Tweet
Jose Luis Castillo is days away from mounting the scale, but can he scale the mountain?
For a fantastic 11-month run, Castillo had been at his peak, victories over Juan Lazcano, Joel Casamayor and Julio Diaz leading into a lightweight showdown with Diego Corrales. He was firmly out of the shadow of Julio Cesar Chavez and a good distance from decision losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The first Corrales bout was the summit.
With those 10 amazing rounds, Castillo was on top of the world, widely admired for his role in that May 2005 brawl despite his suffering a heartbreaking stoppage loss. He was courageous. He was a warrior. He was a force to be reckoned with.
The second and third Corrales bouts were his nadir.
For their October rematch, Castillo weighed in at 138.5 pounds, easily missing the lightweight limit. Corrales, blinded by courage and weakened by drying down to 135, fought on and was knocked out in the fourth round by a lethal left hook.
After Corrales suffered an injury prior to a scheduled February rubber match, Castillo took a stay-busy bout against Rolando Reyes, cruising to an easy 12-round decision. But once more, Castillo chose the wrong method of showing that he was no lightweight, checking in at 138 pounds.
The writing should have been on the wall. And in a way, it was.
Thirty days prior to his final clash with Corrales – rescheduled for June 3 – Castillo reportedly missed a target weight of 148 pounds. Seven days before the bout, he had, depending on which report you read, either dropped down to 142 or missed that target as well. And then came the day of the final weigh-in. [details]
For a fantastic 11-month run, Castillo had been at his peak, victories over Juan Lazcano, Joel Casamayor and Julio Diaz leading into a lightweight showdown with Diego Corrales. He was firmly out of the shadow of Julio Cesar Chavez and a good distance from decision losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The first Corrales bout was the summit.
With those 10 amazing rounds, Castillo was on top of the world, widely admired for his role in that May 2005 brawl despite his suffering a heartbreaking stoppage loss. He was courageous. He was a warrior. He was a force to be reckoned with.
The second and third Corrales bouts were his nadir.
For their October rematch, Castillo weighed in at 138.5 pounds, easily missing the lightweight limit. Corrales, blinded by courage and weakened by drying down to 135, fought on and was knocked out in the fourth round by a lethal left hook.
After Corrales suffered an injury prior to a scheduled February rubber match, Castillo took a stay-busy bout against Rolando Reyes, cruising to an easy 12-round decision. But once more, Castillo chose the wrong method of showing that he was no lightweight, checking in at 138 pounds.
The writing should have been on the wall. And in a way, it was.
Thirty days prior to his final clash with Corrales – rescheduled for June 3 – Castillo reportedly missed a target weight of 148 pounds. Seven days before the bout, he had, depending on which report you read, either dropped down to 142 or missed that target as well. And then came the day of the final weigh-in. [details]