LAS VEGAS (AP) — Diego Corrales, fighting desperately after being knocked down twice earlier in the round, rallied with a stunning flurry of punches to stop Jose Luis Castillo in the 10th round Saturday night in one of the most incredible comebacks in recent boxing history.
Corrales, half blinded and seemingly beaten, came back to mount a furious attack that left Castillo defenseless on the ropes, taking punch after unanswered punch to the head.
Referee Tony Weeks finally jumped in to stop the bout at 2:06 of the round, giving Corrales the WBC lightweight title to go with the WBO crown he brought into the ring.
“I’ve waited for a long time to show my will and prove I’m a warrior,” Corrales said. “I knew I was going to get up.”
Corrales’ left eye was closed and his right eye swollen when he was knocked down with a left hand early in the 10th round. He got up only to take two more lefts and go back down.
Corrales got off the canvas slowly, rising to his hands and knees and getting up at the count of nine, just barely beating the count. When Castillo, bleeding himself from a deep cut over his left eye, moved in to finish him off, Corrales landed a big left hook followed by a right hand that stunned the Mexican champion.
Summoning everything he had left, Corrales went after Castillo and pinned him on the ropes, landing big punches followed by two final left hooks that put an abrupt end to a fight that was expected to be good and more than lived up to the expectations.
In a fight with terrific ebb and blow, both fighters rocked each other with big punches only to find themselves on the receiving end only seconds later. Neither fighter gave the other any space, and neither backed off as the fight was fought at a ferocious pace.
“It was a war of attrition,” Corrales (40-2) said.
It was that and more, as both fighters went after each other in a bout that thrilled the crowd at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
“These two should never fight each other again,” said Corrales’ trainer, Joe Goosen. “It’s too much.”
Amazingly, neither fighter went down until the 10th round but both were hurt on several occasions as they traded huge punches with little regard for defense.
“He’s one of the greatest fighters in the world but so am I,” Castillo said.
Corrales, at 5-foot-11, towered over Castillo (52-7-1) and had the better jab. But he chose to fight inside and the two fighters went after each other from the opening bell. Castillo was left bloodied and Corrales marked.
Going into the 10th round, Corrales was ahead by one point on one scorecard and three on a second, while Castillo was ahead by three points on the other.
But Castillo would have won the round by at least four points after knocking Corrales down twice and Corrales also had a point taken for spitting out his mouthpiece both times he went down.
“The ref gave him all kinds of chances and never gave me a chance,” Castillo said. “I was hurt. I’m not saying I wasn’t hurt, but I came back before in the fight.”
Weeks, though, said he had no choice.
“He got hit with some bombs,” Weeks said. “His eyes went back and he went limp.”
Corrales said he went down after being hit with a great left hook and was still feeling it when he was knocked down the second time. Fighting out of desperation, he went right after Castillo and suddenly changed the fight around.
“It was a left hook inside and I didn’t want to leave him off the hook,” Corrales said.
In another title fight, Juan Manuel Marquez dominated perennial contender Victor Polo to retain his WBA and IBF featherweight titles.
Marquez dropped Polo in the seventh round with a right hand but was never able to stop him despite winning almost every round on the three ringside scorecards. Marquez won the unanimous decision by scores of 120-107, 119-108 and 118-109.
Marquez, who was dropped three times in the first round two fights ago before pulling out a draw with Manny Pacquiao, had no trouble against Polo, who made his fifth unsuccessful try for a title.
“It was a good tactical match more than anything,” said Marquez (44-2-1), of Mexico. “I was very confident coming in and after the first two rounds I felt I had it.”
Polo (33-5-3) fought in spurts and was never able to land any telling punches.
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