Boxing Blurbs, Here and There

[ProBox1]

The most intriguing story of the week is the December 4th match up between Jose Luis Castillo and Joel Casamayor. Most appear to have Castillo as a solid favorite, they feel that Jose will be too strong for Casamayor. There are others who give Joel much more of a chance then there appears to be to the watchful eye. Some have Casamayor as an undefeated fighter. How can he be undefeated you say? There were as many experts, probably more when I think about it, that had Casamayor winning his fight with Acelino Freitas then there were having Freitas winning the fight.

He got the win over Diego Corrales in their first meeting by stoppage. Some say the doctor made a very bad stoppage, others say she made a good call. The rematch appeared to some fans as a clear win for Corrales and to others it was a very close fight won by Casamayor. In the mind of Casamayor, he has never been beat. The events the solidly that idea in his head are Freitas ducking him for years and Corrales promising him a third meeting and opting to face Freitas instead. The fact that fighters are reluctant to face Casamayor, it gives him that machismo attitude that he carries with him to the ring. Castillo is looked upon as the only man to take Floyd Mayweather to the point of near defeat. Castillo's first fight with Floyd was so close and disputed that a rematch was held to settle the issue of who really won. [details]

[grayfist]

The styles of Joel and Jose remind me of an article I recently read about the Ad Wolgast- Battling Nelson fight in 1910. Wolgast, claimed by many boxing historians as the dirtiest fighter who ever lived, won over Nelson in 40 (!) rounds to take the lightweight title. It was quite a struggle, as reported, with both fighters elevating the match to epic proportions, but not in the sense of it being classic boxing, but in the sense that they butted, elbowed and even BIT each other! They barely punched, it was said! Would the Castillo-Casamayor meeting be this century's version of Nelson-Wolgast?