I'm a big fan of Jose Luis Castillo. He's from the same town my father is from in Mexico. Empalme is a small town known for its freight train maquiladora and lies adjacent to a bigger city of Guaymas, a port city that is known for its fresh seafood.
I remember as a young adult the night Castillo fought Floyd Mayweather. My mother, father and brothers were home that particular night in 2002. My father was in a great mood and felt his favorite fighter was going to defend his lightweight title in spectacular fashion. I say defend his title because Castillo has recently revealed in an interview where he corrected the podcast interviewer and stated that it was he that gave Mayweather the opportunity, not the other way around. BoxRec, a boxing website, shows Mayweather as the Super Featherweight champion in his previous bout before the May 7,2002 bout with Castillo and the website also shows Castillo as a non title holder prior to the bout.
My father told the family in Spanish, that he had a one-hundred dollar bill that was itching him in his wallet. That was his way of telling us that he was willing to place a wager on his favorite fighter that night, up to one-hundred dollars. I pulled my mom aside and I told her there was no way Floyd Mayweather was going to lose that night. She asked me why I was so confident. I continued and told her that Mayweather was the heavy favorite because he, at the time, was an undefeated with a pro record of 27-0 and all the publicity was in his favor. I was young at the time, in my early twenties but I convinced my mom and I to put our money together to go up against my father's wager. We scrambled putting twenty dollar, ten dollar, five dollars and any change we could find together. At the end we didn't accumulate the one-hundred dollars but my father was so confident that he accepted our wager. That fight on April 20, 2002 between Castillo and Mayweather went the full twelve rounds and has been a controversial decision for many boxing historians. Mayweather won by a unanimous decision, meaning all three judges saw the fight in his favor.
Castillo in his recent interview with Long Live Boxing on YouTube shared that the World Boxing Council traditionally was against back to back to rematches but that the fight was so controversial that they made an exception and granted a rematch in December of that same year. The result was the same, a unanimous decision in favor of Mayweather but if I remember correctly Castillo failed to make weight for the rematch bout and the WBC Lightweight title was only on the table for Mayweather to defend and not for Castillo to capture. It's important to note that Castillo did fight in August in between his two fights with Mayweather where he earned a third round knockout over Verdell Smith in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
One of the most intitmate stories Castillo shared during the podcast show was one where he was training in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico for a fight versus Ricky Hatton. The fight was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas the summer of 2007. He needed to return to his home to renew his visa in order to travel to the United States and when he arrived to Hermosillo he discovered that his wife was being unfaithful. Castillo shared that this was his first time sharing the story publicly and that as much as he wanted to cancel his next fight with Ricky Hatton, the contracts were signed and in fear of being taken to court for breach of contract, he went throught with the fight. He shares that his personal life turmoil might have played a part of him not getting up after Hatton dropped him in the fourth round from a body shot to the liver.
Castillo was very honest and candid furing his recent interview. The podcasters asked him if he was still involved in boxing. They asked him if he managed or trained fighters or if he promoted events. Castillo was very honest and said that when he was a professional fighter it was very hard to keep him active in the gym and now that he's retired he avoids being around the gym just as much or even more. They all shared a laugh.
On October 29 in Texas Jose Luis Castillo will be involved in a charity boxing event where he will get in the ring with ex champion Marco Antonio Barrera in an exhibition bout. The event will raise money for a noble cause.
You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, Sonteo Media.
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