TalkingBoxing Articles
Corrales v Castillo III: Why Castillo Will Win
THU June 1, JASPREET PANCHHI - Saturday, June 3rd on Showtime Championship Boxing at 9PM/EST, Diego “Chico” Corrales will be defending his WBC Lightweight Title against “El Temible” Jose Luis Castillo, who knocked out Corrales in the 4th round of their rematch last October after Corrales had stopped Castillo in the 10th round of an epic encounter in May. The fight and score will be take place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Their first fight saw one of the greatest ends to a match-up in recent times. Castillo knocked down Corrales twice in the tenth round before an epic episode of events which saw Corrales continuously landing punches on the Mexican, forcing referee Tony Weeks to call a halt to an exhilarating war.
There was controversy over the continuous spitting out of the mouthpiece by Corrales following the knockdowns and there was also a polemic in the stages leading up to the fall rematch. Castillo failed to make weight, taking the titles off the table in a fight that saw Corrales knocked out in the fourth round from a left hook that landed flush on the chin of the American.
Jose Luis Castillo has almost starved himself to make the 135-lb
lightweight limit for the third chapter of the trilogy by eating only once a day
before undergoing vigorous cardiovascular training in a bid to ensure that
there is no repeat of the events leading up to the second encounter between the
two fighters.
Since the second bout, Castillo fought Rolando Reyes in an encounter, which saw Castillo control the boxing style of Reyes on his way in taking a unanimous decision in February. Corrales has had rib injuries that have delayed the third fight in happening but the champion is now approaching his fighting peak and has vowed that “Castillo’s done”, as he told to Talkingboxing’s Roger Gordillo.
This is most likely going to be the last fight at lightweight for both fighters. Ricky Hatton has expressed interest in fighting the victor although if Castillo emerges the winner, the Mexican will most probably go against Miguel Angel Cotto, who is the current WBO Light Welterweight champion.
Why will Castillo beat Corrales? One huge issue is Castillo’s inside game. The rematch between the two ended up to be an inside fight and Castillo showed superior leverage, economy and timing. He gave himself to punch and landed his own punches while Corrales was throwing, thus catching Diego off-guard. Corrales prefers to fight inside and the fight is likely to follow the pattern of the prior fights between the two.
Corrales is
known to
be a natural brawler and many doubt his ability to box on the outside
after
Freitas outboxed Corrales in the earlier rounds of their fight before being stopped late.
In addition, one of Corrales' biggest weaknesses is his defence, which was encapsulated in his fight against Floyd Mayweather back in 2001 and equally so when Castillo landed a textbook left hook in their second fight that ended Chico's night.
There are also doubts about
Corrales’
chin and this is mirrored by the fact that Corrales was down five times
against Mayweather, twice in his first fight against Casamayor and once
in
the second fight against Casamayor. Comparatively, Castillo has never
hit
the canvas.
The fight promises to embody the excitement of the first two fights and
the
winner could have a PPV-fight with Miguel Angel Cotto. Although I have outlined the
strengths
of Castillo which suggest that he will emerge victorious following the
Corrales v Castillo III showdown, Corrales does have tremendous power.
Some may wrap up the fight as being power vs. chin and a chin nearly always
overcomes power.
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