Jose Luis Castillo (51-6-1-45 KO’s) got the job done Saturday night at the
Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas against the slick and always-dangerous southpaw,
Joel Casamayor (31-3-0-19 KO’s).
Casamayor, the former Super Featherweight Champion who moved up to
Lightweight has shown in recent bouts that he is not just a highly skilled
technical fighter but at times, he can muster up surprising power. Moving up
to 135-pounds and taking on one of the best in the division says a lot about
his confidence. Casamayor has added ring legend Roberto Duran into his
ever-changing training camp this time up.
This fight was a classic match up of the Matador vs. Bull. Early on in the
fight, Casamayor was able to outbox Castillo and control the tempo. Castillo
had a hard time finding Casamayor in the first three rounds and Casamayor’s
superior boxing skills rendered Castillo ineffective. Joel was able to score
some good shots and easily win the first quarter of the fight.
By the fourth round, things changed. Castillo was starting to step up the
pressure and cut off the ring. Casamayor, the matador, was losing control
over the bull and took to holding more often than punching. In that process,
Castillo discover the tool he needed to win—attacking the body from inside
the clinches. You had to pay very careful attention to notice how
effectively Castillo was in the clinches. It was not flashy but it was
effective.
Outside of his grit, power and heart, there isn’t anything particularly
special about Castillo’s style of fighting. He comes straight at you
tirelessly, always throwing punches. A slick defensive fighter with
respectable offense can figure him out and beat him with elusiveness and
counter punching as Floyd Mayweather Jr. did in 2002. But Castillo is the
reigning WBC Champion in the 135-pound division for a reason…because he
knows how to win. In this fight, Castillo always aimed his hooks at the body
before going upstairs and it was paying dividends. Little by little,
Castillo was putting rounds in the bank in a fight that initially looked
like he was going to lose.
As is customary in any Joel Casamayor fight, there were some moments of
roughhousing that forced referee to work up a good sweat in trying to keep
things clean. Casamayor threw a few low blows, had a few forearms to the
neck, and would often push Castillo’s head down with his hands during
clinches. There were plenty of warnings but no points deducted. But whatever
Joel did, Castillo always kept coming forward, punching and landing enough
shots to take rounds four through eight.
In the ninth round, they traded in the center ring and Casamayor scored the
better shots. Boxing from the outside proved effective for Joel and he won
the ninth by executing better ring generalship. Casamayor started well in
the beginning of the tenth, landing the cleaner punches but Castillo took
over midway into the round and won the last three rounds on my card by
outworking and outscoring Casamayor with effective aggression.
The Judges scores were:
Carol Castellano – 115-113 for Casamayor.
Dr. Jen Kin – 116-112 for Castillo.
Dave Moretti – 117-111 for Castillo.
Sharkie’s Machine scored it 117-112 for Castillo.
* * *
Joel Casamayor is a very good fighter who has come up short against his
biggest opponents. He lost a decision to Acelino Freitas, split fights with
Diego Corrales, losing the last one by decision and now he’s lost to Jose
Luis Castillo. Where does he go from here?
There are a few guys he probably beats at Lightweight, like Juan “Baby Bull”
Diaz, who’s still sort of ‘green’ even though he owns a Title. A rematch
with Freitas is probably never going to happen if it hasn’t by now. There’s
no reason for Corrales to fight him again so where does he go from here? I’d
like to see him fight Julio Diaz or Juan Lazcano, two top guys in the
division.
Congratulations to Jose Luis Castillo, who retained his Title against a
quality opponent. What’s next for Castillo? He has fought 58 professional
fights now and retirement can’t be too far away. He can continue to take on
whatever mandatory challengers at Lightweight or he can move up to 140 and
try to fight the man he said he wants to fight, the cream of the Jr.
Welterweight crop—Kostya Tszyu. That sounds mighty ambitious. All I can say
is I wish him the best of luck.
