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by David P. Greisman - He always got up.
Thirteen times, Diego Corrales hit the canvas. Thirteen times, he rose, even when he was certain to take more punishment, ready to fight with unsteady legs and ample heart.
No more.
Corrales died Monday night in Las Vegas, a fatal motorcycle accident robbing the sport of one of its true warriors, robbing his friends, robbing his family, robbing us all of a fighter who was the definition of a man.
Corrales died living as he fought – full speed ahead. He was riding north through southwest Las Vegas when his motorcycle hit the back of a Honda Accord, police told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports. His motorcycle went into the opposite lane of Fort Apache Road, where it – and possibly Corrales, who may have already been thrown off his vehicle – was struck by a southbound Mercedes-Benz, authorities said.
He liked the rush, Corrales told Iole in a 2006 article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He liked extreme sports – as if one-on-one battle with another man wasn’t thrilling enough.
He gave us a rush, too, whenever he stepped in the ring. In victory, he was breathtaking – his come-from-behind knockout of Jose Luis Castillo remains, two years later, one of the most dramatic conclusions ever, a fitting end to a memorable war.
For ten rounds, Corrales and Castillo traded vicious hooks and power shots, but Castillo was winning the battle of attrition. Castillo floored Corrales twice in the tenth, but Corrales bought himself time, intentionally or otherwise, by losing his mouthpiece. Castillo went in to finish things off, but Corrales caught him and clobbered him against the ropes, stopping the fight, dropping our jaws.
In defeat, Corrales was proud, valiant.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. knocked Corrales down five times in their 2001 collision. Mayweather certainly would have added a sixth, but Corrales’ corner threw in the towel. Corrales protested, just as he would do in his 2003 fight against Joel Casamayor, a match that ended when the ringside physician, concerned over bad bleeding in Corrales’ mouth, halted the bout. [details]
Thirteen times, Diego Corrales hit the canvas. Thirteen times, he rose, even when he was certain to take more punishment, ready to fight with unsteady legs and ample heart.
No more.
Corrales died Monday night in Las Vegas, a fatal motorcycle accident robbing the sport of one of its true warriors, robbing his friends, robbing his family, robbing us all of a fighter who was the definition of a man.
Corrales died living as he fought – full speed ahead. He was riding north through southwest Las Vegas when his motorcycle hit the back of a Honda Accord, police told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports. His motorcycle went into the opposite lane of Fort Apache Road, where it – and possibly Corrales, who may have already been thrown off his vehicle – was struck by a southbound Mercedes-Benz, authorities said.
He liked the rush, Corrales told Iole in a 2006 article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He liked extreme sports – as if one-on-one battle with another man wasn’t thrilling enough.
He gave us a rush, too, whenever he stepped in the ring. In victory, he was breathtaking – his come-from-behind knockout of Jose Luis Castillo remains, two years later, one of the most dramatic conclusions ever, a fitting end to a memorable war.
For ten rounds, Corrales and Castillo traded vicious hooks and power shots, but Castillo was winning the battle of attrition. Castillo floored Corrales twice in the tenth, but Corrales bought himself time, intentionally or otherwise, by losing his mouthpiece. Castillo went in to finish things off, but Corrales caught him and clobbered him against the ropes, stopping the fight, dropping our jaws.
In defeat, Corrales was proud, valiant.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. knocked Corrales down five times in their 2001 collision. Mayweather certainly would have added a sixth, but Corrales’ corner threw in the towel. Corrales protested, just as he would do in his 2003 fight against Joel Casamayor, a match that ended when the ringside physician, concerned over bad bleeding in Corrales’ mouth, halted the bout. [details]