by David P. Greisman

Early on, it looked as if the journey of, well, journeyman turned fringe contender Robinson Castellanos was on course for an interim world title victory. He’d knocked Oscar Escandon down in the second round of their fight at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C.

Escandon recovered, however, retook control and took the lead before scoring a seventh-round technical knockout.

“I'm very disappointed, but I gave it my all,” Castellanos said afterward, according to quotes provided by Golden Boy Promotions. “I felt like I fought with a lot of heart, and that's really all you can do. Unfortunately the outcome wasn't what I personally wanted. I respect Oscar. He's a good fighter. He was very fast and caught me with some good shots. He has a big heart and I wish him the best.”

Castellanos falls to 23-12 with 13 KOs. Many of those losses came very early in his career — he was 3-7 after his first 10 fights. But after a split decision loss in 2010 he went on a nice run, winning 11 fights in a row, including a 2013 split decision over former 122-pound titleholder Celestino Caballero.

That streak of wins ended with in early 2014 with a stoppage loss to Rene Alvarado. Castellanos bounced back with a stoppage of previously undefeated Ronny Rios and a decision over Rocky Juarez. Now he’ll need to rebuild once more.

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com