-Darchinyan trains under Jeff Fenech's watchful eye-
-Photo Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime-

-Jose Luis Castillo couldn't beat the scale. He weighed in at 139-1/2 pounds-
-Photo Credit: Kenny Perrault/BRC-

        "The War to Settle the Score" was the name given to the third bout between Diego "Chico" Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, scheduled for June 3rd at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. In their first meeting both men dug as deep down as a man can dig, collecting every bit of stamina, power, and most importantly pride to get them through the fight that from start to finish was one of the greatest battles ever fought inside the ring. Both men endured the kind of pain that most of us can only  imagine, all the while never giving up.

        The tenth round will go down in history as one of the greatest rounds ever fought. Diego Corrales was floored twice; the first time his mouthpiece came out buying him time to recover as corner man Joe Goossen washed it off rather slowly. Shortly after the action resumed Corrales found himself once the seat of his pants again; this time, however, it seemed as if Corrales had spit out the mouthpiece, buying extra time to  once again  recover from the knockdown. When the action resumed this time, it was not Corrales who found himself in trouble but Castillo who got caught and ended up helpless on the ropes, forcing the referee to step in and stop the bout. No sooner did the fight end, the controversy began; as most of spectators questioned whether Corrales could have turned the tables had he not gotten the extra time to have his mouthpiece washed and put in twice.

        The second bout was marred with controversy before it began. This time it started at the scales as Castillo weighed in a few pounds over the 135-pound limit. As if that wasn't bad enough one of Castillo's' team members was caught trying to alter the weight by sticking his foot under the scale. Even though Castillo never made weight the fight still went on and was nowhere near as exciting as the first one;  the reason being it never had a chance to be. It looked as if it may be a repeat of the first clash in the first three rounds but that all ended in the fourth when Castillo landed a crushing blow that put Corrales down. This time there would be no mouth guard spit out and no time to recover, as Corrales never beat the count. With each fighter holding a win, the rubber match, aptly called "The War to Settle the Score" was set for June 3rd, 2006.

       Everything seemed to be sailing smoothly leading up to the fight. The final pre-fight press conference was filled with jokes and trash talk giving the room an edge of excitement. Bob Arum compared Jose Luis Castillo to the likes of Roberto Duran and Julio Cesar Chavez saying, "He fights with that determination and what does that really mean? It means that when they get in the ring their opponent is looked at by them as an annoyance, they go in with a determination to destroy the guy they are fighting." Arum added,  "In the ring he is a seek and destroy kind of fighter and that's what makes him popular and that's what makes him great and that's what your going to see on Saturday"  Bob Arum then turned the microphone over to Jose Luis Castillo who was brief but made it seem as if there were no worries concerning his weight. "There's a lot of inclinations if I'm going to make weight. Just look at me and tomorrow you will see me even better."

         Corrales also went on to say, "It's going to be a very tough fight like the first two and all I can tell you is that I'm going to win by knockout." It was now Gary Shaw's (Corrales promoter) to take over and hype his fighter. "Jose Luis will not have to seek; he'll (Diego Corrales) be right there." Speaking for Corrales Shaw went on to say, "I want to tell you what Diego just told me sitting right there. I turned to Diego and I'm telling the truth, and Diego will tell you I'm telling you the truth. I said we need to sit down after this press conference and discuss if Jose Luis doesn't make weight what we're going to do and he (Diego) says quote unquote I fucking made weight he better make it, I'll give him as long as he needs and I said I think the rule is two hours and said do you know this guy Keizer? (Keith Kizer, new Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission). I said yes and Diego said we'll make it four or five hours but make him make weight." Even with that said Gary Shaw didn't appear to be worried about Castillo making weight, adding, "I've been quoted saying I do believe Jose Luis Castillo will make weight; he's a fighter and he knows the importance of this for not only his legacy but to boxing."

        As usual the promoters were long winded while the main event fighters kept things short and sweet Diego Corrales simply said, "I  don't have a lot to say... I don't, except for this, you think I'm annoying now Bob, wait till you see me on Saturday." Diego then turned to Castillo and said " You ain't knocking out shit, you're going home with your loss."  With the press conference out of the way there was only one hurdle standing in the way of the fight and that was the weigh in, perhaps one of the most anticipated weigh in in recent memory

       Even with the tension thick at Friday's weigh in I was never sure if people really believed Castillo would not make the weight or if they simply were just talking about it to add drama. The drama would quickly come to its climax as Jose Luis Castillo made his way to the scale. Castillo stepped on the scale then stepped off repeatedly, making it unclear what was going. The answer was simple though, Castillo had come in heavy and not by a pound or two but by five pounds, weighing in at 140 pounds. Castillo once again stepped on the scale,  this time coming in at 139-1/2 pounds still 4-1/2 pounds over the lightweight limit. When the weight was announced it felt as if the room had been drained of all its air and everyone in attendance gasped in  shock and disappointment.

        It was now Diego Corrales' turn to step on the scale and when he did, he weighed in perfectly at 135 pounds. Corrales flexed on the scales with a look of anger on his face possibly knowing all his hard work to make weight may have been a waste.  Castillo quickly left the room to try to lose two pounds which was the maximum amount of weight the Nevada State Athletic Commission would allow Castillo to lose in the two-hour period he was given. With Castillo trying to sweat off the pounds and Corrales trying to figure out what to do the rest of the weigh went on as scheduled but it had lost its luster. Two hours later Castillo came back and stepped on the scale, not having lost an ounce of weight.

        Team Corrales shortly made their decision to not go on with the fight leaving everyone involved from promoters, managers, fighters, and fans feeling very disappointed. Fans were given the option to receive a full refund on their tickets or still go to the fights and watch the new 'main event' between IBF Flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan and Luis Maldonado. Most fans went with the refund and who can blame them.

         On fight night there may have been two to three thousand fans on hand. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Darchinyan scored an eighth round TKO over Maldonado.
 

6-03-2006        

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