By Carlos Irusta
ON SATURDAY AT Luna Park, Jorge Fernando Castro will appear again in the same ring he he fought his last bout nearly a year ago. Last May 26th, 2005, he kayoed in 7 Derrick Harmon. That night, with Don King and Marvelous Marvin Hagler at ringside, Castro captured the Fedelatin (WBA) light heavyweight belt and the first place in the ranking. A month later, after a vicious car accident, he spent 21 days in coma, struggling between life and death.
Castro, against all odds, will be fighting again. His opponent is Columbian José Luis “La Pantera” Herrera, with a pro record of 13-1-0, 13KOs. A super middleweight fighting at light heavy. “Is not problem, I came to Buenos Aires for to fight and that’s my mission, if I defeat Castro, I am defeating History”, said the Columbian. After all, Castro, born at Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz on August 18th, 1977, is History: 129 victories, 89 KO (the biggest KO number in South America), 10 defeats, 3 draws.
He was WBA middleweight world champion. He lost to Terry Norris, Vassily Jirov, Roy Jones, Juan Carlos Gómez, Roberto “Mano de Piedra” Durán. Only Gomez stopped him. He defeated Roberto Durán, John David Jackson, Reggie Johnson, and Alex Ramos. His last defeat in Argentina was at 1990, against Hugo Vilte at Salta.
On the same card, two former light national champions will meet again: veteran Ricardo Daniel “Kojak” Silva (68-26-4, 29 KO) at 43 years old, against Sergio Eduardo González (19-5-4, 8 KO), 6 rounds. The bouts will be televised nationally by TyC, one of the major sports cable networks of Argentina (it also can be tuned in USA).
“I respect Herrera, but I will win by KO via, my right hand is OK before the accident, I feel good, the argentine Boxing Federation have made me take all the necessary medical tests and I will be world champion again”, said Castro.
The fight, to be held at Luna Park of Buenos Aires, is expected in all circles. Including president of Argentina, Néstor Krichner. He is from Santa Cruz, as Castro, they know themselves very well. “I used to be his fan in a lot of bouts”, said President in a formal meeting with the boxer and a couple of journalists. “He never trained seriously, but he always won by KO…” And of course, he was capable to resurrect, but he have been training as always, alone, talking and joking with people. “When I stayed at Argentina, I saw him in the gym, said Hererra. “I suppose he was retired, because he used to talk more than to train”. So we explained him is the Castro training method. Can Castro make it now?
Only God knows…
