Oh dear: Corrales at Welterweight.

[Castillofan]

The fallout of Diego Corrales' loss last week set loose several rumors about what will happen next in his career. Retirement was mentioned by the fighter himself, but I think everyone knows that Corrales will not go out as such. He also said that if he does come back, he will fight at welterweight. This was also intimated by trainer Joe Goossen. Corrales has great courage, but this move reeks of foolishness rather than bravery. Corrales' rationale is that he is only able to find competitive sparring from welterweights, thus he should have no problem adapting to the weight.

I don't think so.

It would be fantastic in theory to have Corrales at the 147-pound limit, what with Cotto, Mayweather, Baldomir, Margarito and the like already there. Yet all you need to do is to remember what happened to Ricky Hatton at welterweight. Corrales should have much better preparation for his welterweight debut, but Hatton was massive at light welterweight, and couldn't handle the power of Luis Collazo. Hatton went back to 140; meanwhile, Corrales reckons he can perform without problems coming from 135-147-pounds.

Corrales is a very good fighter, but just considering his participation at welterweight against someone like Margarito makes me cringe. I don't think there's anything Corrales could do to budge the Mexican, and Margarito would think it's Christmas come early as he lets his hands go.

I would suggest that Corrales fight an interim bout either at 140, or even with a top ten fighter on Showtime at such a weight as 143 or so. He needs to acclimate hismelf to training and fighting comfortably at the higher weights.

[mr. bojangles]

The Hatton physical comparison is a bit off, Corrales is almost 6 feet and can put on some mass, like what B-Hop did to LH.


But, keep him away from Margarito!

[-EX-]

Stay away from Mayweather too.

I agree though Corrales is 6'0 tall and who knows how he'd move and fight like at welterweight. He may look very good or vice versa.

[Em1]

I agree with the above posters. His height leaves room to put on some weight. To me he always looked too thin and stripped at 135. But then again so does Paul Williams at 147. BTW, does anyone know what Paul walks around at?

[Guest]

Frankly, Corrales just isn't good enough to hang with the top welterweight. If he can make 140, he should stay there. I think every top welter would knock Chico out...

[Deeznuts]

I wouldn't mind seeing him move up. I would want to see how devastating his power is at a heavier weight.

[Castillofan]

I wouldn't have thought that Corrales' height would have much bearing on his performance or differentiate him that much from other fighters. His frame implies that he can fight at welterweight, and would of course be able to make weight healthily. I just think his assumption that he can be very effective still at welterweight just because he handles welterweights in training is naive. Hatton was at 140 and would routinely enter the ring weighing in excess of 154-pounds with a nice, compact frame, and he got blown out of the water almost by a light hitting welterweight. Corrales should take an easy fight first to feel it out.

[Violent Demise]

I think Corrales is shot

[Castillofan]

I think Corrales is shot

That's a possibility, though I fear we will never find out.

His performance against Casamayor was attributed to his weight struggle.

If he goes to welterweight and is beaten severely, or looks bad, the excuse will be that he tried, but was out of his depth there.

[BigSlick]

Why is Corrales doing this? He must want to die in the ring. He should just finish the trilogy with JLC and retire. If thats not in the cards fight Hatton at a catch weight then retire. Corrales had a great career, I don't want to see him become a vegetable or die, there is no need for him to prove himself any further. His family and friends need to have an intervention.