Exclusive Interview: Jose Luis Castillo.

“I think the fight could end within six or seven rounds, I believe with me knocking him out.”-Jose Luis Castillo.

Click for larger image © Tom Casino/Showtime

Clearly in good spirits and eagerly anticipating his showdown with Julio Diaz, Jose Luis Castillo, arguably the finest lightweight specimen in the world spoke to me about the fight and his future in boxing. When asked about his preparations for his latest WBC title defense, Castillo said, “I feel really good, you know, and I want to show the people that I am the best lightweight in the world and I am really looking forward to this fight.”

Discussing his advantage in experience at the top level in the sport, I asked Jose if he felt that it would be a deciding factor in the fight, to which he replied, “I think not only that, not only my experience, but my strength. I’m no dummy up there, I know how to fight, I know how to do things in the ring, I’m intelligent inside and I think I will be able to do all of those things against Diaz.”

Both fighters have indicated they feel that the fight will end in a stoppage, I wondered if Jose was confident of achieving one and received an emphatic prediction. “Yeah I think that is definitely something that is in my mind. I think the fight could end within six or seven rounds, I believe with me knocking him out.” Boasting a record of forty-five knockouts in fifty-eight fights, Jose’s sentiment is one that is difficult to dispute.

With so many high-profile fights to his credit, I was intrigued as to how Jose rated the importance of the Diaz fight in relation to his past achievements and the future possibilities that might fall his way. He responded by saying, “without a doubt, this is a fight that will open a lot of doors for me, one that will probably take me to a Corrales fight if he decides to fight. And maybe Kostya Tszyu and Arturo Gatti down the road.

Noting that Jose has mentioned his struggle to make the 135-pound lightweight limit for some of his past fights, the question of whether he felt a move to the light welterweight division was imminent had to be asked, and his response? “Yeah, I’m looking forward to moving up to 140 after Corrales. Maybe one more fight, and then I’ll move into 140, I think that’s how close I am to jumping into 140.”

On the ideal choice of a future opponent, he continued, “You know my dream fight is to fight Kostya Tszyu, I really want to fight Kostya Tszyu as soon as possible. I know he is thinking about 147, but I hope he’s thinking 140 so that I can fight him.” An exciting prospect indeed. The conversation soon turned to Jose’s thoughts on former conqueror and current light welterweight star Floyd Mayweather Jr. The lightweight champion was decidedly open and honest concerning his thoughts on Mayweather and their two championship fights. “You know, no question about it those fights hurt the most, losing those two fights, I thought I had won one at least. And yeah, it has been difficult to take those two fights, but I don’t see any difference in him. I think he’s still a good fighter. You know, he might be the world’s best at 140 but we’ll see what happens when he fights the real guys at 140.”

Considering the nature of those two Mayweather fights, Jose continued on the subject of what particular type of fight he most enjoys being involved. “Without a doubt I like to fight. You know, those guys that are movers and guys that want to box, I have trouble with them, I eventually get them but it’s a lot harder work to do it so I enjoy a good stand-up fight anywhere in the ring.” I also asked if Jose is conscious of raising his profile with exciting performances and if such a notion affects his approach to a fight, to which he replied, “Yeah you know, this is the way we Mexicans fight. We go forward, throw punches and whatever happens, happens. You know, sometimes people don’t like that. Sometimes people want to see more boxing, more defense. But that’s not my style, I come to give the people a good show, I think people enjoy it and hopefully we can do that on Saturday night.”

Accounting for all of the attention given to Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, I wondered if Jose felt overlooked in terms of recognition as one of the truly great Mexican fighters. Being refreshingly honest, he said, “You have to recognize what those guys have done with each other. I mean they’ve had three great fights, three fights that you are never going to forget, so I mean you know, I will be getting up there. Inch by inch, I’m inching up to them, and I think by the end of the year, hopefully with a couple more big wins, I’ll be put at the same level as they are.”

On the boxing world’s perception of him in the event of his eventual retirement from boxing, this is what Jose had to say about how he feels he will be remembered, “I think, you know, the fact that I’m a warrior in the ring, they know that I give it one-hundred percent every time I go out there. I think people recognize that and I think by the end of the day, that is what they are going to remember about me; a guy who gave it his all every time he went up there and gave fights they enjoyed.”

After wishing him the best of luck for his latest title defense, Jose had this final message for his many fans who will tune in to see him fight on Saturday night, “I just want to invite everyone to see the fight, you know, if they can’t be here in Las Vegas, hopefully, watch it on TV. It has been said that they expect a Barrera-Morales type fight, I hope it is. I’m ready to do battle, a battle is what everybody wants and I hope people enjoy it.”

When two Mexican warriors come to fight in a battle of this importance, our enjoyment in watching it unfold is perhaps the only thing that is guaranteed.

I would like to thanks Ricardo Jimenez and Richard Eberline for their assistance in making this interview possible.

Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk