By Ricardo Lois

February 1, 2005 - For the last year one of the names coming out of Joan Guzman's mouth on a regular basis has been Oscar Larios. Dreams of a bout with Larios have been dancing around in the mind of Guzman for months.

A source close to Guzman informed this writer that a fight between Larios is inching closer to reality. The proposed meeting would take place in Mexico City, Mexico on the under card of Marco Antonio Barrera's next fight.

An Irishman does stand in the way of the Mexico City showdown.

Friday night, at the Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore, California Wayne McCullough will challenge Larios. McCullough maybe an aged veteran who has seen his better days in the ring pass him by, but in the unpredictable world of boxing Wayne could become the fly in Guzman's ointment.

Manny Pacquiao Back at the Wild Card

The Manny Pacquiao experience has returned to the Wild Card Gym. With Pacquiao training at Wild Card for his March date against Erik Morales a circus like atmosphere has returned to the Hollywood, California gym.

The crowd at the Wild Card during a visit to one of Pacquiao's training sessions included dozens of Filipino fight fans, several photographers, a few video crews, and even a T-shirt vendor.

The lively crowd does not seem to bother trainer Freddie Roach or fighter Pacquiao. If anything, the energy in the gym fuels the Pinoy pugilist.

Word around the Wild Card is that Pacquiao has been instructed to take it easy with sparring partners. Apparently Manny has roughed up a few of the paid pugs causing them to split their sparring duties.

Castillo Cannot Corral Chico in the Ring

All looked good for a bout between lightweights Jose Luis Castillo and Diego "Chico" Corrales when the money reared its ugly green head.

Due to problems regarding the paydays of Castillo and Corrales, the bout was scrapped and the replacement has been announced: Castillo vs. Julio Diaz. This marks the second time in recent months that a bout between the two lightweight gladiators has been nixed.

Castillo verses Diaz has the makings of a decent fire fight even though it does not live up to the originally proposed battle. The bout between Castillo and Diaz may be viewed on the Showtime Network March 5, 2005.

Corrales' next fight has not been announced and the Las Vegas based lightweight has not seen action in the ring since his August, 2004 victory over Acelino Freitas.