From all reports, Manny Pacquiao’s training camp in Baguio City, Philippines has been picking up much intensity as his sparring sessions with both undefeated Shawn Porter and Lightweight contender Urbano Antillon have been brisk and fasted paced. A recent name to add to the mix is that of Jose Luis Castillo, as the former Lightweight king is set to arrive in Manila today and begin sparring with Pacquiao this coming Saturday.
To those who remember best, Castillo was at one point considered one of the elite fighters in the world due to his relentless nature, rock iron chin, and vicious attack to the body. While obviously a few years removed from his best fighting days, Castillo adds another dimension to Pacquiao’s camp because of his championship experience as well as having a style that is shades similar to Miguel Cotto, who Pacquiao will be facing this coming November 14th.
As the Pacquiao vs Cotto wagon continues to churn, this is what some people are saying about Castillo being added to the mix of camp Pacquiao.
Las Vegas based trained Jeff Mayweather has gotten to know Castillo very well over the years, as they first became acquainted with one another in Mexico City, Mexico in 1996. Both Mayweather and Castillo were serving as partners for Julio Cesar Chavez, who was getting ready for a bout with Joey Gamache at the time. Looking back, Mayweather remembers a different side of Jose Luis.
“I just remember that he was a great guy,” Mayweather claims. “I always enjoyed hanging around with him and I always remember him cracking jokes. I thought it was funny because he tried his best to speak English but couldn’t quite master the language.”
Mayweather would end up being brought in for future camps with Chavez and every time he was there, so too was Castillo. They formed a friendship with one another and eventually began working with one another inside of the ropes as well.
“Naturally we ended up sparring each other,” Mayweather recalls. “Too be honest it wasn’t that difficult for me at first but over time he improved. The one thing about Castillo is that he was always in tremendous shape. He used to go running with Chavez up in the mountains six times a week so he was always in shape.”
Even flashing back to those times in the late 90’s, Mayweather was still working with his nephew Floyd Jr. Ironically he recalls Castillo’s deep desires to one day face his nephew.
“He used to always beg me to get him a fight with Floyd,” says Jeff. “To be honest I thought it would be easy work for Floyd but who would have imagined years later he would end up giving Floyd one of his toughest fights? It’s just funny how things play themselves out.”
Although Mayweather’s memories of Castillo serve as interesting flashback fodder, the only thing that matters most for Castillo is his present assignment as a key member of Pacquiao’s camp in Baguio City. When asked if he feels Castillo can still be serviceable as a fighter, Mayweather offers up a few thoughts.
“Castillo is clearly past his best and everybody knows that,” Jeff claims. “But I do feel he can still be pretty decent. Even in sparring I can see him presenting a challenge for Pacquiao. Obviously Pacquiao has a big advantage in speed but Castillo is a lot craftier than you would think. He probably won’t get the best of Pacquiao but he won’t embarrass himself either.”
Indianapolis Fight Sports Examiner Dennis Guillermo believes that Castillo’s arrival serves multiple purposes for Team Pacquiao. In his article Guillermo points to Castillo’s size and strength as well as his previous championship experience all paying dividends in helping Pacquiao get ready for the Cotto showdown. Elaborating further, Guillermo also notes that if Pacquiao is to ever face Mayweather then his work with Castillo, who gave Floyd all he could handle in two encounters, will be a huge plus.
In a recent article with BoxingScene, Castillo spoke of his willingness towards helping Pacquiao as well as his own personal belief that his own fighting days are far from over.
“When I received the invitation to have sparring sessions with Manny Pacquiao I immediately [accepted],” Castillo states. “It is interesting to help Pacquiao. I was invited for my body punching, which Cotto does, and my ability to apply constant pressure on my opponents.”
When sizing up the Pacquiao vs Cotto showdown, Castillo sees a fight that presents clear and present danger for each man.
“Pacquiao must protect himself against any punishment to the body,” the former champion stated. “Cotto will be at his weight and he will be stronger, but Pacquiao always surprises people and anything can happen that night.”
Fight History
Over the years Castillo has stood out to me because of his relentless style and ability to adapt inside of the ring. From my own recollection, these are my most vivid memories and recollections of ‘El Terrible’ over the years…
Castillo fought 39 out of his first 42 fights in Mexico, building up a 38-4 record while going unnoticed by many fights fans. A few fights later, in June of 2000, Castillo would crash the scene when he upset then champion Steve ‘Lil’ But Bad’ Johnston in Bell Gardens, California. The fight took place the night before the first Shane Mosley-Oscar De La Hoya encounter and was regarded as the ‘2000 Upset of the Year’ by Ring Magazine.
After fighting Johnston to a hotly contested draw in their rematch three months later, Castillo would start to began making a name for himself with a crushing 6th round knockout over former champion Cesar Bazan in January of 2001. The bout was took place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and served as the chief undercard attraction to that evening’s main event, Floyd Mayweather vs. Diego Corrales, both of whom Castillo would end up fighting twice later down the line in his career.
In 2002 Castillo had two competitive fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr., both taking place in Las Vegas. It is the first contest that many believed is the only true loss on Mayweather’s record, as Castillo pressured him throughout, making the bout awkward and sometimes ugly for his flashy counterpart. Castillo did such a fine job of pressuring Floyd in the first match that people turn to that fight when looking for a blueprint on how to defeat Mayweather. In fact, HBO judge Harold Lederman scored the bout 115-111 in Castillo’s favor. In their rematch 8 months later Mayweather would make adjustments and come away with a more definitive victory in a still very competitive fight. Despite losing both times Castillo’s stock didn’t fall at all.
After slightly disappearing from the scene for a while Castillo would make a return to the big stage in June of 2004 as he faced off with Juan Lazcano for the vacant WBC Lightweight Title on the Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Sturm undercard. Despite being away from the spotlight for a bit, Castillo would remind everyone of his true worth by administering a heavy beating on his younger foe over the second half of the fight. So impressed with Castillo’s performance at the time was then Jr. Lightweight contender Nate Campbell, who called the Mexican a ‘stone cold killer’ because of his crude and physical nature inside of the ring.
One of Castillo’s less definitive wins was in December of that year as he met former Cuban amateur star Joel Casamayor at the Mandalay Bay. At the time Casamayor was rumored to have been slipping as he was coming off of decision win over Puerto Rican Daniel Seda in which he was floored and had to claw desperately just to get a win. Against Castillo however, Casamayor would present a difficult puzzle to solve as his southpaw style and ring savvy offset Castillo’s pressure early on. Only late in the fight did Castillo began to turn the tables as he poured on just enough of an attack to escape with a split decision verdict that many felt should have went the other way.
Despite looking ordinary against the aging Casamayor, Castillo would follow that fight up with one of his finer performances in the ring just three months later as he locked horns with young Julio ‘The Kid’ Diaz. At the time Diaz had rebounded from his shocking knockout loss to Juan Valenzuela a few years prior in claiming the IBF Lightweight belt against Javier Jaugueri. I actually had predicted that Diaz’ youth and versatility would be enough to upend Castillo but I was proven severely wrong. In a fight that defines his best qualities as a fighter, Castillo fought Diaz on even terms early on before slowly breaking him down over the second half of the fight. Castillo’s pressure and body attack was too much for his younger foe as he applied a sustained beating that left Diaz unable to continue in the 10th round.
Castillo’s May 2005 clash with Diego Corrales is regarded as one of the most brutal, breathtaking, and simply best fights of all time. In that bout the two champions linked up in a fight that produced just as much drama and action as you could ask for. For nine rounds the two men hacked away at each other mercilessly, with Castillo having success through his body assault while Corrales rocked him in return with power shots upstairs. The momentum of the bout went back and forth and there didn’t seem to be more than ten seconds where one guy was in clear control. In the 10th round things would come to a climax and Castillo seemed on the verge of a knockout win as he dropped Corrales twice in the round. After the second knockdown Corrales’ mouthpiece came out of his mouth, allowing him precious time to gather his senses, as he was able to recover just enough before turning the tables. Moments later a right hand would stagger Castillo and a follow up barrage would force referee Tony Weeks to call a halt to the bout. Some would later claim that the ending result was controversial and that if Corrales wasn’t allowed the extra 20 seconds to get his mouthpiece in, he surely would have been finished. No matter what your opinion of the fight is, you can’t deny that seeing those men go to war was something truly special.
With the first Castillo-Corrales bout being so breathtaking, people were eager to see it again and the two fighters linked up just five months later. This bout was also surrounded with controversy as Castillo weighed in well over the Lightweight limit, tipping the scales at 138.5 pounds to the shock of many. Corrales and his camp still went through with the fight but inside of the ring the extra weight seemed to benefit Castillo greatly as he appeared much bigger and stronger than he ever had up until that point. He ended up dominating Corrales from round one on and finished the contest off with a jarring left hook that had ‘Chico’ on the floor and dazed. Corrales would get up before the count of ten but was staggering around the ring, forcing referee Joe Cortez to waive the contest off. Although the circumstances were shady, Castillo had exacted his revenge.
The two fighters were to meet again in a rubber match in February of 2006 but a Corrales rib injury nixed the bout. Castillo would defeat replacement Rolando Reyes by unanimous decision as Castillo-Corrales III was pushed back to June. Unfortunately the contest would never come off, however, as Castillo came in at 139.5 pounds, nearly five pounds over the lightweight limit, forcing bout to be cancelled at Corrales’ request. As punishment the Nevada State Athletic Commission levied the maximum fine of $250,000, suspended Castillo for the remainder of 2006, while also disallowing him to fight under 140 pounds. The ending result left fans bitter and disappointed with Castillo and a black cloud seemed to follow him ever since.
From that point forward the prime years of Castillo’s career had seemed to pass him by and the results haven’t been nearly as positive. In January 2007 he would return with a lackluster split decision win against Herman Ngoudjo, setting up a big showdown with Ricky Hatton six months later. In the contest Castillo appeared slow and a few steps behind, ultimately being finsihed off with a left hook liver shot in the 4th round that left him on both knees in pain, unable to continue. It was strikingly obvious that we weren’t dealing with the same Castillo anymore. Having turned pro in 1990 at the age of 16, he had been involved in over 60 fights, taken too much punishment, and racked up too many miles on his odometer to be close to the force he once was. Still, to this day, Castillo fights on, and has amassed a 4-0 record in 2009 against non-descript opposition, with title hopes still very much a dream of his.
Source: examiner.com
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