From the Vault 06.02.08: Corrales vs. Castillo I
Posted by Jonathan Yaghoubi on 06.02.2008
In the first ever edition of From the Vault, we look at and review the classic first confrontation between the late Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo.
Welcome to the first ever edition of From the Vault. Here at 411mania, I am starting a new series of articles where I review back old fights that are aired weekly on ESPN classic. The format of these articles will focus on three things. First, I am going to do a round by round recap, Second, I will score each round and lastly, I will rate each fight on a scale of zero to five gloves. What a treat we have today as the first fight reviewed is possibly the best fight.
The date was May 7th, 2005 and anyone who was at the Mandalay Bay that night in Las Vegas will never ever forget the war that they saw. But it was more than a just a war. It was quite possibly the greatest fight off all time and most likely the greatest finish to fight in the history of the sport. Even though Diego Corrales left us too soon, no one will ever forget his accomplishment he had that night ever.
May 7th, 2005 on Showtime
Aired on ESPN Classic: May 26th
Your Hosts are Steve Albert and Al Bernstein
Diego "Chico" Corrales (39-2, 32 KO's) WBO champion vs. Jose Luis Castillo (52-6-1, 46 KO's) WBC champion
Round 1- Corrales is off to fast start as he throws some quick left jabs and then a few left hooks to the body. It looks like Diego is going to take to the body on Castillo. Diego is being the aggressor by far and is taking advantage of Castillo's reputation as a slow starter. Diego continues to pound the body but midway through the round, Castillo throws some good left hooks that wakes up the Mexican crowd as they start the "Castillo" chant. Diego is warned for rabid punches. Corrales fires away through the last 20 seconds but Castillo responds back with a few punches as both men stand toe to toe and are throwing bombs to end a very exciting round. Diego was the more active fighter so by default takes the round.
Corrales 10-9
Round 2- Corrales continues to pound the body as both men get tied up. Diego does not stop with his body shots as he is looking to win this fight on the inside. But Castillo finally shows some life as he lands a right uppercut followed by left hook a minute into the round that gives him his best combo of the fight. Both men continue to stay inside. Corrales responds well from Castillo's combo with a combo of his own as he lands a right followed by a body shot with a hard left hook. Another left hook by Corrales rocks Castillo and sends him back a little. Castillo comes with a big body shot and Corrales combos. A huge exchange at the round as Corrales wobbles Castillo again. WOW! The second round is better than the first!!
10-9 Corrales Total = 20-18 Corrales
Round 3- Corrales continues to fight fire with fire as he stays on the inside and is starting to fight Castillo's fight! Castillo looks like he is still trying to get warmed up as Diego's hand speed has been the difference so far. Both guys continue to fight a tough fight on the inside as Corrales throws another left hook. Castillo comes back with an uppercut and then throws another. A combo by Corrales backs Castillo back a little but he responds in a back way with another right uppercut. It's the last 15 seconds and Castillo is dominating with multiple headshots. Diego looks to be tiring a little as Castillo scores big at the end of the round and takes his first round of the fight!
10-9 Castillo Total = 29-28 Corrales
Round 4- It's only been three rounds but this is looking like the fight of the decade already! The left hook continues to be the number one punch thrown by Diego but Castillo is responding back with that same left hook. A left hook by Corrales and it's responded with a combo by Castillo. They are trading punches on the inside and it looks like Diego is getting the better of that. Oh man, how many body shots can these guys take?? A big left stuns Corrales and Castillo comes with another left hook and then an uppercut. Castillo and Corrales are exchanging more body shots. There is now blood on the left eye of Castillo and Corrales has some blood as well. They are still going toe to toe on the inside as the round ends with a Castillo left. A very tough round but I go with Castillo
10-9 Castillo = 38-38
Round 5- Ref calls for time so that Castillo's corner can wipe the grease of his face as he has deep cut in his left eye. There now seems to be more distance between both fighters. A heavy body punch by Castillo that is responded back by Corrales with a body shot of his own. Both men continue to trade shots as this has been the best fight I have ever seen up to this point. Castillo lands a big right as the Mexican crowd is back behind Castillo. They go back to trading on the inside. Castillo is digging to the body but Corrales comes back with a few combos and has Castillo against the ropes and is doing some damage. Castillo ends with an uppercut but that does not seem enough to win.
10-9 Corrales = 48-47
Round 6- Castillo has a nasty cut to the eye that was caused by accidental head butt so the doctor can stop the fight and go to the scorecards. The guys stay on the inside as both look fatigued. Both men trade body shots (what a shocker!) and left hooks at the same time. Corrales is living and dying on the inside. The last twenty seconds and it's on! Both men exchange punches but Castillo lands a left uppercut and a right punch to the temple and in the last 10 seconds, Castillo fires away while Diego bobs and weaves. Castillo puts an exclamation point to the round and takes it!
10-9 Castillo = 57-57
Round 7- The fans are chanting for Castillo as it looks like he seized the momentum from the last round. They start trading hooks and then a body shot by Castillo. A combo is followed by Corrales as he is swelling badly under each eye. Castillo now is landing some hooks but Corrales comes back with a bomb with another combo! They are trading on the inside, Castillo with a big hook, Corrales with a big right hand and Castillo keeps coming. A five punch combo by Corrales?!?! Oh my as Corrales rocks Castillo with a left hand as Castillo legs buckled and almost went down for the first time in his career! AN OUTSTANDING ROUND but then again every round had been awesome.
10-9 Castillo = 67- 66 Castillo
Round 8- Corrales comes out firing with a short right with two left hooks. Castillo comes back with a hard right shot of his own. Blood is trickling down Castillo's eye. Corrales is really hurting Jose now as his combo stumbles Castillo. Corrales continues to march forward but now his resting on Castillo. Diego backs off from him and lands some healthy left hooks. But amazingly, Castillo is still fighting back with a minute left as he lands the right uppercut. With 40 seconds left, Castillo lands a small but deadly punch to the ear that sends Corrales tumbling to the ropes. Castillo is firing away as Diego's mouthpiece falls out but Corrales ends the round wobbling Castillo with left hook. I am just sweating writing this!
Round 9- Both fighters exchange small punches on the inside for the first minute. This is the slowest the fight has looked but can you really blame them?? Castillo is on the outside scoring strong with the left hook. LOW Blow by Castillo! This is actually the second one in the round and the ref just gives him a warning as the Castillo crowd is not pleased. Corrales comes back with some hard inside rights. Castillo hits it with a left. Huge right at the bell by Corrales!
10-9 Corrales= 76-76
Round 10- This is it! The best round ever! Corrales starts off by jabbing and then they trade body shots. And 24 seconds into the round, Castillo lands a fantastic left hook and down goes Corrales as his mouthpiece comes flying out. Diego gets up at 8. The mouthpiece gets put back in. Castillo nails him with one left hook and follows with another and down goes Corrales again as he takes his mouthpiece out while he is down. Diego gets up at 9 and the ref is taking a point away for spitting the mouthpiece out. His trainer goes up to give him the mouthpiece and utters the words "You better f*cking get inside him now!" Something must have clicked for Corrales from that point. Castillo goes back to work but Diego comes back with a right that hurts Castillo! Oh man, Castillo is badly hurt as Corrales is going crazy on him against the ropes. Castillo is out on his fight and the REF STOPS THE FIGHT! Corrales gets himself a huge TKO victory and is the new WBC lightweight champion!! One of the greatest rounds and best comebacks ever!
What can you say about this fight that has not already been said? It is one of the greatest fights of all time as I can put it on my top 3. There was non stop action for 10 rounds and there no slow parts at all. The fact that it looked like Castillo was so close to finishing Corrales in that 10th round with the two knockdowns and then for Corrales to come back moments later to stop Castillo is unreal. This is stuff you do in videogames but never see in real life. This is an all time classic and this is your first perfect 5 glove match!!
Great article - also one of my favourite if not my favourite fight of all time. And yep Round 10 is the best round i've ever seen.
Posted By: Craig (Guest) on June 02, 2008 at 01:33 AM
One of the greatest fights I've ever seen hands down. You can't beat the drama.
Posted By: Ramon Aranda (Registered) on June 02, 2008 at 01:08 PM
One of my great joys as a sports fan will always be watching this fight on the couch, live and drunk as hell with my girlfriend. No boxing event has compared to it since. It was indeed unreal, and like a Rocky movie. Thank you gentlemen and R.I.P Diego.
Posted By: Buck I (Guest) on June 02, 2008 at 06:25 PM
