By Richard McManus

Jose Luis Castillo is being portrayed by some as a man who intentionally deceived his opponent and the sport of boxing for some sort of personal gain or another.  Everybody is shocked that he showed up weighing 140 pounds for his Lightweight title (135-pound division) fight with Diego Corrales.  Why the shock?  Why the outrage?  He did just about the exact same thing last year when he weighed in at 138 pounds for last year’s Lightweight title fight with Corrales. 

Safety measures and a monitoring system were in place throughout the time leading up to the fight.  These measures were designed to ensure that Castillo’s weight was progressing downward at safe levels and were supposed to be used to track the likliehood that the fight would actually be able to take place. 

According to reports, Castillo did not hit the proper weight markers on at least two occaisions and the likelihood of him making weight did not appear good.  If he missed the WBC weight marker one month before the fight, why was the fight not cancelled then?  What was the point of weighing him thirty days prior to the bout?  Why was he in a position where he was expected to lose an unhealthy amount of weight prior to the fight? 

And now there is talk of fining and suspending Castillo.  Why?  If he didn’t hit the weight marker one month before the fight the fight should have been cancelled then with no negative consequences.  All the talk about weights and weigh-ins in the months prior to the fight was nothing but a charade, and now Jose Luis Castillo is being made the scapegoat for a sport that apparently has no enforceable rules.  

The most ironic thing about the entire episode was the mention that the fight was being cancelled because of the principled reason of the health of the fighters.  If that is the case the bout should have been cancelled a month ago when it became apparent that Castillo was going to have to lose an unhealthy amount of weight in too short a time.  It seemed that Corrales handlers and others involved felt, and rightly so, that to let the fight go on as scheduled would put Diego at too much of a disadvantage since Castillo would have been at a better physical advantage because he didn’t have to squeeze down to the unnatural weight of 135 pounds. 

But why is the decision seemingly based on the health of Diego Corrales and his well-being?  If health were an issue this fight never would have been signed at 135 pounds in the first place.  Everybody knew that Castillo would have trouble, if not find it impossible, to dehydrate himself enough to reach the weight. 

For years boxing fans and pundits have mentioned and speculated about the fact that Diego Corrales would make a great Welterweight.  It was always thought that someday he would grow into his 5’ 11” frame and dominate the higher weight classes.  People always knew he had no real business running around with fighters at 130 or 135-pounds.

Fast forward 7 or 8 years and he’s still squeezing down to the Lightweight limit while stepping through the ropes closer to the Welterweight or Junior Middleweight limit.  Where is the sense to all this?

Now we have this situation where Jose Luis Castillo showed up the day of the weigh-in five pounds over the limit.  Unheard of in a major fight (except the last time Castillo fought Corrales).  People are shocked and outraged when a fighter of Jose Luis Castillo shows up at 140 pounds for contracted Lightweight title fights. 

But where is the proportionate outrage when Arturo Gatti showed up on the day of the Joey Gamache fight 18 pounds over the limit back in 2000.  It becomes more of a running joke than a call for reform.  Gatti gained 18 pounds in one day and put Gamache in the hospital.  We as the boxing public expect fighters to squeeze down to unnatural weights and they do so of their own freewill to obtain as much competitive edge as possible. 

But a fighter like Jose Luis Castillo was under enormous pressure to try to make this unnatural weight.  His handlers and promoter thought he could do it.  The fans wanted to see part three of their rivalry.  Corrales goaded him into the fight.  His pride no doubt did a number on him.

As an aside, Bob Arum’s holier-than-thou act rings extremely hollow.  “This is not acceptable behavior,” says Arum.  Since when was Bob Arum in a position to state what is and what is not acceptable behavior?  It shouldn’t be acceptable behavior to schedule a Pay-Per-View card on the same night as an already scheduled Pay-Per-View card but Arum has no problem doing that.  But I digress. 

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Castillo weighed 141 pounds when he arrived in Las Vegas earlier in the week.  Being familiar with his body from past unnatural weigh-ins he reportedly said he felt he would be able to make 135.  Six pounds isn’t too much lose in the final week of a major fight, right?   Have you lost six pounds in a week?  Have you done so in the week prior to competing in a sporting event at the sport’s highest level?  Probably not.  Besides, the man is 32 years old. 

Jose Luis Castillo is the current scapegoat for a system, which, while it needs reform, may be broken beyond repair. 

The problem is endemic within the culture of boxing and can’t be fixed with a few rule changes or with weighing fighter in on the day of the fight.  Doing that would endanger the combatants well being even more because they would no doubt enter the ring without proper hydration. 

The fact of the matter is that this is something that is ingrained in the boxing culture.  Changing it would change the sport and until the participants are willing to make collective changes things will remain the same.  For now, I guess we’ll just have to blame Jose Luis Castillo for a persistent problem with no real solution. 

Contact Richard at rmcm12@hotmail.com