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"Corrales-Castillo"

Posted by Superbad on 05-08-05 at 03:08 AM
I know this isn't about The Contender, but it is about boxing and there is a special reason, so...Tonight, one of the greatest fights of all-time unfolded in the city of Las Vegas. If you did not catch it tonight, or do not follow boxing regularly, do yourselves a favor: Watch this fight on replay tomorrow on Showtime 2.
Please.

It's 5 hours later and I'm still on a high. One of the most amazing things I ever witnessed...



Table of contents

Messages in this discussion
"RE: Corrales-Castillo"
Posted by VegasFightWriter on 05-08-05 at 04:29 AM
I was just about to make a post to express the exact same thing. What a fight. What a night. What an unbelievable night. After the eighth round, I wrote in my notebook, "Round of the Year." And so it was ... until the tenth. The only shame was that there were so few people in the arena to witness it, but the 5,000 or so who were there made enough noise for 15,000. Promoter Gary Shaw said at the press conference that, "We have all just witnessed the greatest fight we will likely ever see as long as we live." Amen. My report will be posted tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll post a link here when it is. What a fight. What a fight.

"RE: Corrales-Castillo"
Posted by Lazt Boy Scout on 05-08-05 at 05:14 AM
Just happened to read the message at 2am and noticed the fight was on.

Wow.

Probably one of the best fights I've ever seen, as both were throwing punches right to the very end. I would have hated to have been a judge if it went to a decision, there were so many punches!

Great comeback by Corrales, I have no idea where he got that last batch of focus and energy.


"Fight report"
Posted by VegasFightWriter on 05-08-05 at 02:06 PM
Here's my fight report. Hard to do justice to such an incredible battle, but I did my best.
http://www.tigerboxing.com/articles/index.php?aid=1001245049

"RE: Fight report"
Posted by Superbad on 05-08-05 at 02:58 PM
Excellent article, man!!! Excellent!!
As one who has been in and kept up with the game for half his life and knows his boxing writing, that was about as damned as good a fight article as I think I will read on this bout.
I mean that. I do a little writing myself and e-mail writers their props when I see a work of excellence. It really has to impress me to do this (which is hard to do.)

That said, here's your props. I gotta hand it to you, man.
I'll be looking out for your work in the future.
Great job.

"Many fighters boast that their opponents have to kill them to beat them. Corrales means it. Had Castillo beheaded him and thrust a stake through his heart, he still might not have denied him."

Classic, man. So true...


"RE: Fight report"
Posted by VegasFightWriter on 05-08-05 at 03:46 PM
Thank you so much. I appreciate that. After the press conference, a bunch of folks were heading out to dinner, but as we stood in line waiting to go in, I said, "You know what? I have to split. I have to start writing about this fight right now." So I ran to my room and pounded it out. With more time I might have smoothed it out more.

Thinking about it, the most striking aspect of the post-fight atmosphere was the near-horror with which even hardended fight people viewed what had happened: like I said in the article, a strange conflicted sense of shock and awe. Joe Goossen seemed genuinely shaken by what he had seen, and what he had been a part of. (BTW, Jay Larkin of Showtime said that the thing we missed by being in the arena is that the TV cameras showed that Goossen did a terrific job in the corner. Is that right? I imagine so; he's a great trainer -- and Ishe's new trainer, too, by the way).


"RE: Fight report"
Posted by Superbad on 05-09-05 at 01:04 AM
Naw, man. It was good. No more smoothing needed. In fact, it makes it even more impressive that you were able to crank it out in a few hours like you did. Then again, that probably just flowed from the soul, so it was "easy" in that regard...

I know about wanting to revise. I think writers are forever wanting to revise.

Goossen did an excellent job throughout, even the way he took his time washing out the mouthpiece (and sneaking in instructions.) His job in the corner was cooly professional: thorough, concise, and in full control.

When you talk about the near-horror...Now being one the other side of the fight (the living room side) it was hard to see the horrific aspect; that probably was something that only could've been seen and felt live. I knew it was an amazingly brutal fight, no doubt, but it was probably something that could've have only been fully experienced and understood live. I mean, Joe Goosen being shaken up...I believe it and that says something.

Well, now I'm inspired to pop the tape in and watch for the 5th time already so I'm gonna go...

Peace.


"RE: Fight report"
Posted by Throwback on 05-09-05 at 03:08 PM
Nice article, Kieran!

I'm ashamed to say I have not seen the fight yet. I will watch the replay. I've heard nothing but raves by a couple of friends about it. I was still mad at Corrales for not showing up against Mayweather 3 years ago so decided against buying it.

A lot of people in boxing bemaon mismatches in boxing. When perfect matches are made, brutality ensues. A good thing or a bad thing I guess...... Looking forward to seeing it but sometimes, on occasion the brutality really gets to me. Boxing is a humbling thing - to me the viewer. My guess it is that it was on par with Ward-Gatti? I sometimes feel like 1/2 a man after seeing what these guys do under such circumstance.


"RE: Fight report"
Posted by VegasFightWriter on 05-09-05 at 03:12 PM
Personally, I feel it was far superior to Ward-Gatti. The skill level was much higher. I totaly hear what you say abou feeling like 1/2 a man. It's so humbling, isn't it? (If you want to catch a replay, I believe it's on Showtime 2 on Tuesday, and wil be replayed on Showtime 1 sometime soon).

"RE: Fight report"
Posted by Superbad on 05-09-05 at 04:18 PM
I was thinking about that myself, was it better than Ward-Gatti...Taking everything into consideration, most notably the classic ending, you'd have to rank it higher.

Ward-Gatti has been the benchmark for greatness in recent years, so to say that Saturday's fight surpassed it, that really says something...


"Replay dates"
Posted by VegasFightWriter on 05-10-05 at 10:12 AM
Here's a Showtime press release detailing replay dates and times. Anyone who considers temselves a boxing fan HAS to find a way to watch this epic.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SHOWTIME WILL PRESENT

REBROADCAST OF “GREATEST FIGHT EVER”

BETWEEN DIEGO CORRALES AND JOSE LUIS CASTILLO

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AT 11 P.M. ET/PT

______________________________________________________________________________________

Corrales’ Thrilling, Dramatic 10th-Round TKO Over Castillo in World Title Unification Bout

To Air Tuesday on SHOWTIME TOO and Friday on SHOWTIME

“An instant classic.” - Tim Smith, New York Daily News

“A fight for the ages.” - Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press

“The greatest fight I have ever seen.” - Steve Kim, Maxboxing.com

“Many at ringside were declaring it the single greatest bout in boxing history.” -

Dan Rafael, ESPN.com

“A Classic” “It certainly rivals Barrera-Morales I, Holyfield-Qawi and Pryor-Arguello I. But the

ending will separate it from all the rest.”- George Willis, New York Post

“All the nobility, all the savagery, and all the brutality of boxing was captured in one three-minute round Saturday night.” - Ron Borges, Boston Globe

“Let the record show that on the night of May 7, 2005, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, a spectacular boxing match was seared into legend.” - Tim Graham, Thesweetscience.com

“Corrales and Castillo showed as much heart as any two fighters could show in one fight” -
Robert Morales, Los Angeles Daily News

“What was highly touted as a potential Fight of the Year candidate turned out to be a legitimate Fight of a lifetime candidate.”- Mike Leanardi, Braggingrightscorner.com

“A fight so breathtaking in its brutality, so extraordinary in its ebbs and flows, so exceptional in its execution.” - Kieran Mulvaney, Tigerboxing.com

NEW YORK (May 9, 2005) - The new gold standard by which all fights will be judged was established last Saturday on SHOWTIME. Lightweight world champions Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo produced not only what many regard as the greatest, most exciting fight in history, but also one of the most dramatic sporting events ever.

The excellent news for fans is SHOWTIME will replay the memorable slugfest twice in the next four days. The first replay will air Tuesday, May 10, at 11 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME TOO. The second rebroadcast is Friday on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

Corrales (40-2, 33 KOs), of Las Vegas by way of Sacramento, Calif., who entered the ring as the World Boxing Organization (WBO) 135-pound champion, came from the absolute brink of defeat to take Castillo’s World Boxing Council (WBC) crown in one of the most dramatic, stunning comebacks in boxing history. At 2:06 of round 10, the referee stopped a sensational, brutal battle in which boxing’s two most talented 135-pound fighters on the planet gave as much as they took. Corrales was leading on two of three scorecards entering the 10th (87-84 and 86-85), but he went down from another devastating left hook 25 seconds in the round. Less than one minute later, Corrales hit the deck again from a left hook.

Castillo (52-7, 46 KOs), of Sonora, Mexico, despite being ahead on only one of the scorecards (87-84) going into the 10th, seemed on his way to finishing off Corrales once and for all. With knockdowns and the penalty point, he had the round won, by at least a 10-6 score and had Corrales virtually out. But that is when Corrales rose off the canvas and somehow recovered to go on to devastate Castillo with a barrage of punches that left the champion out on his feet. Referee Tony Weeks jumped in to end the brutal fight, giving Corrales a storybook win.

For information on “ShoBox: The New Generation” and SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecasts, including complete fighter bios, records, related stories and more, please go the SHOWTIME website at <http://www.sho.com/boxing>;.