Jose Luis Castillo: The Premier Lightweight That’s Always Taken Lightly.

Translated from Spanish to English by Sergio Martinez.

“On May 7, everyone will be witnesses to a tremendous fight that will end with my arm raised in victory. This fight might last one round, six rounds, or ten rounds, but it will be a knockout victory for me.”-Jose Luis Castillo.

On May 7, 2005, live on Showtime from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, W.B.C. lightweight titlist, and the Ring Magazine’s lightweight champion Jose Luis “El Terrible Castillo will put his hardware on the line in a unification bout against W.B.O. lightweight boss Diego “Chico” Corrales in a fight that is certain to be one best in 2005. Both fighters are all action, hard-punching, blood and guts warriors that love to mix it up and let bombs fly. “It’s going to be two forces of nature colliding in the ring and expect a fight at very close quarters with a lot of body punching and chin checking,” said Jose Luis Castillo from his training camp located in a small village named Moya, in the mountains a few miles outside of Toluca, Mexico, were the elevation is over twelve-thousand feet above sea-level. “Corrales is a great fighter, and we are looking forward to a great fight for the fans. This is not going to go twelve rounds as we are both in your face, hard punching combatants that like to fight. I have the advantage because I’ve never been down in my career and he (Corrales) has been on the canvas several times. They say I’m a fighter with no defense that gets hit a lot, but after fifteen years of boxing, if you look at my face, it’s without a mark. I do have a little scar tissue on my eyes, but that’s due to cuts caused by head butts.”

Do not miss the rest of this essential interview with two-time WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo, only at SaddoBoxing.com

Castillo has beaten the likes of Stevie Johnson (a prime lightweight champion), Cesar Bazan (a prime lightweight champion), Saul Duran (solid contender), Juan Lazcano ( a prime number one contender at the time), Joel Casamayor (who split a pair of fights with Corrales and was a super featherweight champion), and a streaking Julio Diaz (lightweight champion). Castillo also fought on even terms over the course of twenty-four rounds with Floyd Mayweather Jr., yet he is still overlooked by most “boxing experts” when it comes to “pound-for-pound” consideration. “I’m always the fighter that is the underdog according to the odds makers and boxing experts. Yet, with all due respect to the odds makers and the media, I always shut everyone’s mouth up at the end of the fight. They are always saying he’s too slow, he’s too old, he does not have good boxing skills, but, incase they haven’t noticed, it’s all about winning and that’s what I keep doing. Winning! Like the first Mayweather fight, I truly believe I won. I did very good bodywork and had Mayweather running away all night but I was robbed. What can I say? That’s boxing. I don’t care. Slowly but surely, I’m making a name for myself and the experts will one day realize my greatness. It will probably happen after I retire (laughing).” Isn’t that always the case?

And every time his name is mentioned on H.B.O. or Showtime, one of the commentators seems to always bring up the fact that for five years of his young boxing life, Castillo was the primary sparring partner for the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez. After accomplishing so much in his own career, won’t statements like that bother him? “It does not bother me at all. Julio is my teacher. My mentor. My idol. I perfected my craft in that ring with him. I learned to be a champion with him and it does not bother me that I have never been able to completely get out from under his shadow.”

He may have perfected his craft in the ring sparring with Chavez, but he learned it from his father, Jose Luis “El Zurrdo” (English translation: the lefty) Castillo, who was a top lightweight in the sixties in Mexico. “I guess I was just dumb (laughing) and didn’t want to go to school so I went to the gym so I can get my face punched in (laughing). My father fought twice for the Mexican title, but always came up short. It was a big thrill when I won a world championship. My family was extremely excited and very proud of me.”

And although his own family is struggling right now, since Jose Luis and his wife separated eight months ago and they expect for the divorce to be finalized at the end of the year, he still maintains constant contact with his two sons. “I don’t know if I am married anymore (laughing). My wife does not really talk to me too much anymore, but I still see my two sons, ages twelve and six, all of the time. They love to come and see me train every now and then and accompany me to my fights. I’m just trying to be a good father and am working hard to make sure everything is going well.”

And working hard he has been as his last fight, against Julio “Kidd” Diaz, was on March 5, 2005, with Castillo only taking two weeks off after the fight before he began his training camp for his upcoming fight with “Chico.” “Goossen is saying that I’m worried about being tired because in a press conference, I mentioned that it was a little hard to come right back into camp with only two weeks of rest. They are the ones that are worried. Goossen is a good trainer, but will never beat me no matter what fighter he brings into to the ring, they will all lose. Even with Mike Tyson, he will lose (laughing). Like Miguel Diaz, he tried to beat me with different fighters several times, couldn’t, and ended up joining my team. I guess Goossen will soon be in my corner too.”

And if Goossen wants to continue to put fighters in against Castillo, he is going to have to find a junior welterweight as Jose Luis believes that his fight against Corrales will be his last fight at the lightweight limit. “I never weigh myself until one week before the fight. I just do a lot of conditioning and have my personal doctor who is always with me and gives me a lot of vitamins, iron to help my strength, and a very strict diet. I am usually very physically drained at the weigh-ins, but do recuperate to about eighty percent of my possible full-strength come fight time. That is why I believe that I will be even stronger at 140-pounds, because I will no longer have to kill myself to make weight and will be at one-hundred percent of my strength.” That’s a scary thought for anyone who may fight Castillo in the future. “I would love to fight the winner of the Gatti vs. Mayweather fight, but I prefer Gatti to win because that would be a much better fan-friendly fight since Arturo doesn’t dance around the ring like Floyd does. I also would like to fight Miguel Cotto if he can still make the weight. The whole Mexican vs. Puerto Rican rivalry would make it a great event. I see Cotto as a great fight, kind of like Edwin “Chapo” Rosario, and everyone saw what Julio Cesar Chavez did to “Chapo.” Maybe I will do the same to Cotto?” And after fifteen years of being a professional fighter and with fifty-nine fights under his belt, how much longer can Castillo continue to fight? “I only plan to be in boxing for no more than three more years. I will win a world title at one-hundred forty pounds, will defend it a few times, and then retire.”

In closing, Jose Luis had this to say: “On May 7, everyone will be witnesses to a tremendous fight that will end with my arm raised in victory. This fight might last one round, six rounds, or ten rounds, but it will be a knockout victory for me. I will win this fight to make sure that I don’t defraud the people that have always believed in me, and have been saying that I’m one of the best fighters in the world. I will put my beloved Mexico, and home of Emplame, Sonora, very high for the whole world to see.”

And if all goes as planned, Goossen better get his passport ready as he will have to travel to the small village of Moya, Mexico, for Castillo’s next training camp.

Sergio Martinez can be reached at srg_mrtnz@yahoo.com