Castillo starches Corrales at catchweight, Hussein falls to Arce
By Anthony Cocks (October 10, 2005) 
Photo © Tom Casino/SHOWTIME
Although it didn’t last as long as the original, the rematch between Diego ‘Chico’ Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo lived up to expectations in terms of pure action with the two warriors picking up exactly where they left off after their Fight of the Year in May that resulted in a tenth round TKO win for Corrales.

This time however it was a different result with the Mexican veteran starching the reigning WBC/WBO lightweight champion with a sizzling left hook to the head in the fourth round that left Corrales unable to beat the count.

In their classic first battle Castillo and Corrales traded punches in close quarters for ten rounds before a Castillo left hook send Corrales to the canvas. Despite making it to his feet Corrales looked to be in bad shape, with both eyes swollen almost shut and his legs not fully under him. A second left hook dropped Corrales again, but in a moment of inspired professionalism the Joe Goossen trained fighter spat out his mouthpiece to gain some precious seconds to recover. This was all the opportunity that Corrales needed as returned to the fray and backed Castillo up, offloading with two-fisted assault that forced referee Joe Cortez to stop the fight with Castillo defenseless on the ropes.

The second fight picked up exactly where the first one left off. Disregarding caution from the opening bell, both fighters stepped into the proverbial phone booth as they tried to assert their dominance on the inside. It was Castillo who earned the early edge with jarring left hooks and counter right hands that couldn’t fail to miss the mark.

The war of attrition continued in the second with Castillo starting to find a home for his uppercuts. Both fighters dug deep to the body and while Corrales staged a late rally with some solid combinations, it was Castillo’s superior workrate and heavy blows that won the round. Castillo also cut Corrales over the right eyelid with a left hook in this round.

The third round saw Corrales pick up the pace and a combination appeared to rock Castillo momentarily before a counter right hand sent an off-balance Chico reeling towards the ropes.

In the fourth round both fighters continued to work hard on the inside, but it was Castillo who appeared to be doing more of the damage with his superior size and heavier hands. Just when the action was really heating up a scorching left hook by Castillo caught Corrales square on the jaw, spinning him around and sending him face first to the canvas.

Referee Joe Cortez put the count on Corrales who, despite making it to his feet, staggered drunkenly into the ropes prompting Cortez to call a halt to the contest at 0:47 of the round.

While the fight was somewhat one-sided, it’s worth remebering that Castillo failed to make the lightweight limit and enjoyed a substantial weight advantage come fight time.

With the win Castillo moves to 53-7-1 (47). Corrales drops to 40-3 (33) but retains his WBC and WBO lightweight titles because the fight took place above the contracted weight limit.

On the undercard Jorge Arce made short work out of Hussein Hussein, stopping him in the second round of a surprisingly one-sided fight. Hussein, who seemed content to move around the ring without throwing much leather, was caught by a right hand counter in the first round that sent him to the deck. Late in the second round a right hand, left hook combination sent Hussein to the canvas again and although he made it to his feet and appeared to have his legs beneath him, trainer Jeff Fenech opted to throw in the towel rather than allow his fighter continue.

Referee Kenny Bayless called off the fight at 2:50 of the round. With the win Arce, 41-3-1 (31), retains his WBC interim flyweight championship and looks to challenge Thai Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the WBC title proper.

After the fight Arce spoke of the stoppage through an interperator. “They were protecting their fighter and there was no way they were going to win tonight.”

Kenny Bayless also commented on the stoppage. “Usually in the state of Nevada they come onto the ring apron to stop the fight... I asked him if he was okay and he said yes. He seemed a little more shaken up by the second knockdown.”

Hussein, 28-3 (21), who was clearly upset by what appeared to be a premature stoppage, left the ring without giving an interview.

In a six round welterweight bout Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 23-0 (18), kept his unbeaten streak alive with a fifth round stoppage of Jeremy Stiers, 9-5 (6). Stiers was competitive in the first round but Chavez starting finding a home for his right hand in the second, a punch that hurt Stiers every time it landed. As the rounds wore on Chavez was putting a severe beating on Stiers, who was mercifully saved from further punishment at 0:47 of the fifth.

In the fight of the night Carlos Hernandez, 41-6-1 (24), was unlucky not to get the nod over Bobby Pacquiao, 26-11-3 (11), younger brother of multi-divisional champion Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao started strongly, landing hard accurate combinations from his southpaw stance. Hernandez picked up the pace in the second, working well on the inside until a counter left cross sent him to the canvas for a flash knockdown.

Pacquiao started fast in the third, landing some good combinations and solid right uppercuts early, but Hernandez rallied back to hurt Pacquiao with right hands and uppercuts of his own.

Hernandez dominated the fourth and fifth rounds with superior work on the inside, landing some vicious left hooks to the body. The sixth round belonged to Pacquiao who landed the cleaner harder shots.

From the seventh round on Hernandez continued with his solid workrate, raking Pacquiao with left hooks to the body, lead rights to the head and mauling him on the inside. While Pacquiao had his moments he was only fighting in spurts, starting fast but fading late in the rounds.

In the ninth and tenth rounds Hernandez showed his superior conditioning, outworking the sporadic Pacquiao who looked to clinch whenever the going got tough.

At the conclusion of ten rounds Robert Boyle gave the fight to Hernandez by a score of 97-92, while Chuck Giampa and Duane Ford both had it for Pacquiao by scores of 95-94 and 95-93 respectively.

Doghouse Boxing scored the fight 96-93 for Hernandez.
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