Although Jose Luis Castillo had undoubtably seen better days before this bout, he was still a very dangerous fighter. One fight previous, he defeated the then unbeaten Herman Ngoudjo via split decision, and just a year before, he'd levelled the score with Diego Corrales, stopping him in four. He was certainly going to be no walkover for Britain's Ricky Hatton.
Hatton had been on a roll in the years leading up to this contest. In 2005, he impressively forced Kostya Tszyu to retire on his stool, and since then, he had defeated the likes of Juan Urango and Carlos Maussa. Going in to the Castillo fight, 'The Hitman' was either in his prime, or very close to it, as his Mexican foe would soon find out.
Hatton vs. Castillo Round-by-Round
From the opening bell, Hatton (140lbs) let his intentions be known. He wanted to get in close, and work on the inside; if this meant wrestling a bit with a few elbows flying in, so be it. He had some success with uppercuts on the inside, although Castillo (also 147lbs) was catching him a couple of times on the way in. Castillo touched down in this opening round, but unfortunately for the Mancunians in the audience, this was only because of a slip.
'El Temible' started the second session promisingly, using the jab to great effect. However, as the round progressed, Hatton, who looked like he would not be denied, imposed his will on the Mexican using a great array of hooks and uppercuts which were connecting well. This bullying towards the end of the round won it for 'the Hitman'.
Round three was much closer. Castillo was working well on the inside himself now, rocking Hatton's head back with some decent uppercuts, and as with the last round, his jab was excellent. Hatton landed a monster of a left hook on Castillo at the end of the round though, and this forced the popular Mexican to cover up until the bell.
Castillo started the fourth by playing at Hatton's game, and consequently waited on the inside for too long having no success. Then, to make things worse, he had a point deducted for low blowing Hatton. This seemed to infuriate 'The Hitman', who would not let Castillo have a second's rest after this. This culminated in a cracker of a left hook to the body which forced Castillo to take a knee. The Mexican stayed down for the ten count, meaning that after 2:16 of round four, Ricky Hatton retained his IBO Light Welterweight Title, and won the WBC International Light Welterweight Title.
Implications Of Hatton vs. Castillo
The left hook which finished the fight forced the 'big dogs' of the boxing world to pay attention. Castillo was certainly no slouch, so to finish him (a feat which Floyd Mayweather Jr. couldn't even accomplish) sent shockwaves to all. In the end, Hatton's next contest was a huge money fight up at welterweight against the aforementioned Floyd Mayweather Jr. Hatton lost that one, but in fairness, losing to Mayweather is nothing to be ashamed of.
Castillo on the other hand has had an up and down career since the Hatton loss, going 5-1 in the process. He's made a move up to welterweight, and may be in a line for a title shot sometime soon; whether at the age of 36 he can take another world title is seriously doubted by many.
How To Watch Hatton vs. Castillo
Hatton vs. Castillo was this week's 'Classic Fight of the Week'. Please visit my profile page for details on how to watch this, or any of the fights previously covered in this column.
