José Luis Castillo (born December 14, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2014. Generally considered one of the best lightweights of his era, he is a two-time world champion at that weight, having held the WBC title twice, from 2000 to 2002 and 2004 to 2005; and the Ring magazine and lineal titles from 2004 to 2005. Castillo is best known for his 2005 fight against Diego Corrales, for which he received Fight of the Year awards by both The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America, as well as his much-debated first fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Professional career

Lightweight

Castillo vs. Johnston I & II In 2000, having two straight wins over Jorge Paez and Steve Quinonez, Castillo challenged WBC lightweight titleholder and Ring No. 1 ranked Lightweight Stevie Johnston. Heavily favored as underdog, Castillo was slated to lose. Instead, Castillo scored the Ring Magazine Upset of the Year, defeating Johnston by a majority decision, in what was a very close fight. Three months later, they fought to a draw, memorable because miscalculation adding the scores led to an original announcement of Johnston regaining his title, which Castillo learned about when Johnston showed up in his dressing room to return the strap.Christ, Scott. "Another return for Jose Luis Castillo." July 28, 2008. Badlefthook. Retrieved May 31, 2010.

After fighting Johnston, Castillo defended his title against Ring Top 10 Lightweight, César Bazán. Castillo defeated Bazan by 6th-round TKO, dropping Bazan in the 5th and 6th rounds.

Castillo vs. Mayweather I

In his first bout with undefeated American junior lightweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., Castillo started slow but gradually lured the flashy boxer into a toe to toe battle. Castillo had great success in the middle rounds, when he cut off the ring and used his strength to try wearing down Mayweather. As the fight progressed, Castillo's power and pressure seemed to turn the fight in his favor, having tremendous success with body punching while Mayweather became more stationary, allowing the stronger Castillo to do significant work. Castillo closed the fight strong, outlanding Mayweather 35-20 in the 11th round and totally dominated the 12th. Punch stats showed Castillo with lopsided totals in every category; punches landed, thrown & power punches landed & thrown and overall connect percentages. Despite the clear advantages numerically, Castillo’s slow start cost him the fight as he only won 1 of the first 6 rounds. Judge Jerry Roth and John Keane scored it 115-111, and judge Anek Hongtongkam scored it 116-111, all for Mayweather, a decision that was loudly booed by the crowd. The HBO announce team loudly voiced its disapproval of the verdict, with unofficial scorer Harold Lederman having Castillo winning 115-111. Ultimately the fight was close enough to the Mayweather team that a rematch was signed.

Castillo vs. Mayweather II

After Mayweather's successful shoulder surgery, Castillo re-matched with Mayweather. Mayweather used his quick footwork, combinations and his jab specialty to coast to another unanimous decision victory, this time with all analysts in agreement, including Harold Lederman. The smaller Mayweather was again outweighed by Castillo on the night of the fight, as Castillo weighed 147 and Mayweather weighed 138.

Castillo vs. Lazcano On June 5, 2004, Castillo regained the Lightweight title and won the vacant Ring Lightweight title by defeating Ring No. 1 ranked Lightweight, Juan Lazcano. Castillo won the fight by unanimous decision, by the scores of 117-111, 116-112, and 115-113.

Castillo vs. Casamayor In Castillo's first title defense, he fought former Super Featherweight and future Lightweight champion, Joel Casamayor. In what was a very close fight, Castillo was awarded the close and controversial split decision. The scores were 116-112 and 117-111 for Castillo, and 115-113 for Casamayor. Castillo's next fight was a title defense against Ring Top 10 Lightweight, Julio Díaz, which Castillo won by TKO in the 10th round.

Castillo vs. Corrales I On May 7, 2005, Castillo fought WBO Lightweight champion and Ring No. 1 ranked Lightweight, Diego Corrales. Corrales defeated José Luis Castillo for the WBC lightweight title via TKO in the tenth round. The fight is almost universally regarded as the best fight of 2005.Eisele, Andrew. "Ring Magazine Fight of the Year." About.com. Retrieved 23 July 2006.Gregg, John. HIS main goal was to beat castillo."2005 Boxing Year in Review." 3 January 2006. The Boxing Times. Retrieved 23 July 2006."Corrales vs. Castillo I- Fight of the Year 2005." 5 January 2006. TigerBoxing.com. Retrieved 23 July 2006. Both men stood in front of each other, battering each other with hard combinations and power punches throughout the entire fight. Finally, in the tenth round, Castillo knocked Corrales down. Seconds later, Castillo knocked Corrales down again. Once on the ground, Corrales managed to beat the count, and, after a point was taken away for excessive spitting out of the mouthpiece, Corrales connected with a punch that Castillo later called "a perfect right hand."Castillo, José Luis. "Showtime Conference Call Quotes: Corrales, Castillo & Their Teams." 5 December 2005. East Side Boxing. His main goal was to beat Castillo. Retrieved 23 July 2006. Corrales then trapped Castillo against the ropes and landed numerous punches, causing the referee, Tony Weeks, to stop the fight.

Castillo vs. Corrales II A rematch between Corrales and Castillo occurred on October 8, 2005. On the day before the fight, Castillo weighed-in 3½ lb over the lightweight limit. Since Castillo did not make the weight, the fight became a non-title bout. The two fighters continued with the same fighting style that they had used in the first fight, trading inside punches throughout the first three rounds. Early in the fourth round, Castillo knocked down Corrales with a left hook to his chin. Corrales wobbled to his feet at the referee's count of ten, causing the fight to end.

Corrales vs. Castillo III, dubbed "The War to Settle the Score," had been scheduled for February 4, 2006, but it was postponed because of a rib injury that Corrales suffered while training. The fight was rescheduled for June 3, 2006. At the weigh-in, however, Corrales weighed the lightweight limit whereas Castillo weighed 139½ lb—causing the fight to be cancelled. Corrales later sued Castillo for punitive damages.

Light welterweight On January 20, 2007, Castillo won a narrow split decision over Herman Ngoudjo. On June 23, he fought Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas. Castillo was KO'd 2 minutes and 16 seconds into the fourth round by a crunching left hook to the ribs, one of the few times a top ranked boxer of Castillo's caliber has been KO'ed by a bodyshot and reminiscent of the bout between Roy Jones Jr. and Virgil Hill. Prior to the knockout Castillo had been deducted a point for low blows to his opponent.

Castillo was scheduled to fight Timothy Bradley in 2008 for the right to be number 1 contender to the WBC Super lightweight title, but during the weigh-in on March 8, 2008, Castillo weighed 147½ pounds (7 pounds over the super-lightweight limit). Bradley instead faced and defeated Junior Witter for the title.

Welterweight On the Pacquiao vs Clottey undercard on March 14, 2010, Alfonso Gomez and Castillo clashed for Gomez' WBC Continental Americas welterweight title. Ringside reporters have said that the fight was to see if Castillo had it anymore, and for this type of fight such a minor title is nearly an insult. Castillo lost in round 5 by TKO (not answering to the bell). After the bout Castillo announced his retirement, stating, "I just found out tonight I don't have it anymore, I want to apologize to the public and I am definitely announcing my retirement."

After announcing his retirement in March 2010, Castillo returned to action in a fight against Roberto Valenzuela on June 18, 2010 and won the bout by unanimous decision. The match was held at the Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes80Loss Ruslan ProvodnikovTKO5 (12), Nov 28, 2014 79Win66–12–1 José Luis PayanTKO5 (10), May 30, 2014 78Win65–12–1 Felix BojorquezTKO5 (10), Mar 21, 2014 77Loss64–12–1 Antwone SmithUD10Feb 1, 2013 76Win64–11–1 Iván PopocaRTD8 (10), Jul 13, 2012 75Win63–11–1 Sammy VenturaTKO2 (10), Nov 26, 2011 74Loss62–11–1 Jorge Páez Jr.UD12Mar 25, 2011 73Win62–10–1 Daniel Eduardo YocupicioTKO2 (10), Aug 7, 2010 72Win61–10–1 Roberto ValenzuelaUD8Jun 18, 2010 71Loss60–10–1 Alfonso GómezRTD6 (12), Mar 13, 2010 70Win60–9–1 Carlos UríasTKO2 (8), Sep 12, 2009 69Win59–9–1 Christian SolanoTKO3 (10), Aug 22, 2009 68Win58–9–1 Roberto ValenzuelaKO6 (10), Jul 25, 2009 67Win57–9–1 James WaykaTKO2 (10), Jan 17, 2009 66Loss56–9–1 Sebastián LujánUD10Jul 30, 2008 65Win56–8–1 Adan CasillasTKO6 (10), Oct 27, 2007 64Loss55–8–1 Ricky HattonKO4 (12), Jun 23, 2007 63Win55–7–1 Herman NgoudjoSD12Jan 20, 2007 62Win54–7–1 Rolando ReyesUD12Feb 4, 2006 61Win53–7–1 Diego CorralesKO4 (12), Oct 8, 2005 60Loss52–7–1 Diego CorralesTKO10 (12), May 7, 2005 59Win52–6–1 Julio DíazTKO10 (12), Mar 5, 2005 58Win51–6–1 Joel Casamayor12Dec 4, 2004 57Win50–6–1 Juan LazcanoUD12Jun 5, 2004 56Win49–6–1 Derrick ParksTKO2 (10), Feb 13, 2004 55Win48–6–1 Saul DuranTKO8 (10), Oct 10, 2003 54Win47–6–1 Gustavo CorralKO5 (10), Jun 14, 2003 53Loss46–6–1 Floyd Mayweather Jr.UD12Dec 7, 2002 52Win46–5–1 Verdell SmithKO3 (10)Aug 3, 2002 51Loss45–5–1 Floyd Mayweather Jr.UD12Apr 20, 2002 50Win45–4–1 Juan Angel MaciasTKO8 (10), Jan 25, 2002 49Win44–4–1 Fred LaddTKO4 (10)Aug 24, 2001 48Win43–4–1 Seung-Ho YuhKO1 (12), Jun 16, 2001 47Win42–4–1 César BazánTKO6 (12), Jan 20, 2001 46Draw41–4–1 Stevie Johnston12Sep 15, 2000 45Win41–4 Stevie Johnston12Jun 17, 2000 44Win40–4 Steve QuinonezUD10Apr 8, 2000 43Win39–4 Jorge PáezTKO5 (12), Oct 16, 1999 42Win38–4 Sandro MarcosKO8 (12)Aug 14, 1999 41Win37–4 Cristino Mota3 (10)Jul 10, 1999 40Win36–4 Pablo ValenzuelaKO4 (10)Jun 4, 1999 39Win35–4 Julian Romero6Apr 1, 1999 38Win34–4 Eduardo MontesKO3 (12)Feb 19, 1999 37Loss33–4 Julio AlvarezTKO10 (12)Oct 3, 1998 36Win33–3 Julio Sanchez LeonTKO8 (12)Apr 17, 1998 35Win32–3 Hector Javier MarquezTKO10 (12)Sep 12, 1997 34Win31–3 Rafael OlveraKO7 (12)Jul 4, 1997 33Win30–3 Javier RenteriaKO1 (10)Mar 8, 1997 32Win29–3 Jesus CastanedaKO2 (12)Jan 1, 1997 31Win28–3 Jaime FernandezKO1 (12)Dec 13, 1996 30Win27–3 Roberto ValenzuelaKO6 (6)Oct 12, 1996 29Win26–3 Jose Luis MontesKO7 (12)Sep 20, 1996 28Win25–3 Jesus ArceKO1 (12)Aug 15, 1996 27Loss24–3 Javier JáureguiTKO10 (12)May 9, 1996 26Win24–2 Carlos MadridKO2 (10)Mar 15, 1996 25Win23–2 Cornelio LopezKO4 (10)Dec 8, 1995 24Win22–2 Alfredo CurielTKO4 (10)Sep 29, 1995 23Win21–2 Ramon SotoKO3 (10)Apr 7, 1995 22Loss20–2 Javier JáureguiTKO10 (12)Nov 9, 1994 21Win20–1 Alfredo CurielTKO6Aug 26, 1994 20Win19–1 Francisco ValdezKO1 (10)Mar 18, 1994 19Loss18–1 César SotoTKO2 (12)Jul 9, 1993 18Win18–0 Lucilo NolascoTKO2 (10)Apr 30, 1993 17Win17–0 Juan Carlos SalazarTKO1 (10)Mar 5, 1993 16Win16–0 Ascencion LugoTKO3 (10)Dec 11, 1992 15Win15–0 Francisco Valdez6 (12)Oct 2, 1992 14Win14–0 Jorge CastroKO2 (10)Sep 4, 1992 13Win13–0 Rigoberto FelixKO3 (10)Aug 7, 1992 12Win12–0 Ramon AcunaKO2Jun 20, 1992 11Win11–0 Ramon ArreolaKO3 (10)May 29, 1992 10Win10–0 Cesar HuizarKO1Mar 30, 1992 9Win9–0 Ramiro DuntonKO5Nov 22, 1991 8Win8–0 Jose ManjarrezTKO7Sep 6, 1991 7Win7–0 Miguel Angel RamirezKO4Aug 19, 1991 6Win6–0 Victor MendozaKO4Apr 8, 1991 5Win5–0 Raul Contreras4Mar 21, 1991 4Win4–0 Jesus EscobarKO1 (6)Dec 21, 1990 3Win3–0 Jose AlvarezKO2Oct 1, 1990 2Win2–0 Manolo RamirezKO2Jun 23, 1990 1Win1–0 Ricardo Contreras2 (4)May 4, 1990

See also List of WBC world champions List of Mexican boxing world champions

References

External links

Jose Luis Castillo profile at About.com