Francisco Javier Castillejo Rodríguez (born 22 March 1968), commonly known as Javier Castillejo, is a Spanish former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2009. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Council (WBC) light-middleweight title twice between 1999 and 2005, and the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title from 2006 to 2007. At regional level he held the European light-middleweight title twice between 1994 and 1998, and the European Union middleweight title in 2002.

Professional career Castillejo made his professional debut on 22 July 1988, when he outpointed Ángel Díez over six rounds in Madrid. He had an immediate rematch with Díez, on 2 September of the same year. Their second fight resulted in Castillejo's first knockout win, when he beat Diez in the fourth round. On 4 November, he had his first fight outside Madrid, and his first knockout win in the first round, when he beat Juan Perez in Torrejón.

Castillejo had four more wins, before he was defeated for the first time. On 19 August 1989, he lost an eight-round decision to Del Bryan, in Benidorm. But he followed that loss with a streak of twenty two victories in a row.

Among the most notable wins during that streak were a fourth-round knockout on 19 October 1990, of Alfonzo Redondo, which gave Castillejo the Spanish Welterweight Championship, at Leganés. On 5 July 1991, he retained that national championship, with another fourth-round knockout victory, this time against Domingo Sanchez, in Lugo. On 10 April 1992, Castillejo got his first win against a former or future world champion when he knocked out former IBF lightweight champion, Puerto Rican Harry Arroyo, in three rounds at Leganes. He followed that victory with another win against former WBC light welterweight champion Saoul Mamby of Jamaica, by an eight-round decision on 15 May, at Bilbao. On 12 December of that year, Castillejo added the WBC's Mundo Hispano light middleweight title, when he defeated Enrique Areco by a twelve-round decision in Oviedo.

First title shot Despite the fact that he had not fought outside Spain as a professional yet and thus he had little international fan recognition as a boxer, Castillejo received his first world title try, when he challenged Julio César Vásquez of Argentina, for Vazquez's WBA light middleweight title, on 24 April 1993, also in Leganes. Vazquez outpointed him over 12 rounds, ending his 22 fight winning streak.

After defending his Mundo Hispano regional title with success in a rematch with Victor Hugo Sclarandi on 29 October of that year by a knockout in five rounds, Castillejo finally had his first fight abroad when he beat Bernard Razzano by a knockout in six rounds, at Dijon, France, to conquer the European light middleweight title. He defended the title successfully four times, then lost it, on 3 January 1995 to the then WBA light middleweight champion Laurent Boudouani, in Épernay, France, by knockout in the ninth round.

His next fight was a victory by disqualification in six rounds on 14 July against Carlos Rocha Tovar in Seville. The victory against Tovar was followed by a rematch with Boudouani, who would once again defeat Castillejo, this time around by a twelve-round decision, at Levallois, 6 January 1996.

Castillejo then won six more fights in a row before fighting for a world title again. He regained the EBU light middleweight title by knocking out the former WBA welterweight title challenger, Ahmed Dottuev, in round twelve at Suffolk, England, on 2 July 1998.

First world title On 29 January 1999, Castillejo got his second chance at becoming a world champion. He outpointed Lineal and WBC light middleweight champion Keith Mullings over twelve rounds to join a handful of world champions to come from Spain. Despite some protests from Mullings' management team, the judges' decision remained, and Castillejo held the WBC title.

Losing the title to De La Hoya

After five defenses, where Castillejo retained the title, a fight was set between him and Oscar De La Hoya. It was Castillejo's first big time, Pay Per View event. Many fans, perhaps ignoring Castillejo's achievements in Europe and as defending world champion, regarded Castillejo as another stepping stone in De La Hoya's career. Castillejo commented to this regard, saying on a press conference before the fight, which was held in Las Vegas, that "(he) didn't come to Las Vegas to do tourism, but to defend (his) title". Castillejo lasted the twelve round distance with De La Hoya, but was sent to the canvas seconds before the fight ended, and lost a unanimous twelve-round decision and his world title, on 23 June 2001.

After six months, Castillejo returned to the boxing ring, beating the well regarded Xavier Moya by a knockout in five rounds, On 11 January 2002, to win the vacant European Community's Junior Middleweight title, in Barcelona.

On 12 July 2002, he partially regained the WBC light middleweight title, when he beat Roman Karmazin by a twelve-round unanimous decision in Madrid, for the WBC's "Interim" title. This interim recognition was later retired from him, however, because he did not fight the WBC's recognized champion, which at the time was Shane Mosley, who had suffered an injury and was unable to box for the period being.

Castillejo then won four fights in a row, all by knockout.

He fought Fernando Vargas, in a fight that was supposed to be for the WBA's vacant light middleweight title, on 20 August 2005, in Chicago. It was decided ultimately to make the bout a ten-round affair instead of a world championship fight. Despite being dropped in round three, Castillejo was able to last ten rounds with fellow former world light middleweight champion Vargas, but he lost a ten-round decision to the Mexican-American.

Winning a middleweight title On 15 July 2006, Castillejo sprang back on the boxing scene by defeating younger Felix Sturm of Germany to seize the WBA middleweight belt in an exciting fight. Sturm, making his first title defense, was headed to a one-sided win until Castillejo (61–6, 41 knockouts) caught him with a left hook against the ropes with 13 seconds left in the 10th Round.

Castillejo, then hit Sturm (27–2, 11 knockouts) with three uppercuts before the referee called the fight, making Castillejo, 38 at the time of his upset victory, the oldest man to win a recognized version on the World Middleweight Championship. He lost his title in his first defence against Argentine Mariano Natalio Carrera via a disputed 11th-round TKO. Later on, Carrera tested positive for Clenbuterol and was suspended for 6 months by the WBA, thus Castillejo regained his title on 23 February. . He lost the title 28 April 2007 in a rematch against Felix Sturm. He fought Mariano Natalio Carrera again on 13 November 2007, this time winning by KO in the 6th round.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes72DrawPablo Navascues104 Apr 200971Loss62–8 Sebastian SylvesterKO12 (12), 12 Apr 200870Win62–7 Mariano Natalio CarreraKO6 (12), 13 Nov 200769Loss61–7 Felix SturmUD1228 Apr 20076861–6 Mariano Natalio CarreraTKO11 (12), 2 Dec 200667Win61–6Felix SturmTKO10 (12), 15 Jul 200666Win60–6Luis CarmonaTKO2 (10)3 Feb 200665Win59–6Presente BritoPTS84 Nov 200564Loss58–6Fernando VargasUD1020 Aug 200563Win58–5Enrique CamposTKO5 (8)11 Jun 200462Win57–5Genaro RiosTKO3 (10)16 Apr 200461Win56–5Ignacio SolarTKO2 (10), 12 Sep 200360Win55–5Diego CastilloTKO1 (12)9 May 200359Win54–5Roman KarmazinUD1212 Jul 200258Win53–5Pierre MorenoTKO7 (10)26 Apr 200257Win52–5Xavier MoyaTKO5 (10)11 Jan 200256Loss51–5Oscar De La HoyaUD1223 Jun 200155Win51–4Javier Martinez RodriguezTKO4 (12), 21 Oct 200054Win50–4Tony MarshallUD1221 Jul 200053Win49–4Juan RondonTKO3 (10)14 Apr 200052Win48–4Mohamed BouallegKO8 (10)17 Mar 200051Win47–4Michael RaskTKO7 (12), 17 Dec 199950Win46–4Paolo RobertoTKO7 (12), 10 Sep 199949Win45–4Humberto ArandaTKO4 (12), 14 May 199948Win44–4Keith Mullings1229 Jan 199947Win43–4Cristinel AcatrineiTKO2 (8)16 Oct 199846Win42–4Ahmet DottuevTKO12 (12), 2 Jul 199845Win41–4Fernando Jose RieraPTS1018 Mar 199744Win40–4Juan Ramon MedinaTKO8 (12)12 Jul 199643Win39–4Tibor HorvathTKO4 (6)16 May 199642Win38–4Stefan DriscuTKO2 (8)7 Mar 199641Loss37–4Laurent BoudouaniUD126 Jan 199640Win37–3Carlos Rocha Tomar6 (6)14 Jul 199539Loss36–3Laurent BoudouaniTKO9 (12)3 Jan 199538Win36–2Ludovic ProtoTKO8 (12)23 Jul 199437Win35–2Patrick VungboPTS1229 May 199436Win34–2Valentino MancaTKO3 (12)25 Mar 199435Win33–2Santo ColomboTKO3 (12)19 Feb 199434Win32–2Bernard RazzanoRTD6 (12)11 Jan 199433Win31–2Hugo Daniel SclarandiKO5 (12)29 Oct 199332Win30–2Javier RiveraTKO4 (8)25 Jun 199331Loss29–2Julio César VásquezUD1224 Apr 199330Win29–1Jesus Carlos VelezPTS826 Mar 199329Win27–1Enrique ArecoUD1212 Dec 199228Win27–1Antonio CampbellKO3 (8)13 Oct 199227Win26–1Vasile CiteaPTS817 Jul 199226Win25–1Jorge Sclarandi819 Jun 199225Win24–1Saoul MambyPTS815 May 199224Win23–1Harry ArroyoTKO3 (8)10 Apr 199223Win22–1Edison MartinezKO3 (8)14 Mar 199222Win21–1Lindon ScarlettPTS88 Feb 199221Win20–1Gejza Stipak4 (8), 17 Jan 199220Win19–1Patrick VungboTKO5 (8)6 Dec 199119Win18–1Domingo SanchezTKO4 (10)5 Jul 199118Win17–1Juan RosarioTKO6 (8)18 May 199117Win16–1Eric DindainePTS821 Dec 199016Win15–1Alfonso RedondoTKO4 (10)19 Oct 199015Win14–1Jose Salinas1 (8)17 Aug 199014Win13–1Claudio SalgadoTKO1 (6)14 Jul 199013Win12–1Mateo ValdezTKO2 (8)31 May 199012Win11–1Felix RodriguezTKO5 (8)5 May 199011Win10–1Carlos TavarezTKO2 (6)16 Feb 199010Win9–1Louie AntunaPTS630 Dec 19899Win8–1Jimmy BartesTKO2 (6)16 Nov 19898Loss7–1Del BryanPTS819 Aug 19897Win7–0Victor CarvalhoPTS629 Jul 19896Win6–0Juan Antonio LopezPTS814 Jun 19895Win5–0Modesto VillardellTKO1 (6)23 Feb 19894Win4–0Santiago VasquezPTS619 Nov 19883Win3–0Juan PerezTKO1 (4)4 Nov 19882Win2–0Angel Diez4 (6)2 Sep 19881Win1–0Angel Diez622 Jul 1988

Pay-per-view bouts Date Fight Billing Buys NetworkDe La Hoya vs. CastillejoThe Quest400,000Pay-Per-View History at about.comHBO

See also List of light-middleweight boxing champions List of middleweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of WBC world champions List of European Boxing Union light-middleweight champions

References

External links

Javier Francisco Castillejo profile at Cyber Boxing Zone