WBC to vote on Corrales Castillo rematch

By: James Blears

WBC President Jose Sulaiman says Diego Corrales should have been disqualified over the now notorious spitting out of the gum shield incident, following his second decking by Jose Luis Castillo in the tenth round of their epic lightweight championship encounter.

In that same round, after a sizeable and hotly disputed pause, in which Diego was led to his corner, his gum shield rinsed, and he was docked a point, he recovered and transformed into a spitfire, with Referee Tony Weeks, stepping in to save a battered and helpless Jose Luis.

Don Jose pulled none of his own punches by stating: "Diego Corrales should have been disqualified and he should not have been allowed to be taken to the corner, because that is what he was looking for, and he fell into the hands of an innocent referee."

"It was not the referee’s fault. The fault was with the people who appointed him, knowing that this was going to be a war. And in a war, you need a very experienced referee that can control the fight."

"Cheating is not my word, but deliberately it was, because Diego Corrales was looking for time, and he got time. That is prohibited."

"Or… if not disqualified, then not taken to the corner after the second knockdown. He should have done as he did the first time, kick it away and let the fight continue, because he was on the verge of being knocked out."

Don Jose has announced that in the coming week the WBC’s Board of Governors will vote on whether to order an immediate re-match between the two hell raisers. The WBC also awarded Jose Luis Castillo a special green belt for his fantastic achievements.

Jose Luis Castillo’s Promoter Fernando Beltran verbally swung his sunday punch at Referee Weeks, saying:

"I definitely think it was the worst performance of a referee that I’ve ever seen in my life."

He then went on to apportion a fair share of the blame, conceding:

"I think Jose Luis Castillo is bigger than Diego Corrales. But most of what happened is our fault-the promoter’s fault, because we fight him so frequently that he didn’t train properly for this fight. He was sixty to seventy percent. When he’s a hundred percent he will knock Corrales out."

Jose Luis Castillo’s bruises, and gash have nicely healed and he looks in good shape. He was philosophical, if not mellow about what is, rather than what might have been. He actually blamed himself for being over confident when a hair trigger away from victory, and was quick to praise Diego Corrales for a titanic fight. Yet he wolfishly grinned and said the gum shield spitting out by Diego had obviously been deliberate. His comment: "These things happen in boxing. But I do want an immediate re-match."

Even if he gets his wish, it’ll be a helluva time in the coming. Both fighters now have to rest for a mandatory ninety days, preparations for another war, after the peace, will probably take another three months. So immediate rematch… is likely to mean November, or even a super early Christmas cracker?