By James Blears
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman is again questioning the severity of punishment dished out to Jose Luis Castillo for failing to make the weight for last year's Diego Corrales trilogy bout.
Castillo had to pay the $100,000 residue of a $250,000 fine, in the immediate run up to the Hatton fight. He’d previously been banned from boxing for six months, after falling short at the weigh-in, following which the Corrales bout was cancelled. A scale of punishment, which obviously induced ring rust. He struggled to questionably defeat unknown Herman Ngoudjo in January.
Referring to the punishment package, Don Jose commented: “This was not for having been caught on drugs, or any criminal action. This was for a man who could not make the weight and he tried his best, up to the point of fainting while trying to do this.
“Let me clarify my position. I am not in agreement with the Nevada State Athletic Commission in imposing the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars fine on Jose Luis Castillo.
“I believe that a boxing commission is committed to help the law be respected, but also to be charitable and understanding to the boxers, because boxers are boxing.”
Don Jose suggests that a different approach would have been much more appropriate, involving sending the boxer to a specialist to determine body fat percentage and approved fight weight category. He also suggests that the Commission should have focused more on what the Promoter and trainer were doing because they’re responsible for the boxer. And they should have been a lot more vigilant in respecting the thirty and seven day weight stipulations of the WBC, which Castillo didn’t make.
For big fights in his career, Castillo often favored altitude training at the Otomi Center in the mountains perched over Toluca. But in the run up to the Hatton clash, he was obliged to be more economical, and stay put in Tijuana.
Castillo is still being sued by Gary Shaw, the Promoter of the late Diego Corrales. But paradoxically Diego himself failed to make the weight in his subsequent Lightweight title defense with Joel Casamayor, which went ahead with him losing on a split decision, although he’d already lost the title on the scales.