CASTILLO GETS WBC TITLE BACK, BEATS LAZCANO

It was all oddsmakers said it would be and more as Jose Luis Castillo regained the WBC lightweight crown with a bruising 12-round unanimous victory over favored Juan Lazcano in the kickoff bout of HBO’s pay-per-view telecast Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

This torrid action was the perfect warm-up for 13,041 spectators awaiting championship bouts involving Oscar De La Hoya opposite WBO middleweight ruler Felix Sturm and Bernard Hopkins risking his undisputed world 160-pound crown against Robert Allen.

Castillo, 30, out of Mexicali, Mx., is noted as sometimes being a slow starter but it was early in his determination to reclaim the title he formerly held. The heavy-handed Castillo put the pressure on early and rarely let up against the ambitious Lazcano, 30, El Paso, Tx., who was a minus $1.30 favorite with Nevada’s licensed bookmakers.

It was a comparative easy night for the ringside judges with a slight spread in points while voting for Castillo. Adalaide Byrd had it 117-111, Duane Ford saw it 116-112. and Dalby Shirley’s tab was 115-113.

Castillo, improving his resume to 50-6-1, 45KOs while earning $75.000, later admitted it was a close fight but he felt his power punches had giving him a solid lead.

“I felt I could have stopped Lazcano in the 10th round with some of the big shots I landed but I really wanted to hurt him because of the war of words we had the week before the fight,” Castillo said.

Lazcano, collecting $200,000 although his record dipped to 33-3-1, 25 K0s, had his moments like in the ninth round when he caught Castillo with a straight left to the jaw. The former champion appeared stunned but remained erect when he backed into the ropes.

Lazcano had a deep cut below his left eye which occurred in the third round when Castillo cut his adversary with a strong combination. The wound appeared to get worse as the fight wore on but there was no indication referee Tony Weeks would abbreviated the action.

‘I think I hurt Castillo several times but I didn’t capitalize on the situation. I know I was being cautious early because I knew Castillo would be coming on late. That was my mistake. I should have never let any large puncher be a position to gain momentum,” said Lazcano.
There were some great exchanges at center ring in the late rounds with the pressing Castillo winning more than his share. Lazcano appeared to be hurt by Castillo’s heavy body shots in the eighth round but the former hung tough to counter effectively.

Castillo said he wasn’t “surprised it was a tough fight because that’s what I expected from Lazcano. I know I hurt him in the middle rounds and even more later once I could get inside with my punches. But he is a very tough fighter.”

The defining year for Castillo was 2002 when he went the distance twice with then WBC super featherweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., a Grand Rapids,Mi., native who fights out of Las Vegas.

Mayweather was moving up in weight and made a bid for Castillo’s WBC lightweight crown on Apr.20, 2002 in Las Vegas. Castillo and ringsiders felt the champ did enough for the decision but all three judges saw it as unanimous for Mayweather, 115-111.

Even Bob Arum felt Castillo got the business and brought them back for a rematch Dec.7, 2004 in Las Vegas. Point-wise, it looked like a carbon copy of the original as the ringside judges voted 115-111, 115-111. 116-111.for “Pretty Boy Floyd.”

“I always felt I got jobbed in that first fight with Floyd, but I’ve won the title back in a tough fight and that’s all I care about,” said senior Castillo in his second reign.

(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquartered in Las Vegas and an exclusive contributor to Ringsports.Com.)