Oh what a great story that would be.
In what is anticipated to not only be Fight of the Year but also having the potential to surpass Castillo-Corrales I as Fight of the Century, the storyline couldn’t be more fitting.
In one corner you have Manchester’s Ricky Hatton making his ring entrance to the always invigorating “Blue Moon” fight song. With him will be the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera giving him the moral support to dig down deep to win this terrific battle.
In the other corner, you have the beast from Sonora looking to upset the 10,000 Manchester faithful who’ve made the very long trek to see their man with his hand raised in victory at the end of the night. Being that Jose Luis Castillo is promoted by Top Rank and the fact that Barrera’s bitter rival, Erik “El Terrible” Morales is also in Bob Arum’s stable of fighters, I couldn’t think of a more fitting scenario than for him to accompany Castillo to the ring.
It’s the perfect heel/baby-face scenario.
Well maybe I watched too much wrestling growing up.
Many people have labeled Castillo as a cheater and a lazy slacker following his inability to make the 135 pound weight limit in two of his bouts with Diego “Chico” Corrales (rip). He was chastised by the fans and media for months following his seemingly indifference at causing what was considered to be a super-fight in Castillo-Corrales III to never take place.
Erik Morales has always been considered somewhat of a controversial character among boxing circles. Many of the fans see him as a somewhat classless individual for such past antics as standing over Bobby Boy Velardez after stopping him, throwing water at Barrera’s father and cornermen after their trilogy, and consistently badmouthing what is considered by some to be one of the classiest individuals in the sport in Barrera. My colleague Ricardo Lois still cries about this incident to this very day.
Morales is the perfect “heel” due to the fact that he’s not all mouth with no bite.
There’s no doubt that the man could fight.
I guess we’ll see if he just might.
Walk Castillo down to the ring Saturday night.
Being a huge fan of boxing that would be quite a sight.
Ok ok, enough with the terrible poetry.
Back to baby-face duo.
Ricky Hatton is loved by many and absolutely adored by the UK boxing fanatic. His humble demeanor and blue-collar upbringing has made him a fan favorite among even his worst detractors. He’s considered the “good guy” in every sense of the word due to his sense of humor, working with children’s charity organizations, and not being above having a drink or two or nine with his loyal fans.
Barrera has always seems to carry himself very gracefully both proceeding and preceding his battles within the ropes. His smile is akin to a young child that received their favorite candy. According to our very own Ricardo Lois, there is nobody that has more class or is as humble as the Mexico City warrior. In essence, he truly lives up to the “Baby Face” part of his nickname the “Baby Faced Assassin”.
Is this whole scenario “Over the Top” ala Sylvester Stallone? Have I finally gone past the realm of reality and am just hoping for added drama to an already heavily anticipated event this coming Saturday?
Who knows? All I know is that in this internet hack’s mind, there could be nothing more fitting than seeing “El Terrible”, with his infamous scowl, walking “El Temible” to a war that is set to have fans talking for a long, long time.
