By Frank Lotierzo

 

Obviously, Jose Luis Castillo failing to make the 135 pound lightweight limit for the biggest fight of his life is very telling. It's also a pretty good indication that he'll probably be moving up in weight to finish his career. Never before did Castillo have more reasons and incentive to work and sacrifice to get down to the lightweight limit than he did for this fight with Corrales. Not only was the chance to win back his lightweight title riding on the fight, but it was also the biggest pay day of his career. His failure to make weight meant he couldn't reclaim the title by winning. If that weren't enough, he had to give up 10% of his $1.2 million dollar purse to pay his fines for weighing in 3.5 pounds too heavy. What should have been a lightweight title bout was billed as a 12-round special attraction. 

 

The weight appeared to an advantage for Castillo in the rematch as he was stronger fighter and had the advantage from the start of the fight. The first two rounds appeared to be reminiscent of how the first fight started, except Castillo was the more dominant fighter. In the third round, a Castillo hook sent Corrales stumbling backwards, but he was unable to put him away. In the fourth round, as Corrales was winding up to throw a right hand, a Castillo left hook landed right on his chin and put him down hard. Joe Cortez reached the count of ten as Corrales was unable to get up in time.

 

Because Castillo was unable to make weight, Corrales kept both of his titles.

 

For Castillo, not being able to reclaim the title from Corrales was a big setback. In their first fight five months ago, Castillo dropped Corrales twice with lead left hooks to the jaw in the 10th round of their title bout. Both times Corrales went down, he lost his mouthpiece or spat it out. This presumably gave him a little extra time to recover and stabilize himself. Corrales was up at the count of nine after the second knockdown. After having a point deducted by referee Tony Weeks for the infraction of spitting out his mouth guard and having his trainer rinse it off, the fight resumed.

 

The fight picked up with Castillo on the attack, as Corrales nailed him with a picture-perfect right hand flush on the chin. The punch froze Castillo for a second as Corrales followed up his right hand with a clean left hook that had Castillo on rubbery legs. Corrales followed Castillo as he was pushed back and cut loose with a barrage of hooks and right hands. With Castillo's hands down to his side, Corrales landed another big hook to the face, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 2:06 of the round.

 

At this time Castillo's failure to make weight has disrupted his career. After fighting at 147, he probably doesn't want to put himself what he used to in order to make the 135 pound lightweight limit.  If he tries to make lightweight again, it may weaken him and tax his 31 year old body to where he's no longer effective and unable to apply constant pressure. It could be moving up is no longer a choice, it's a must.  There certainly are plenty of compelling fights in the junior welterweight division that could be made involving Castillo.

 

The junior welterweight division is loaded with upper-tier championship caliber fighters. Undefeated Ricky Hatton (39-0) holds the IBF title that he won from reigning champ Kostya Tszyu this past June. Floyd Mayweather Jr (34-0), who won a controversial decision over Castillo in their first fight, but clearly beat him in the rematch is the WBC champ. The always exciting and tough former title holder, Arturo Gatti, is right behind Tszyu among the top junior welterweights. Also on the verge of breaking into the top-ten in the division is Miguel Cotto (25-0) who like Gatti, is never in a bad fight.

 

The only thing sure about the future for Luis Castillo is, he has his work cut out for him regardless of what division he decides to campaign in. Six months ago, the junior welterweight division was thought of as the deepest and most competitive in boxing. Outside of Mayweather, the other top junior welterweights like to push the fight and apply pressure, similar to Castillo. In his rematch with Mayweather, Castillo struggled in coming up with the right counter attack to solve the smooth and fluid Mayweather and it's doubtful a third fight would be any different.

 

However, Castillo matches up with the other top junior welters and title holders. His determination and heart make him a hard nights work for any fighter five pounds north or south of him. Castillo is a threat to any junior welterweight not named Mayweather. Potential fights with Gatti, Tszyu and Hatton would be non stop action from bell-to-bell. 

The only issue for Castillo is at age 31 and having fought so many wars in a career that began when he was just 17 years old, it's hard to gauge how much he has left. That said, Castillo campaigning at 140, gives an already top heavy division another infusion with even more compelling fights that could be made.