Boxing Round By Round: Jose Luis Castillo – Rolando Reyes

Last night on an HBO televised Top Rank card from the Don Haskins Center In El Paso, Texas, the world’s premier lightweight, Jose Luis Castillo, saw action against Oxnard, California’s Rolando Reyes. Round one: the fight starts with Reyes, a replacement for Diego Corrales, pawing at Castillo with the jab in the center of the ring.

Click for larger image © Tom Casino Showtime Boxing

Both fighters are feeling each other out for the first minute without throwing any punches. Castillo throws the first punch of the night halfway through the round by landing a jab and rushing Reyes with a left hook that goes over Reyes’ head. The pace is slowed after that, as Reyes looks content on keeping the fight on the outside. With about a minute left in the round, Castillo lands a lead left hook to the side of Reyes’ head. Neither fighter looks eager to exchange thus far, but Castillo is pressing along with the left hook occasionally but hasn’t landed yet. Castillo closes the round with a left hook to the body of Reyes.

Round two: after a first round that consisted of almost nothing but feeling each other out, Reyes starts the second jabbing and circling the center of the ring. A minute into the session, Castillo lands a lead left uppercut under the jaw of Reyes that pushes the Californian to the ropes. Castillo works Reyes there with a barrage of hooks to the body but fails to land upstairs. Reyes circles off the ropes with about a minute left in the round and lands a left hook of his own. The fight quickly gets back to the ropes however, with Castillo working the body in traditional Castillo fashion. The Mexican lands a left hook below the belt at the round’s closing and is warned about hitting Reyes low.

Round three: following a round where Castillo did most of his work to the body, he lands a stiff left jab at the opening of the third. Castillo is dictating the pace of the fight thus far, forcing the action to the inside or on the ropes at will. Castillo is employing the jab more in this round then any other, throwing it almost solely for the first half of the frame. With a minute left in the round, Castillo follows up a jab with a left hook that lands to the jaw of his adversary. Reyes looks unharmed however, and lands a big counter uppercut with thirty seconds left in the round. Castillo looks undaunted and continues to press forward with the jab. The round closes with a Reyes left hook to Castillo’s guard.

Round four: Castillo has been in control thus far, dictating the pace of the fight. The first minute of the fourth consists of almost nothing but Castillo stalking Reyes and following him around the ring. Halfway through the fight goes to the ropes and the two trade hooks, and Reyes lands a big right uppercut. Castillo continues to press forward though, and lands two unanswered hooks at the forty second mark. Reyes does not look hurt however, and lands a big right cross with thirty seconds left. The rest off the round is just Castillo stalking Reyes around the center of the ring, occasionally popping his jab.

Round five: Reyes looks settled in now, possibly having shaken off the effects of being in his first major fight. Castillo is still controlling the fight however, and has implemented a strategy from the outside, keeping his jab in the face of Reyes. Castillo has yet to follow the jab up with any power punches, two minutes through the round. Castillo is keeping the fight on the outside, and other then misfiring with a pair of uppercuts in the final thirty seconds of the fifth round, hasn’t made an attempt to trade on the inside. The round closes with a chorus of boos from the crowd as both fighters fought in a very passive manner.

Round six: following up on the fifth round, both fighters spend the first half of the sixth doing nothing but staring at each other in the center of the ring. Castillo finally livens up and attacks Reyes on the ropes with a barrage of left hooks. The two wrestle on the ropes for a bit before the referee breaks it up but not before a Reyes right uppercut that lands on the bottom of Castillo’s jaw. The last thirty seconds resembles the first thirty, as neither fighter is attempting to do anything more then paw at each other with their jabs. The round closes with more boos from the crowd.

Round seven: the seventh starts with Castillo jabbing Reyes to the ropes before he hits him with a left hook below the belt. After Castillo has a point deducted for low blows, he again forces Reyes to the ropes and works the body with the right hook. Reyes has no answer for Castillo on the ropes, and is doing nothing but covering up and holding on. The fight gets back to the center of the ring with about a minute left in another fairly actionless round by Castillo standards. Reyes is very cautious in the ring, not stepping into any of his punches and only using the jab. The round closes with Castillo firing over top of Reyes with a lead left hook.

Round eight: the eighth starts slow with both men jabbing and circling the center of the ring. After the first two minutes pass, Castillo finally presses forward with a lead left hook that Reyes deflects before promptly circling off the ropes and gets the fight back to the center of the ring. As has been the theme in most of these rounds, Castillo ends the eighth jabbing and controlling the fight from the center of the ring.

Round nine: once again, to the crowd’s displeasure, Castillo begins the ninth by jabbing and landing at the center of the ring and continues this for the first two minutes. Reyes has been unsuccessful in counterpunching Castillo so far, partially because of the lack of opportunity to do so that Castillo has given him. With thirty seconds left in the round, Castillo presses forward with a lead left hook to the body of Reyes and Reyes lands a straight right hand counterpunch. The round ends with more boos from the El Paso crowd.

Round ten: both fighters answer the bell to a rabid booing session put on by the Texas audience. Reyes comes out jabbing, trying to make something happen for him to change the direction of the fight. Reyes’ urgency is matched by Castillo’s, as he brings the fight to the inside and lands two unanswered left hooks to the body of Reyes before the ref breaks up the scrum on the inside. Castillo backs up and spends the remainder of the round doing what he’s done most of the fight, jabbing in the center of the ring without following up. At the round’s closing, Castillo bull rushes Reyes and lands a right hook to the top of Reyes’ head before the two get entangled in the ropes.

Round eleven: after a fairly uneventful fight thus far, Castillo begins the round with a stiff jab that catches Reyes coming inside. Castillo fails to follow up on that jab and once again slows the fight down before the halfway mark of the round. At that point Reyes lands a quick jab and straight combination. Castillo shakes it off and continues to fight the fight at his pace. Castillo comes inside, landing a big right uppercut towards the closing of the round but doesn’t follow up. The eleventh closes with the now familiar boos from the crowd.

Round twelve: after yet another slow paced round, the two enter the twelfth to another chorus of boos. Reyes still looks to be fighting passively, seemingly very wary to Castillo’s power. Finally, with a minute and a half left, Reyes stalks Castillo to the ropes but Castillo boxes his way off. Castillo rushes Reyes to the ropes where he lands a couple of big body shots. Reyes recovers though and the fight once again goes to the center of the ring where most of it has taken place thus far. Reyes has fought in a passive fashion the entire fight and the crowd acknowledges that by booing at the bell.

The official scorecards are read and Jose Luis Castillo wins a unanimous decision to go to 54-7-1 (47) on scores of 119-108, 116-111 and 117-110. Rolando Reyes falls to 26-4-2 (16).