 6/11/06 - article by Howie Reed
Diego Corrales Ready and Fit to go..
TALKIN BOXIN
June 11, 2006
by Howie Reed
Many in all walks of life mourned the passing of Billy
Preston last week. He was a giant in rock and roll
with probably his biggest hit being "Nothin from
Nothin." While a hot for Preston it was also recorded
by the Rollin Stones with Billy Preston and Ollie
Brown in 1976 but never released. Preston also penned
the Joe Cocker mega hit "You Are So Beautiful". You're
probably muttering to yourself or your lifetime
partner, "What's he on about ?" With good reason I
would type. How about a little imagination and use
"Nothin from Nothin" as one of the reasons that boxing
struggles on the Landscape of Real Sport.
Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
You gotta have somethin' if you wanna be with me
Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'
You gotta have somethin' if you wanna be with me
As Old Cow Gertie Stein said, "There is no
there.there". Of course she was talking about
Oakland, California where my formative years were
spent. That may explain a lot of things. As Preston
sings, "You gotta have something if you wanna be with
me" and Gertie writes, "There is no there.there."
That's it in a nutshell. In the year 2006 boxing
"gotta have somehtin": and what does boxing have ? A
bunch of whining money grabbers. It use to be said
that boxing was getting like the WWF. If that was said
now and I was with the WWF I would sue. What sport
wants to be like boxing ?
The Corrales-Castillo mess is just the latest
manifestation of the dysfunctional nature of the
current boxing scene. What is even more troubling is
trying to find out what actually happened and why ?
The original Mr. Phelps of Mission Impossible would
turn in his badge is given the assignment. But alas
the strong move on. Unlike other "journalist" I
categorically state up front that it is my opinion
that almost everyone involved, except Corrales, knew
that Castillo had no chance of making weight. The same
folks believe that money would talk, as it does
everywhere on Vegas, Corrales would against get in the
ring with a much larger man and get his ass kicked
while maybe suffering serious damage. The fight would
go on and the blood suckers would win again. Whoops.
Things were strangely quiet the first week but late
last week the finger pointing started. First was a
series of letters were release by the World Boxing
Council. Using their usually ploy of "I don't speak
English too good" the WBC letters really did nothing
except to maker it clear that they were the first into
CYA mode. The WBC approved the fight as a title fight
on April 17, by letter to Top Rank. Included was the
stipulation, "We must receive the 30-day weigh-in of
both fighters on May 3, as well as the 7-day weigh-in
of both fighters on May 27, 2006." The WBC writes, "
Unfortunately, the WBC did not receive a response from
anyone." When Top Rank didn't respond by May 3, the
WBC sent a representative to Castillo's training camp.
"Castillo registered then a weight of 68.200 kilograms
(150 pounds). As this was in excess of the 10% allowed
by the WBC Rules, on May 12, 2006, the Executive WBC
sent a letter to Top Rank Promotions, Promociones
Zanfer, NSAC, NABF, and Gary Shaw Promotions, stating
that Jose Luis Castillo was found two pounds over the
10% limit for the 30-day weigh-in prior to the bout.
The excess weight over 10% was even more critical, as
there were only three weeks to go for the bout." The
WBC still got no response from anyone involved. On May
17 the WBC weigh Castillo again. This time Castillo
weighted 147 pounds. Following this "weight check" the
WBC sent another letter and issued a press release.
This letter also included the information that "under
WBC rules" Castillo must weight 142 by May 27. Again
the WBC heard from none of the parties involved.
Here's where things get hinky. On May 27th the WBC
"inquired on the status of the 7 day weigh in" and
were told Castillo was in Nevada ? So ? I'm sure the
date that Castillo was going to travel was not a big
secret. " The WBC did not receive notice from
Castillo's representative, his promoter, or the NSAC,
advising the WBC in connection with the 7-day
weigh-in." The WBC "concern" now starts to fall apart
like a democratic campaign speech. The WBC says they
got a call from a "prestigious top sports writer" with
the Mexican Sports newspaper Esto on the Thursday
before the fight. Senior Camarillo told the WBC that
"Castillo was excessively weak and pained, as he has
never seen him before." Mr. Camarillo believed that
"Castillo had serious signs of dehydration, with his
lips excessively dried out all around his mouth, and
that he looked very fatigued." Which is good and well
but notice there is no notice of weight.
On Friday according to the WBC, President Mauricio
Sulaiman called Nevada Executive Director Keith Kizer.
The call to the office of the Commission was forwarded
to Mr. Kizer's cell which was never answered. Mauricio
Sulaiman was contacting Mr. Kizer to let him know the
position that Diego Corrales would successfully defend
his title if he made the weight and Castillo could not
after the two-hour extension period. So the WBC waited
a day before trying to contact anyone with the Nevada
and then only did so "after" Castillo failed to make
weight. One would assume that with the money involved
and considering that a Castillo "camp member" had
tried to put his foot under the scales prior to the
October fight the WBC could have called who ever they
had observing the weigh in. Armando Barak, an
advisor to Castillo, had his license revoked after he
was accused of attempting to tamper with the scale at
the weigh-in for the second Castillo-Corrales fight in
October. But they didn't.
Did the promoter's know about the weight problem ?
They had too. What did they do ? Well according to
them not a hell of a lot. "Whining " Bob Arum sent a
scale to Castillo's room in Vegas but never sent
anyone to conduct a weight in. When Top Rank was
questioned about their knowledge of the weight problem
Arum tossed his stepson, Todd duBoef, under the bus.
"What would our agenda be?" duBoef said. "We run the
risk of losing the event if he's over. If we had
known, like Diego himself said, we could have made a
call and tried to forget about it as a title fight and
negotiated a different weight. But to think we had
some premeditation in this is a ridiculous
allegation." duBoef probably not use to "local
sportswriters" quoting him accurately probably hit the
golf course thinking he'd dodged another bullet. His
own words impeach his statement. "What would our
agenda be? If we had known, we could have made a
call and tried to forget about it as a title fight and
negotiated a different weight. " Which is probably
what you did.
"Gas bag" Gary Shaw, Corrales promoter, is going to
file suit as is Corrales. The problem is who are they
going to sue ? Well "GB" Shaw said, " he will not
only sue Castillo but is considering a lawsuit
against Top Rank and Fernando Beltran, Castillo's
Mexican promoter. I believe he never tried to make
weight and he and his people perpetrated a fraud and a
charade upon the public. He thought he'd bargain his
way to another fight. (Top Rank's Bob) Arum and
Beltran knew he was not on weight, but they never said
anything." QWell a half truth is OK as long as there
is nothing in writing. He can sue Castillo and win but
how's he going to collect ? He aren't. Sue Top Rank
and kiss your promoting career "good by". "GB" has no
marquee fighter that would demand Top Rank deal with
them. Of course with Top Rank loosing Floyd Mayweather
jr. they don't have a hell of a lot in their cupboard
either. Top Rank is loosing fighters, especially
Latin's, to Golden Boy (Oscar DeLa Hoya). Top Rank
some years ago decided to cast their lot with Latin
fighters. If this was 10 years ago and Arum under the
speed limit on a freeway Top Rank would bounce back.
When Arum leaves deBoef doesn't have anything that
would lead one to believe that Top Rank could become a
major player.
The Nevada Athletic Commission on Thursday filed a
disciplinary complaint against Castillo which
indicated that they want to jump on the "we did
nothing wrong" train. I would think that when a
hearing is held Castillo will be suspended for 6
months and fined $250,000 "This is a serious situation
and we'll treat it as such," said commission chairman
Skip Avansino. Dah !!!!! When the hearing is finally
held Castillo would be required to appear in person
before the commission. His defense ? "I do nothing
wrong. Everyone knew that I was having trouble making
weight. My manager told Top Rank and they said "Not to
worry." So if the hearing is cancelled and Castillo is
able to cop a plea it will be to save everyone
involved embarrassment. On of the outstanding issues
is how does Arum finesse the already signed, sealed
and delivered match on November 11 between Castillo
and Miguel Cotto ? If you missed it Cotto beat Paul
Malignaggi (21-1) on Saturday night.
Interesting that for the Cotto fight promoter Arum
asked the New York State Athletic Commission to hold
the weight in for the fight at 1PM the day before.
Knowing Cotto had a problem making weight they did the
weight in early with ample time, more than 33 hours,
to re-hydrate and bulk up. It's not a big surprise
that Cotto won 116-111,116-111 and 115-112. Cotto
dropped the "Brooklyn Punk" in the second and appeared
to break his jaw. That ought to teach him to keep his
mouth shut. Malignaggi hadn't ever beaten anyone of
note and was pretty much all hype.
Not far from the Madison Square venue where Cotto won.
"One the Boardwalk of Atlantic City", Bernard Hopkins
said adios to boxing by kicking the 'hot air" out of
Antonio Tarver. "Tarver may have landed 120 punches
during the fight," said a phone report to Talkin Boxin
Central. "I saw the scoring at 118-109. So Tarver got
one round." "It was a gift," answered the caller, a
credible member of the boxing community, who had just
viewed the fight at a friends' house and got a free
meal. Heck of a deal that. This fight promoter by
Oscar and Hopkins was supposed to also be used as a
place to announce Oscar-Mayweather jr. Didn't happen.
""It's either retirement or it's Floyd Jr. Mayweather
jr. is now a free agent and the word is he will sign
with Golden Boy. If you didn't buy the Hopkins-Tarver
fight my guess is that you can watch it for FREE next
Saturday when HBO carries Jermain Taylor (25-0) vs.
Winky Wright (50-3) for WBC Middleweight title from
Memphis.
Those that want to dictate how we "stupid folks" view
fighters have for some time said, "pound for pound
Winky Wright is one of the best." Horsedoodle. He wins
fight but usually puts people to sleep. Jermain Taylor
is on the cusp of being something special especially
with the retirement of Hopkins. Emanual Stewart is now
training which should be a plus. Except that too often
Stewart teaches "winning is the only thing". If Taylor
comes out swinging and keeps at it he'll not only win
the fight but a lot of fans. If that's the case better
watch next Saturday because as a star he'll be headed
to PPV
AND FINALLY: Hell of a week. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
assumed room temperature thanks to a couple of 500
pounders' delivered courtesy of the USA Military.
There were reports that when Yanks troops got there he
was still alive and they beat him. While probably
untrue that would have been a bonus. Three bums in
Gitmo decide that they'd try to race al-Zarqawi to
"heaven" on the premise that the supply of virgins may
be getting short. They used bed sheets. Might start a
fund to send stronger bed sheets (seems they sometimes
break when made into a rope) to Gitmo. Finally I had a
winner in the Triple Crown. Yep bet Jazil. Third
time's the charm. How about them apples ?
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