José Luis Castillo: From Empalme and Chávez's Sparring Ring to Two Disputed Nights With Mayweather
The two-time WBC lightweight champion from Sonora learned his trade sparring with Julio César Chávez, lost two disputed decisions to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2002, fought Diego Corrales twice and was stopped by a Ricky Hatton body shot in 2007.
José Luis Castillo came out of a railroad town in Sonora, learned his trade absorbing body shots from Julio César Chávez, and twice held the WBC lightweight title. He is remembered for the nights that went against him as much as the ones he won: two close losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2002, a ten-round war with Diego Corrales, and a single left hook from Ricky Hatton in 2007.
From Empalme to the Professional Ring
Castillo was born on December 14, 1973, in Empalme, a town on the Sonoran coast of northwest Mexico. Later in his career he was billed out of Mexicali, but Empalme is the birthplace recorded in his biography. Fight programs listed him at roughly five feet seven and a half, with a 69-inch reach, and he fought under the nickname "El Temible," the Fearsome.
He turned professional in 1990, and the start was not encouraging. According to a 2005 profile by Matthew Aguilar in The Sweet Science, Castillo lost his first paid fight to Cesar Soto, a future WBC featherweight champion, when cuts ended the bout in the second round. Two more losses on cuts followed later, against Javier Jauregui and Miguel Alvarez. Aguilar argued that those defeats came down to fragile skin and bad luck rather than any shortage of nerve. Between those setbacks Castillo put together an 18-fight unbeaten run.
Years in Chávez's Training Camp
The most important part of Castillo's education took place in the gym, not in his own fights. For several years in the second half of the 1990s he was one of the main sparring partners of Julio César Chávez, who was then near the end of his long reign as Mexico's most celebrated fighter. The Sweet Science described him as Chávez's chief sparring partner and pointed to the left hooks to the body he took day after day.
The influence showed in Castillo's own style. He became a patient pressure fighter who cut off the ring, worked behind a steady jab and spent his energy on the ribs and stomach. Observers often remarked that he looked like Chávez in the ring. As Chávez's career faded, Castillo settled at 135 pounds and won seven straight fights, five of them inside the distance, to earn a world title shot.
Upset in Bell Gardens: The WBC Title in 2000
On June 17, 2000, Castillo met WBC lightweight champion Stevie Johnston at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. Johnston was the favorite, but Castillo won a majority decision in a close fight, and The Ring later named it the Upset of the Year.
The rematch at the Pepsi Center in Denver on September 15, 2000, ended in confusion. Johnston was first announced as the winner by majority decision. A few minutes later officials found that judge Ken Morita's card, recorded as 115-114 for Johnston, had been added up wrong and should have been 114-114. The corrected total made the fight a majority draw, so Castillo kept the belt. Johnston, who had briefly been told he was champion again, went to Castillo's dressing room and handed the belt back himself. Castillo's next defense was far more straightforward: he stopped César Bazán in six rounds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in January 2001.
Mayweather I: The Decision Las Vegas Booed
On April 20, 2002, Castillo defended the WBC title against Floyd Mayweather Jr., who had moved up from 130 pounds, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The vacant Ring lightweight title was also on the line. Mayweather boxed well early, and Castillo came on strongly through the middle and late rounds. Both men were docked a point. ESPN's report says Castillo lost one in the eighth round for hitting on the break and Mayweather lost one in the tenth for using his elbows.
All three judges scored it for Mayweather. ESPN gave the cards as 115-111, 115-111 and 116-111, while Castillo's main Wikipedia biography lists one card as 116-112. The crowd, which ESPN estimated at about 5,000 and which had been chanting Castillo's name, booed the result. HBO's unofficial scorer, Harold Lederman, had Castillo winning 115-111, and the Associated Press had Mayweather ahead by the same margin. Afterward Mayweather said he had hurt his left shoulder on the last day of training and could not throw his left hook.
Castillo told reporters, according to ESPN: "I was robbed." Ever since, the fight has been listed among the closest calls of Mayweather's unbeaten career.
Mayweather II: A Second Close Loss
The rematch took place on December 7, 2002, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. This time Mayweather kept to his jab and his footwork and largely refused to exchange. Castillo threw far more punches, 604 to Mayweather's 399 according to the CompuBox figures in ESPN's report, but landed fewer, 137 to 162. The judges had it 116-113, 115-113 and 115-113 for Mayweather. Castillo finished with a bloody nose and a mark over his right eye, though he was never seriously hurt.
The weight figures and the purses showed how different the two men's positions were. ESPN reported that Mayweather weighed 138 pounds on fight night and Castillo 147. Mayweather earned $2.4 million. Castillo received $150,000 plus the proceeds from Mexican television.
Champion Again, Then Corrales
Castillo got the WBC belt back on June 5, 2004. He beat Juan Lazcano by unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the vacant WBC and Ring lightweight titles. In December he kept them with a split decision over Joel Casamayor, and in March 2005 he stopped Julio Díaz in the tenth round.
On May 7, 2005, at Mandalay Bay, he met Diego Corrales in a unification fight. Castillo dropped Corrales twice in the tenth round, but Corrales got up, trapped him on the ropes and won by stoppage later in the same round. The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America both named it the Fight of the Year. Ringtalk has covered that night in detail in a separate article.
The rematch on October 8, 2005, was not for a title. Castillo weighed 138½ pounds, three and a half over the lightweight limit. The Associated Press reported that he also argued with Corrales's promoter, Gary Shaw, and bet him $100,000 on a knockout. A left hook put Corrales down 47 seconds into the fourth round. He got up at nine, but he was unsteady, and referee Joe Cortez waved it off. A third fight was scheduled for 2006, but it was called off when Castillo came in at 139½ pounds at the weigh-in.
Hatton and the Body Shot in 2007
By 2007 Castillo was fighting at 140 pounds. On June 23 he faced Ricky Hatton at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, the fight Hatton needed to set up his December bout with Mayweather. Hatton was quicker to the punch from the start. Castillo had a point taken away for low blows, and in the fourth round Hatton ended it with the punch Castillo had spent years throwing himself. A left hook to the ribs dropped the Mexican to one knee, and he stayed there while Cortez counted him out at 2:16 of the round.
"It was a perfect shot," Castillo said afterward, according to Reuters. Hatton went to 43-0, and Castillo fell to 55-8-1. Castillo's Wikipedia biography notes that it was rare for a top-ranked fighter of his level to be knocked out by a body punch.
The Long Goodbye
Castillo kept fighting, mostly at welterweight. He announced his retirement in March 2010 after a loss to Alfonso Gómez, but he returned. In 2014 he was still active, with a fifth-round stoppage of José Luis Payan on May 30 and two straight wins. That run earned him a 12-round welterweight fight with Ruslan Provodnikov in Moscow on November 28, 2014, when Castillo was 40 and had a record of 66-12-1 with 57 knockouts. He lost, and it was his last fight. His final record stands at 66 wins, 13 losses and one draw, with 57 knockouts.
The record shows two WBC lightweight reigns, five successful title defenses and a spell as Ring lineal lightweight champion from 2004 to 2005. Castillo is best known, though, for the fights that went against him: two 2002 decisions that many ringside thought could have gone his way, and a 2005 war with Corrales that he was close to winning.
Sources
- José Luis Castillo, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Stevie Johnston, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Castillo always looked like somebody, Matthew Aguilar, The Sweet Science, October 8, 2005
- Mayweather vs. Castillo report, ESPN (Associated Press), April 20, 2002
- Mayweather vs. Castillo II report, ESPN (Associated Press), December 7, 2002
- Castillo flattens Corrales, The Spokesman-Review (Associated Press), October 9, 2005
- Hatton knocks out Castillo, Mail & Guardian (Reuters), June 24, 2007
- On this day: Ricky Hatton scythed down Jose Luis Castillo, John Dennen, Boxing News, June 22, 2015
- Provodnikov to fight Jose Luis Castillo, The Sweet Science, November 13, 2014
