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by David P. Greisman - Shame.
Diego Corrales felt shame. He had let the fans down. He had let himself down. He had failed to make weight for his rubber match against Joel Casamayor. In turn, he lost his championship. He lost the fight. He lost his pride. He left the ring with nothing to show for his efforts but shame.
“You’ve seen the end of me at 135, and as of right now it’s time for me to go home and decide if you’ve seen the end of me period,” Corrales told interviewer Jim Gray after the fight.
Corrales was always one to give his everything. He drained his six-foot frame to make junior lightweight and lightweight. He fought in the trenches, put on a show. He never quit – not against Floyd Mayweather, when he complained vocally as his corner stepped in after the fifth knockdown. If he would keep falling, he would have to keep rising. And Corrales did not quit in his first match with Casamayor, when blood poured from his mouth, forcing Dr. Margaret Goodman to halt the bout despite his protests. Why worry about this red deluge when he could end it with a barrage?
This time, he had nothing left to give. Not when he sacrificed so much just to make weight. And not when said sacrifice failed to produce the desired result.
“I was stuck at 142 for three weeks virtually eating nothing,” Corrales said on a March conference call. “I did not get under 142 until I got to Vegas … I almost died to make the weight … My heart was skipping beats.”
The defeat left Corrales heartbroken. The downtime has gotten his blood pumping again.
Corrales returns Saturday as a welterweight, a jump of two weight divisions into the deep waters patrolled by legitimate contender Joshua Clottey. But if the choice of opponent seems overly ambitious, then Corrales’ corpus colossus makes the decision necessary, the victory possible. [details]
Diego Corrales felt shame. He had let the fans down. He had let himself down. He had failed to make weight for his rubber match against Joel Casamayor. In turn, he lost his championship. He lost the fight. He lost his pride. He left the ring with nothing to show for his efforts but shame.
“You’ve seen the end of me at 135, and as of right now it’s time for me to go home and decide if you’ve seen the end of me period,” Corrales told interviewer Jim Gray after the fight.
Corrales was always one to give his everything. He drained his six-foot frame to make junior lightweight and lightweight. He fought in the trenches, put on a show. He never quit – not against Floyd Mayweather, when he complained vocally as his corner stepped in after the fifth knockdown. If he would keep falling, he would have to keep rising. And Corrales did not quit in his first match with Casamayor, when blood poured from his mouth, forcing Dr. Margaret Goodman to halt the bout despite his protests. Why worry about this red deluge when he could end it with a barrage?
This time, he had nothing left to give. Not when he sacrificed so much just to make weight. And not when said sacrifice failed to produce the desired result.
“I was stuck at 142 for three weeks virtually eating nothing,” Corrales said on a March conference call. “I did not get under 142 until I got to Vegas … I almost died to make the weight … My heart was skipping beats.”
The defeat left Corrales heartbroken. The downtime has gotten his blood pumping again.
Corrales returns Saturday as a welterweight, a jump of two weight divisions into the deep waters patrolled by legitimate contender Joshua Clottey. But if the choice of opponent seems overly ambitious, then Corrales’ corpus colossus makes the decision necessary, the victory possible. [details]
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