2005 is starting to heat up in the world of boxing. It seems like most current top ten fighters in all divisions are interested in fighting each other. A fighter I must give props to, and believe me these are very overdue, is Jose Luis Castillo. This isn’t coming out of left field or after he totally dismantled Julio Diaz over the weekend, Castillo's props are just due and well deserved, since even most die hard fans don’t give him proper recognition. As a fighter he’s had numerous matches postponed and put off for who knows what reasons, he’s had to deal with all other sorts of adversity in and outside of the ring. So with all those things going for him, he’s been a favorite of mine for a while. In fact the only problem I have with Castillo, other than he seems to be easy to hit sometimes, is that he’s represented by Bob Arum; besides that he’s a gem.

In my eyes, Jose Luis Castillo beat the “great” Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their first fight and hasn’t ducked a single fighter in the Lightweight division. I remember the first time I saw him fight live, it was against the slick and very professional Stevie Johnston back in June of 2000 and it was a heck of a fight with both fighters refusing to back down from the other guy's will. It was such a tough fight I scored it a draw. Then rather than looking for an easy fight he gave Johnston a rematch in his own hometown of Denver, Colorado. A fight that again ended in a draw; the sad thing was I didn’t appreciate what I was seeing back then, a little over 4 and a half years ago.

Think about it, Castillo-Johnston II took place on the same day as the Oscar de la Hoya-Shane Mosley  fight, at the time both De la Hoya and Mosley were very high on the pound for pound lists and champions in the welterweight division. Speed ahead to mid-March of 2005 and Castillo is the champ and over of the best fighters in the world pound for pound. Think about his last 3 bouts: he had a pretty one sided decision over the very tough Juan Lazcano, in my eyes he beat the hell out of Joel Casamayor but was only rewarded with a split decision, he then takes Julio Diaz into deep water before stopping him in the 10th round and his next fight will be against the hard punching Diego Corrales. A note to Diego, if you think this guy will be like other fighters that have allowed you to walk in and impose you power, you will be making a fatal error. Should Castillo and Corrales meet, Diego will again have to box and move like he did in the second Joel Casamayor fight. Side to side movement does seem to bother Castillo in early parts of fights, but once he makes his adjustments and gets that double left hook going, he gets his opposition in a world of trouble.

Castillo has been fighting for almost 15 years and is a two time WBC lightweight Champion, yet, most die hard boxing fans don’t even know who he is other than “that guy who got robbed the first time he fought Floyd Mayweather.” It’s a shame; I’m hoping for him that after the first weekend in May everyone will know who he is and give him his just due if he beats Diego Corrales.

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