At the end of the day, pride going before the fall made a big difference in Diego Corrales’ epic stoppage of Jose Luis Castillo. Banged like a drum and knocked down twice in the tenth round, Corrales’ second trip to the canvas was as much a product of exhaustion as punches, but he knew how to grab a rest and clear his head. After a delay in getting his mouthpiece reinserted for the second time, Corrales turned the tables and started bombing Castillo. And Castillo, who’d never been knocked down in 59 previous bouts, didn’t grab a break by going down. It was as though he refused to believe his chin would give out on him, and Corrales made him pay dearly, knocking him cold on his feet before ref Tony Weeks intervened for a very correct stoppage.
This was no quick trigger, folks. Castillo’s eyes told the tale of a man whose consciousness had left the building, and a couple more shots from Corrales would have been unnecessary battering for a guy whose chin ultimately proved a little too good for his recuperative powers.
It is tough for a referee to make such calls. They are often tailored with a working knowledge of a guy’s background, as well as understanding his reactions when hurt. Fighters like Corrales, as well as Felix Trinidad, go down often. But they develop a reputation for getting back up, clear-headed. Yet a steel-chinned guy like Castillo can stand his ground and eat bomb after bomb without going off his feet, which presents a far darker scenario. If Corrales had been allowed to keep firing, it would’ve been a replay of Ray Robinson’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre against Jake LaMotta, where the Bronx Bull simply wouldn’t go down but could no longer defend himself. Or it could’ve been worse – something tragic that would’ve marred an epic night that has proven a booster shot for boxing that the sport can always use. Nigel Benn-Gerald McClellan was a fantastic fight too, but that was overshadowed by its tragic end.
CHICO IS THE MAN, BUT WHAT NOW?
From a managerial perspective -which invariably is the more likely tack, especially after a match like this one – Corrales has a huge upside to take advantage of his win and newly earned status as top dog among the lightweights. You gotta strike when the iron’s hot, and Corrales can pile up a good stack of purses in fights that he can win and win big, or lose with a far lower price should he have an off-night.
There’s a ton of high-reward, good-risk fights for him. He could unify with Juan Diaz, the WBA champ. That one would sell quicker than lemonade on a summer day. And there’s Julio Diaz, who gave a strong effort in losing to Castillo earlier this year. He could also opt for one of the Erik Morales/Manny Pacquiao/Marco Antonio Barrera trio, and the guess here is that Morales would be most likely to take the plunge and head north in weight to meet him. That would be a savage fight, but Corrales’ huge power would have to make him a favorite, though you can never count out Morales, a warrior for the ages. He could also take on Ebo Elder, another fan favorite.
After seeing Corrales’ toughness at 135 and his numbing power, you’d have to make him a 3-1 favorite or more on that list against everyone except maybe Morales. Castillo’s chin took amazing bombs that would stiffen just about any other lightweight.
Plus, waiting 2-3 fights and a year does two key things for Corrales’ chances in a rematch. It allows him to grow more comfortable with the weight, while giving Castillo more time to stick around at 135 and struggle to make the limit.
Corrales may have taken more punishment in the fight, but the guess here is that mentally Castillo may have suffered more damage. When an iron-chinned guy like that is knocked out on his feet, sometimes they are never the same again a lot quicker than an up-and-down type like Corrales, who gets floored, gets up and wins.
PRE-FIGHT TACTICS JUST A RUMOR
Much was made going into the fight about Corrales’ rediscovered jab, fighting from the outside, and using some movement and distance to make Castillo pay a price to close the gap and work inside. But outside of a few precious moments where Corrales did that – and looked excellent in the process – he took the fight right to Castillo from the jump.
From the outset, you couldn’t help but think it was the wrong tack to take. But in retrospect, Corrales took his pound of flesh early, nailing Castillo with big shots before the Mexican grinder got warmed up by the third round, and more importantly, he made a psychological statement that he refused to cede the aggressor’s role. This is something Castillo always gets because nobody fights him like this. Corrales might have stuck and moved and jabbed, but that kind of fight would’ve made him use his legs a lot more and given Castillo the kind of confidence that comes when the other guy lets you come to him. It was a gutsy strategy – and there’s a very thin line between guts and foolhardy tactics, as the earlier horrors of the tenth round demonstrated.
THE BIGLER TEST
Whenever a great fight like this approaches, The Corner’s friends, most of whom are casual boxing fans through sheer osmosis, inquire about upcoming fights. I call it “The Bigler Test.”
When the casual fan asks about a match I give my honest opinion on the likelihood of it being something they’ll be glad they watched. Heading into Saturday night’s match, my old pal Gordon Bigler asked about Corrales-Castillo.
“Is this going to be worth watching?” he asked. Bigler, who was once a fine water polo player, is also a standout tennis man, in addition to winning various crazy swimming events where people plunge into the ocean and go miles on end. He also golfs well and is a cagey intellectual type who is always between training sessions for some upcoming competition.
Despite this highfalutin disposition, he has a lot of love for the simplicity of a good fight. I gave him the Corner’s Absolute Guarantee that it’d be a doozy.
I hadn’t gone that far out on a limb since Gatti-Ward I, mostly because of the sensitivity involved when a guy does catch a fight and it’s a stinker. It’s like setting your buddy up on a dude of a blind date. You will never hear the end of it. Bigler caught Gatti-Ward I and because I was at a social event I couldn’t get out of, proceeded to call me and tell me what a great fight it was after every round without telling me the end…pure torture!
Now I have my revenge because Bigler missed the fight – despite my high recommendations – he is Jonesing big time to catch the rebroadcast. Just to be mean I might steer him toward this week’s broadcast of “The L Word” and tell him the fight will be shown over it in pure meanness, but such things are best done only between old friends. One can only imagine the angry voicemails that would ensue.
CRAZY STATS
Showtime doesn’t keep punch stats, but it was certainly an exhausting night for your humble round-by-round scorer. I can’t remember feeling so buzzed/overwhelmed/frantic about working a fight since Gatti-Ward III. I did a word count on the scoring and realized that I’d averaged 172 words per round…that’s 57 words a minute! (with spell check though, that disappeared over the second half of the bout). If these guys keep fighting I might get carpal tunnel?but it’s still better than working heavyweight fights lately, which have been so boring you have to keep coming up with butt-rock references to keep from falling asleep.
TITO-WINKY WAGERS
O.K., the time is coming to place a bet on Tito-Winky. And seeing as how I think Kostya Tszyu is a lock over Ricky Hatton at 3-1 (compared to 2-1 for Tito in a much tougher fight, potentially), I will pass on this one. I’m going to put it all on Kostya (about $8K) and recoup my losses to get back above my 10K starting point. Passing on Corrales-Castillo seemed a good move and I think doing the same here is prudent. Though I think Trinidad takes it handily in the late rounds, I just think the opportunity costs are way better for Kostya at 3-1 than him over Winky at 2-1. I can see Wink upsetting the apple cart by outboxing Tito and fighting a tactically sound fight to beat him. In the worst of all possible worlds, I can’t see Hatton doing anything but getting a pounding from Tszyu, as his style will send him right into the teeth of the champion’s potent guns.
