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Corrales vs Castillo III will not be
posted by mightygloves.com on June 2, 2006, in News
LAS VEGAS - Jose Luis Castillo stepped on the scale with a worried look on his face. He stood on his tip toes and reached up as high as he could trying to fool the scales. Keith Kyzer, Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced 140 lbs. The crowd gasped and Castillo stepped on the scale for a second time to re-verify the weight. This time the announcement was 139 lbs, a whopping 4 lbs over the weight limit.
Castillo had two hours to reduce his weight. He would not make the 135 pound weight limit, but would try to take off two pounds. He would not be able to fight for the title. Castillo returned after two hours and proceeded to the scales again. He stepped up on the scale but to no avail. His weight remained at 139 lbs.
Diego "Chico" Corrales, who weighed in at the weight limit of 135 lbs was extremely upset and emotional. �Diego is extremely disappointed that he worked so very hard to come out and please all of you and obviously to get a payday for himself and that is not to be,� announced Gary Shaw, Corrales Promoter, �for the record, he does not get paid, so all the training that he did is for naught. Ken Hershman is head of boxing for Showtime has given Diego the opportunity to fight in July or September. He will not be fighting tomorrow, the fight is off, but don�t penalize Diego Corrales, who for close to 8 weeks was in a battle everyday for a guy over 6 foot trying to earn a payday and make 135 lbs. We are extremely disappointed. It is now up to the Commission to levy whatever fines or however they see fit to handle Jose Luis Castillo.�
Bob Arum, Promoter for Castillo had no sympathy for Castillo. �First I want to say, I�m mortified and embarrassed by what happened here. It�s inexcusable, there is just no explanation for what happened here, but we�re promoters and the show must go on,� expressed Arum, �we have a great great undercard, a terrific flyweight match. Anybody who has bought a ticket who doesn�t want to see the card can get a full refund.�
Castillo, who did not make weight for the second bout, had promised repeatedly that he would make weight this time. �Last time I put my man in danger and I won�t do it again, that�s why, the fight is off.� Gary Shaw said.
Making weight is a torturous ordeal. �It�s a little bit like being a prisoner of war when you are drying out that last week� explained Joe Goosen, trainer for Corrales, �they hold back your food, they hold back your water, they make you march through the heat. It�s like being tortured�. Speaking of Castillo�s attempt to make weight, Goosen said �my heart goes out to him, I mean, you know, I love fighters and he is our opponent, our enemy for the moment but I know what he is going through and it is a tough thing and to tell you the truth the guy isn�t a 35 pounder anymore. People still think he is but he isn�t. He is not a 35 pounder, he tried to be a 35 pounder but he hasn�t been a 35 pounder since the first time he made it against Diego over a year ago.�
When asked if wanted to fight, Corrales explained �I don�t want to harm my sport that I have grown to love all my life. I would never do anything that would harm the sport. I think that there is some nice factors involved. I was upset and I should be. I sacrificed a lot for this. I give my life for this game. I come to this ring knowing the risk that I run coming to work, you know people have been severely hurt in this job. I love my job. I come out here and prepare myself to the utmost to make sure this doesn�t happen. But these things add extra risk to the job.
Castillo apologized to Corrales after failing to make weight. �Sorry is an empty word,� said Corrales, �this is twice, not once. I think he knew, I think he knew. I think that he may not have told everybody the truth. Come on, he knows his body, he knows his weight, he�s got a scale. I mean I know what I weigh. I told you guys what I was weighing everyday.�
Corrales explained that his decision was based on his personal safety. �I have children, I have a wife, I want to see them grow up, I want to take my daughters down the aisle and I want to teach my son anything and everything that he would learn. The decision I am going to make is purely on my well being.�
Unfortunately, boxing fans have been robbed of a great fight and due to the fact that Castillo is clearly not a lightweight any more, the fight may never take place. The boxing world has suffered another black eye. Castillo should not have taken the fight knowing that he would not be able to make weight, but at the very least should have called off the bout before it got this far.
Story by Kathleen Holland
Photography by Chris McGee
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