the left hook that would end it, Hatton had already shown he could make adjustments. I don't know what trainer Billy Graham told him between rounds, but Hatton showed much more agility on his feet to start the fourth and, giving himself lovely angles from which to punch, took complete control.
Then came the shot to the high liver. Maybe it was to the ribs, maybe it was Castillo saying to himself, “What's the point of going on, I have no chance against this tiger?” He spun around, went to one knee and listened to Cortez count.
“He got me good,” he would say in the ring afterwards. “It was a perfect shot. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't get up. It was a good shot.”
His promoter, Bob Arum, said he hoped Castillo would retire and again blamed the state of Nevada and its athletic commission for sounding “the death knell” by suspending the Mexican for a year and fining him $250,000 for showing up overweight a second time for a match with Corrales.
“You can't take a fighter his age and lay him off that long,” said Arum, quite reasonably.
Castillo, it now seems clear, was an “old” 33. He had been boxing pro since the age of 16 after starting as an amateur at age 12. He fought some of the best - beating such as Stevie Johnston, Cesar Bazan, Joel Casamayor, Julio Diaz, Juan Lazcano and, of course, the fourth-rounjd KO of Corrales in their rematch. Then there were the 24 rounds with Mayweather, the closest Pretty Boy has come to losing.
And let us not forget the four years of grueling work as the chief sparring partner for Julio Cesar Chavez. Yes, he was ready to get old overnight.
“I thought the wars with Diego took a lot out of him,” said Gary Shaw, Corrales' last promoter. “I also believe he'd had trouble making 140. Maybe he should give 147 a try.”
Maybe not. Even Shaw conceded that there was a reasonable argument that Castillo was past it. “Hatton is wide open for uppercuts and a good stiff jab,” said the promoter. “Hatton has a lot of openings, he probably saw them but couldn't pull the trigger.”
Then there was the though, also not unreasonable, that Castillo just quit, much like Kostya Tszyu, the other big name on Hatton's resume. When a fighter reaches the end, sometimes discretion takes over. There was Alexis Arguello, sitting on his haunches, his arms wrapped around his knees, as they counted him out in his second try at Aaron Pryor. He gave it his best shot, right on Pryor's granite chin, and finally realized the futility of persevering.
Castillo, it is argued, had little incentive to get up because he was not going to take home much of his $500,000 purse. Bollocks, as the Brits would say. Yes he needs the money after Nevada's “Draconian” - as Arum called the punishment - $250,000 fine. Getting up was the ONLY way he'd ever be able to earn back that kind of money in boxing.
There was a story going round that all he was going to take home was $41,700, another that Shaw had attached a lien to his purse because of his suit against Castillo for damages when he didn't come close to making weight for the aborted rubber match with Corrales.
Well, $100,000 was deducted to pay Arum back for taking care of the fine. But last week, Castillo received an advance of $125,000 - which must be added to his take - the $183,000 deduction from the IRS could be lowered after the accountants get through. Plus, there'll be $25,000 if he passes his post-fight urine test. That raises his take to at least $182,000. And remember, it's his own fault for the way he handled his inability to make 135 pounds twice against Chico, insisting all along he was on weight when he wasn't.
Anyway, Shaw said he wasn't the one who tried to get Castillo's purse attached but Corrales's widow, Michele, and possibly her good friend, Jin (Mrs. Sugar) Mosley. Shaw said when he heard Castillo would be getting maybe ONLY $130,000, “I couldn't do that (ask for a lien) - I've got to sleep with myself.” On that straight line…..
PENTHOUSE: Max Kellerman, who as reported by Kevin Iole on yahoo.com, was instrumental in having HBO keep Larry Merchant on it's a Team - but not for his in-the-ring Jim Gray imitation tryinig to get Hatton to say Castillo was shot…..Buddy McGirt, for the fine job he did getting Paulie Malignaggi a title belt and Malignaggi for the masterful obedience in completely outboxing Lovemore N'Dou, with the help of permanent OUTHOUSE Referee Eddie Cotton, who like most of Hap Hazzard's favored officials, should be banned from boxing, along with the man in the yellow suit….Miguel Cotto, who took a couple of hard knocks early and another in the seventh round, but otherwise dominated a rather well-behaved Zab Judah to reinforce his status in boxing's elite (I think Sugar Shane has more of a chance beating Cotto than even Mayweather)……Kelly Pavlik, for pronouncing himself one of the best middleweights, with his crushing victory over Edison Miranda on the Jermain Taylor-Cory Spinks card. And, no, I'm not putting Spinks in the OUTHOUSE for following his non-agressive game plan, that's the way he fights. If anything, Taylor's lackluster performance deserves a Spinks slap on the wrist….Merchant, who disparaged the Next Generation’s style, but at least fessed up that Malignaggi's boxing did not offend his lust for blood. To me, the guys who go in the ring knowing they can't hurt the other guy have always been the most daring, the most courageous.
OUTHOUSE: Oh, yes, I take the luggage with me wherever I go. Lots of candidates in five weeks, but I believe Shannon Briggs' dreadfully lethargic performance against Sultan Ibragimov earns the top booby prize and, hopefully, that will be the last time we see him in a ring, unless he joins his old mate, Ray Mercer, in MMA, where I will be among the legions not watching…...Stick in Luis Rivera, the New York judge who had it only 115-113 for Ibragimov……And how about Steve Weisfeld, a Jersey judge, who inexplicably thought Antonio Tarver didn't beat Elvir Muriqi, earning Tarver's plea that Hap's boy never work another fight…..Tarver shouldn't be put in any major ones, either. It was not only early ring rust, his performance against the less-than-ordinary Muriqi probably underlines Winky Wright's growing favoritism for next month's battle with Bernard Hopkins. The Executioner, it now seems certain, should not get much credit for his victory over Tarver…..Let me not forget Lindsay Page, another of Hap's gang of referees, for disqualifying Roberto Acavedo at 2:48 of the final round in a four against the well-connected Habib Allakhviev, who was hitting after the bell, on breaks, wrestling and even committed an intentional butt. (Of course, Allakhaviev was ahead, undeservedly, on all three Jersey cards).
There's no end to the nominees. Of course, special place must be held for James (More Than Just the Lights Are Out), for testing positive for two different steroids. At least he had the decency of not pointing to his body shape as proof he's a clean fighter)….Ron Scott Integrity Award, the New York State chairman who made the grandstand play of banning Evander Holyfield without giving him a test, for not doing the same to Hasim Rahman, who looked even worse in beating Taurus Sykes - and the WBC, WBA and any other organization which ranks the Rock ahead of the less-shot Chris Byrd…..And a big room for Tommy Morrison, away from the other prisoners, for apparently - as Norm Frauenheim of the Arizon Republic wrote - used less-than-legit papers to “prove” he was not HIV-positive, though I'm sure the Duke would be in for the fight of his life if he ever got sent to prison, say for fraud, and tried to make another inmate his bitch.
How about making room for any sucker who buys this weekend's Evander Holyfield-Lou Savarese spectacular from El Paso, which is a great reason to tear down any fence on the border - wouldn't want to keep in this crap. Imagine, Savarese is taking time off from his fledgling acting career to pretend he's a fighter. Maybe it's a reality series.
MORE CATCHUP: Jim Lampley called Cotto-Judah a “throwback fight.” Yes, I'd throw it back, even though the HypeBO announcer dared to compare the rather one-sided contest with Tony Zale's wars and the two epic Carmen Basilio-Tony DeMarco police action. No way. Even those writers, using their ears more than their eyes, and feeling the electricity inside packed Madison Square Garden, were way off saying Cotto-Judah was a candidate for fight of the year. Give Judah the first and seventh rounds, maybe even the third, but by the time of the stoppage - which his father should have accelerated by at least two rounds - this was an old-fashioned beating…..Looks like the IBFelons have figured out how to get their heavyweight title from Wladimir Klitschko. Apparently, they're going to have Chris Byrd and Calvin Brock fight for the right to be next, presuming Lamon Brewster doesn't repeat the magic next month. Wlad has beaten Byrd twice, Brock once. He'd give up that phony belt in a split sec to meet any of the other pretenders rather than face the winner of a Byrd-Brock match, now penciled in for the fall…..There's a possibility that Ricardo Torres will be defending whatever belt he has against Kendall Holt iin his home country of Colombia. I hope not for the sake of Holt's promoter, Dino Duva. A trip there could kill him……Will be cutting back to only one column every couple of weeks, so let me get in my two cents now on the July 7 Wladimir-Brewster rematch in Cologne (Koln, if you're in Germany). On second thought, why bother?......More interesting and potentially far less exciting heavyweight matchups this weekend in Europe. In Moscow, 2004 Olympic champion Alex Povetkin steps up in class, kind of, by opposing 41-year-old remains of Larry Donald, the “Muhammad Ali sound-alike.” Larry Legend will be making his first start since losing a majority 12-round decision to Nikolai Valuev in an eliminator 21 months ago. And, in Stuttgart (Stuttgart, if you're in Germany), an old favorite, 40-plus Henry Akinwande tries to avenge the third and latest guy to beat him, the Ukrainian-born Oleg Platov, who beat the 6-foot-7 Nigerian nobleman by split decision last November to join only Lennox Lewis in 1997 and Oliver McCall iin 2001 (and congratulations to the Atomic Bull for his victory over Sinail Sam to put him back in title contention at age 44) at 2:13 of the tenth and final round with Henry way, way ahead. Don't know much about Platov except he's 24 years old, has a 25-1 record with 21 knockouts, and is based in Belgium, and not only on Wednesdays.
