The good news about lightweight champion Diego Corrales’ title defense Saturday night against Jose Luis Castillo is it promises resumption of a ferocious May 7 brawl in which each man tore into the other relentlessly before an awestruck crowd until a sudden surprise ending with each fighter landing his biggest punches in the final round.
All of that is also the bad news about Saturday’s rematch of Corrales’ technical-knockout victory, which came in the same 10th round in which Castillo scored two knockdowns and seemed on the brink of victory.
Corrales-Castillo II has fans who appreciate action poised for another slugfest at the same time Nevada boxing officials are wary of such dangerous bouts.
In the aftermath of Leavander Johnson’s death from injuries suffered in a bout against Jesus Chavez Sept. 17 in Las Vegas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has formed an advisory committee to review the state’s health and safety procedures for boxers and recommend changes.
With that shadow hanging over Wednesday’s final pre-fight news conference for Corrales-Castillo II, the Nevada commission’s executive director Marc Ratner was distressed to hear champion Corrales utter the vow, “I will die in that ring before I give up what I have taken.”
Boxers have spoken similar words in the past. But they sounded more troubling so soon after Johnson, also recently having won a lightweight championship, died in just such circumstances after making just such a declaration before his final fight.
“It broke my heart to hear him say that,” Ratner said of Corrales’ words, even though he and the fighters and the trainers, managers and promoters involved in Saturday’s main event at the Thomas & Mack Center know such a statement is the warrior credo of boxing’s most courageous practitioners.
Ratner was disturbed less by Corrales’ promoter, Gary Shaw, urging him to “let them fight, make the ref let them fight.” Shaw did not want the bout stopped because one combatant seemed hurt.
Ratner understood that Saturday night’s opponents each rallied from adversity in their first fight and their corners did not want a premature stoppage. He also knew that Joe Cortez, the referee chosen for the bout, “is a veteran who will know how long to let the fight continue.”
In so saying, Ratner defended Tony Weeks, the referee in the first Castillo-Corrales bout and the Johnson-Chavez fight. Weeks was criticized for stopping Corrales-Castillo too soon when Castillo’s head was snapped back in a flurry but he was not knocked down, and for giving Corrales too much time to reinsert his mouthpiece after he lost it in both 10th round knockdowns. Subsequently, Weeks was criticized for not stopping the Johnson-Chavez fight soon enough.
Holding Weeks blameless in both instances, Ratner said of the May 7 Corrales-Castillo bout, “I think, to the moment, Tony Weeks stopped the fight correctly.”
As they prepared for another vicious battle Saturday, both Corrales and Castillo reflected Wednesday on the specter of Johnson’s death.
“We go up there to do our job,” said Castillo, a man of few words relayed from his Spanish through a translator. “We can’t be conscious of that.”
Corrales responded passionately when asked how he explains to his pregnant wife, Michelle, his words about dying in the ring (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
“It’s the equivalent of a police officer or a firefighter going out and putting himself in harm’s way,” Corrales said (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). “We love our job. It’s rare that anyone gets to do the job they love. To what limit will you not go for something you love?”
The 28-year-old champion said he has told his wife if anything happens to him in a fight, she should be consoled knowing “I was doing what I loved until the end. . . . I’m building a future for my family whether I’m there or not.”
Raymond “Skip” Avansino, chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, said the five-member advisory committee he appointed will begin studying health and safety issues within 30 days and submit its report to him by April 1.
Promoter Shaw said if he is asked to address the committee, “I would recommend that officials who are going to work a particular fight, such as referees or doctors, should go to training camps and see how fighters punch and react to punches when they are right. Then, they can judge quicker if a fighter is responding poorly in a fight.”
Two boxers have died and four others suffered brain injuries this year in Nevada, which has had about 6,000 bouts and witnessed seven ring deaths over the past 20 years.
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mhirsley@tribune.com
