LAS VEGAS — Diego Corrales knows the questions Jose Luis Castillo will ask of him tonight because he intends to ask him the same ones. They will be, as Roy Jones Jr. once put it, chin questions.
Corrales and Castillo are the best lightweights in the world. The issue at Mandalay Bay Events Center tonight is which one will reign supreme at 135 pounds. Will it be Castillo, the 31-year-old World Boxing Council champion with heavy hands that have produced 46 knockouts among his 52 victories, or Corrales, the 27-year-old World Boxing Organization titleholder with 32 KOs in 39 wins?
Castillo and Corrales are cut from the same cloth.
Each comes to the arena intending to leave early. They will stay through 12 rounds if they must, but given their druthers, both will be looking to render their opponent senseless at the first opportunity.
“On paper, this has the potential to be as exciting a fight as you will see,” said Corrales this week. “I definitely feel that at some point it will be bombs away. Look at our resumes. We both have fought the best guys and have a lot of knockouts. I really don’t see how it can go the distance with each of us dropping bombs on each other in the middle of the ring.”
Castillo’s only disagreement with Corrales (39-2) will come in the ring because his analysis concurs with his opponent’s.
“It took me a while in my last two fights to get warmed up [a 10th-round stoppage of Julio Diaz and a split decision over Joel Casamayor] but if Corrales comes to me, this fight is going to be a brawl with each of us taking our best shots at one another,” the WBC champion said.
“If Corrales really wants to exchange like he has been saying, this is really going to be a quick fight. I keep hearing how big and strong Corrales is and how hard a hitter he is, but we will all find out. I don’t know who has the advantage, but a good solid punch can knock anyone out.
“I’m looking to see if he really does have the power to knock me down, to knock me out. We have to go up into the ring to find that out but I think I’m strong enough to take his punch.”
Castillo thinks he already knows the answer to the chin questions that will be asked, of him and Corrales.
It is Castillo’s conviction that he not only has superior firepower but, more importantly, a superior chin. Castillo bases his assessment on the fact he lost two decisions to Floyd Mayweather Jr., but Corrales was destroyed by Mayweather, who dropped him five times and stopped him in the 10th round of the WBC super featherweight title fight in 2001. Corrales was also knocked down three times in two fights against Casamayor (Corrales was stopped in the first fight but took a split decision in the rematch).
Castillo (52-6-1) believes if he can land solid shots — Corrales’s aggressive style makes him vulnerable — he can ask chin questions the WBO champion has no answer for.
“I respect his power but I’m not concerned about getting knocked down,” Corrales said. “I know I’ll get up. This fight is big for me. These kind of fights are what legacies are made of and I want to be remembered as one of the best ever in my weight class.
“Establishing the jab is very important for me. I’ve become dependent on it. But all the questions about who has the best chin, who has the best power, will be answered [tonight]. There may even be some answers to things we haven’t thought of yet.
“Castillo is a tough guy. I’m a tough guy. If there’s any potential for a fight to go 12 rounds and be a war where we beat each other to death, this is it. If it goes the way it should go, it’s going to be a battle, but if anybody is going to go down early it’s him.
“This will start as a smart fight but it will turn into a shootout. It’ll be a war of attrition and at some point it will turn into an inside fight. It’s going to be a knockout fight. It’s going to be fun.”
Surely it will be for the viewing audience (the card is on Showtime at 9 p.m.) but nobody knows the answers to the chin questions that will be asked by Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo. The answers won’t come easy.
In the semi-main event, also on Showtime, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (43-2-1, 33 KOs) defends his title against fifth-ranked contender Victor Polo (34-4-3, 24 KOs). Marquez wants a rematch against Manny Pacquiao, who dropped Marquez three times in the first round a year ago in a 12-round draw. Marquez appeared to be out on his feet but fought his way back and almost won.
