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Few will ever forget that 2005 lightweight classic between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo for the WBC and WBO portions of the world championship. American Corrales, who sadly died in a motorbike accident in 2007, came out on top after both fighters went at it hammer and tongs for 10 rounds until an exhausted Castillo wilted under an onslaught. Diego had been dropped earlier in that round.
Five months later the two warriors ended up facing one another again in a highly anticipated rematch at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Their previous contest was staged at the Mandalay Bay in the same city. The Mexican came in three and a half pounds over the lightweight limit, but Corrales gave his blessing for the fight to still go ahead after both camps negotiated.
He was stopped in four rounds.
A third contest was organised the following year, however, after Castillo came in overweight again his opponent was unwilling to excuse it.
So, it must be asked…what if Castillo had come in under the weight allowance for their second fight? Would we still have seen the same outcome?
I think the answer lies in how that thrilling 10th round played out during their original epic encounter. Corrales was dropped by a left hook twice. He also spat out his mouth piece both times which bought him valuable extra seconds of recovery. This also forced Castillo to work harder and longer to try and finish him off. Fortunately for Corrales, this worked in his favour that time.
Assuming that Castillo would have come in for the rematch under the limit while not drained, still naturally and fully energetic, I do not see an alternate result. It looked as if Jose knew what punch that Diego was susceptible to by hitting him with the left hook twice near the conclusion of their first fight. And that same punch was what discombobulated Corrales in the 4th of their return.
I am confident that we would not have seen a different result to the first fight, irrespective of any weight issue.
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