Ricardo “Piolo” Castillo: Baby Bro Can Fight.

On June 22, 2005, the main event of Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo” boxing series featured lightweight monster Jose Luis Castillo’s younger brother, Ricardo “Piolo” Castillo taking on the always dangerous Edel “Cuate” Ruiz for the Mexican super bantamweight title. Ruiz, who happens to be the twin brother of 118-pound contender Heriberto “Cuate” Ruiz, is a very tough, game, and experienced opponent that is a hard night for any fighter in his weight division. The younger Castillo, who really does look like a young version of Jose Luis, came out strong, wanting to impose his obvious strength advantage early.

Ruiz was very game, and had never been stopped in forty-three fights. He showed a lot of savvy and a ton of heart, but was just not strong enough to keep the continually charging and energetic Castillo off him. “Piolo” lit Ruiz up in the second round with a brain jarring left hook to the chin, sending “Cuate” to the canvas. Ruiz beat the count, but was seriously hurt. It took all of Edel’s experience to be able to out-maneuver the young Ricardo, and make it out of the round.

There were some good exchanges throughout the fight, as Ruiz kept it entertaining, but it was clear to see that with every passing round, Ricardo was taking over. Ruiz’ frustration started to grow after the fifth round, as he started to land a lot of blows south of the border, and would hold every single time Castillo would get something going. After several warnings from the referee, and point deductions, Ruiz was finally disqualified in the eighth round. It was a solid win for a very young and exciting fighter in Ricardo “Piolo” Castillo (now: 21-2-0 with 13 KOs).

It is just my opinion, but Ricardo “Piolo” Castillo showed good patience, solid skills, a nice stiff right jab, good hand-speed, and a good array of punches in his arsenal. His chin was not tested last night as “Cuate” was not much of a puncher. It will be interesting to see how Ricardo will progress. Julio Cesar Chavez taught Jose Luis Castillo, who is now passing that knowledge on to his younger brother, Ricardo. He was not in there easy last night as Ruiz is as tough and game as they come, but Ricardo did very well and passed his first big assignment.

Contact Sergio Martinez at srg_mrtnz@yahoo.com