Jose Luis Castillo vs Diego Corrales I - one of the greatest fights ever! DUAL SIGNED official on-site programme complete with folded poster measuring 27 1/2" x 19 1/2" plus official bout sheet, 7th May 2005, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas.

R.I.P. CHICO
Diego "Chico" Corrales
August 25,1977-May 7,2007


Condition mint

Corrales W TKO 10
On May 7, 2005, Corrales defeated José Luis Castillo for the WBC lightweight title via TKO in the tenth round. The fight is almost universally regarded as the best fight of 2005. Both men stood in front of each other, battering each other with hard combinations and power punches throughout the entire fight. Finally, in the tenth round, Castillo knocked Corrales down, causing Corrales to spit out his mouthpiece. This allowed some extra recovery time for Corrales while it was cleaned and put back in. Seconds later, Castillo knocked Corrales down again. Once on the ground, Corrales again spat his mouthpiece out, allowing him yet more recovery time. Corrales managed to beat the count, and, after a point was taken away for excessive spitting out of the mouthpiece, Corrales connected with a punch that Castillo later called "a perfect right hand." Corrales then trapped Castillo against the ropes and landed numerous punches, causing the referee, Tony Weeks, to stop the fight. Whether the stoppage was premature has been debated by boxing fans and analysts.

Price: £295

Highlights From One Of The Greatest Fights Ever!!!

José Luis Castillo (born December 14, 1973, Empalme, Sonora) Nicknamed El Temible, Castillo has a current record of 57-9-1 with 49 knockouts. He is best known for his grueling fight against Diego Corrales for the WBC-WBO lightweight title unification on May 7, 2005.

Career
Early in his career, Catillo sparred with Mexican boxing legend Julio César Chávez. Castillo has had a solid professional career, defeating the likes of Stevie Johnston, Joel Casamayor, Juan Lazcano, Julio Diaz, and losing two close decisions (the first being very controversial) with former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr..
The first meeting between Castillo and Mayweather took place on April 20, 2002 in Las Vegas. Mayweather was awarded a unanimous decision in a bout that many in the boxing community felt Castillo had won. A rematch was held December 7, 2002 with Mayweather once again winning by unanimous decision.

Castillo v. Corrales
Castillo is best known for his grueling fight against Diego Corrales for the WBC-WBO lightweight title unification, on May 7, 2005. Both fighters were exchanging a brutal amount of punishment, until Castillo finally knocked down Corrales twice in the tenth round. Corrales was deducted a point by referee Tony Weeks for spitting out his mouthpiece while getting up from the second knockdown, and then surprisingly roared back, pinning Castillo against the ropes, landing devastating punches, and finally winning by TKO. Castillo, as well as some boxing experts and fans, later debated that Corrales was given too much time to recover during the point deduction. Some said that Weeks did not give a fair chance for Castillo to recover, although Castillo showed no animosity toward the stoppage, saying "he was in bad shape" after the barrage. Many regard this fight as one of the best of all time, and it won Ring Magazine fight of the year for 2005.

A rematch between the two occurred on October 8, 2005. Castillo weighed in 3 1/2 pounds over the 135 lightweight limit, making the fight a non-title bout. The fight continued at the same pace as the previous, until Castillo landed a left hook on Corrales' chin early in the fourth round, winning by knockout. Castillo was later accused of purposely not making weight to gain an advantage over Corrales, despite apologizing to fans after the weigh-in. Moreover, Castillo's doctor was caught with his foot under the scale in an attempt to make his official weight lower.
Corrales Castillo III was highly anticipated, but was postponed due to a Corrales rib injury, and was rescheduled for June 3, 2006 in Las Vegas. In the meantime, Castillo fought Rolando Reyes on February 4, 2006, in El Paso, Texas, in which Castillo won by unanimous decision.

For the weigh-in for Catillo-Corrales III on June 2, 2006, Castillo was over the weight limit again (at 139 1/2 pounds), which caused the now non-title fight to be canceled at Corrales' request. As punishment the Nevada State Athletic Commission levied the maximum fine of $250,000, suspended Castillo for the remainder of 2006, and disallowed him licensure for any fight under 140 pounds.

2007-present
On January 20, 2007, Castillo won a narrow split decision over Herman Ngoudjo. On June 23, he fought Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas. Castillo was KO'd 2 minutes and 16 seconds into the fourth round by a crunching left hook to the ribs. Prior to the knockout Castillo had been deducted a point for low blows to his opponent. Castillo was scheduled to fight Timothy Bradley in 2008 for the WBC lightweight title, but during the weigh-in on March 8, 2008, Castillo weighed 147 1/2 pounds (7 pounds over the super-lightweight limit). Bradley instead faced and defeated Junior Witter for the title.





Diego "Chico" Corrales (August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was a former super featherweight and lightweight world boxing champion. He is most noted for his series of bouts with José Luis Castillo.

Early life
Corrales was born to a Colombian father and a Mexican mother. Corrales' early life was filled with violence. He was raised in the Oak Park section of Sacramento, where he was involved with street gangs since age 13. He witnessed his best friend's death via drive-by shooting. Diego had a degree in culinary arts. He trained at Sac Pal Boxing Gym with Manny Fernandez.

Amateur career
Corrales compiled an amateur boxing record of 105-12. In 1994, he took second place at the United States Amateur Championships, losing to Frankie Carmona on points in the featherweight final. He was a bronze medalist at featherweight in the 1995 Pan American Games. At lightweight, he lost in the 1995 World Championships in Berlin, Germany to Marco Rudolph.

Professional career
Corrales was victorious in his pro boxing debut on March 19, 1996. On October 23, 1999, Corrales won the IBF super featherweight title by defeating the previously unbeaten Roberto Garcia via TKO in the seventh round. After defeating Angel Manfredy on September 2, 2000, Corrales' managers vacated his title. Corrales had a record of 33-0 at this point.

On January 20, 2001, Corrales challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the WBC super featherweight title and recorded his first knockdown and first loss. In the bout, Mayweather knocked down Corrales five times (three times in the seventh round and twice in the tenth). After the fifth knockdown, Corrales' corner stopped the fight, despite Corrales' protests.

Shortly after the Mayweather fight, Corrales served 14 months in prison after opting for a plea bargain on charges he faced for abusing his pregnant wife, Maria.
In 2003, Corrales returned to the ring. After easily winning four fights, Corrales fought against Joel Casamayor. After the sixth round, the fight was stopped because of a deep cut inside of Corrales' mouth. On March 6, 2004, there was a rematch for the vacant WBO super featherweight title. Corrales won by close split decision.
On August 7, 2004, Corrales won the WBO lightweight title from Acelino Freitas via TKO in the tenth round. Freitas won the early rounds, but by the later rounds he was visibly tired and began to be caught by Corrales. After rising from his third knockdown, Freitas walked away from the referee and quit.

Corrales vs. Castillo I, II, and III
On May 7, 2005, Corrales defeated José Luis Castillo for the WBC lightweight title via TKO in the tenth round. The fight is almost universally regarded as the best fight of 2005. Both men stood in front of each other, battering each other with hard combinations and power punches throughout the entire fight. Finally, in the tenth round, Castillo knocked Corrales down, causing Corrales to spit out his mouthpiece. This allowed some extra recovery time for Corrales while it was cleaned and put back in. Seconds later, Castillo knocked Corrales down again. Once on the ground, Corrales again spat his mouthpiece out, allowing him yet more recovery time. Corrales managed to beat the count, and, after a point was taken away for excessive spitting out of the mouthpiece, Corrales connected with a punch that Castillo later called "a perfect right hand." Corrales then trapped Castillo against the ropes and landed numerous punches, causing the referee, Tony Weeks, to stop the fight. Whether the stoppage was premature has been debated by boxing fans and analysts.
A rematch between Corrales and Castillo occurred on October 8, 2005. On the day before the fight, Castillo weighed-in 3½ lb over the 135 lb (61 kg) lightweight limit. Since Castillo did not make the weight, the fight became a non-title bout. The two fighters continued with the same fighting style that they had used in the first fight, trading inside punches throughout the first three rounds. Early in the fourth round, Castillo knocked down Corrales with a left hook to his chin. Corrales wobbled to his feet at the referee's count of ten, causing the fight to end.
Corrales vs. Castillo III, dubbed "The War to Settle the Score," had been scheduled for February 4, 2006, but it was postponed because of a rib injury that Corrales suffered while training. The fight was rescheduled for June 3, 2006. At the weigh-in, however, Corrales weighed the 135 lb (61 kg) lightweight limit whereas Castillo weighed 139½ lb—causing the fight to be cancelled. Corrales later sued Castillo for punitive damages.

After Castillo
Corrales was scheduled to defend his lightweight title in a third bout against Joel Casamayor on October 7, 2006. However, Corrales weighed in 5 pounds over the limit. He was given two hours to shed five pounds, but came back at 139 pounds. Corrales would have been stripped of the title if he had won the bout, but Casamayor defeated him by split decision for the WBC and The Ring lightweight titles.
On April 7, 2007, fighting in the welterweight division, Corrales lost a unanimous decision to Joshua Clottey. Corrales was dropped in rounds 9 and 10 and lost by the scores of 97-90, 98-89 and 100-87.

Death
On May 7, 2007, exactly two years to the day after his first fight with Castillo, Corrales was killed in a three-vehicle accident near his Las Vegas home. Corrales was riding a 2007 Suzuki GSXR 1000 motorcycle, traveling northbound on Fort Apache Road in the southwest part of the city, when he attempted to pass another vehicle at high speed. Corrales struck an oncoming car, Las Vegas police spokesman Sgt. Tracy McDonald said: "The accident occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. PDT." McDonald said there was no outward evidence of drugs or alcohol involved. He could not say how fast the motorcycle was traveling. However, Corrales was indeed legally drunk, with a blood alcohol level of 0.25, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 in Nevada