Diego Corrales, one of my favorite boxers was killed in a motorcycle accident on May 7, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was 29 years old. Corrales will always be remembered for one of the greatest fights in history when he got up after being knocked down twice in the 10th round and knocked out Jose Luis Castillo. The fight, considered a boxing classic took place on May 7, 2005, exactly two years from the night he died. Diego Corrales's death is a very, very sad day for boxing. He was a true warrior. May he rest in peace.
Coralles vs Castillo I - 10th Round
Diego "Chico" Corrales
Diego Corrales is one of the most exciting guys to watch in boxing. He is tough. Every time he fights it is war. He's aggressive, fast, and a vicious puncher who can knock his opponents out with both hands. His fights with Castillo are like Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward's brutal battles.
Corrales beat Jose Luis Castillo by a 10th round TKO on May 7, 2005 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in what most boxing fans agree was the best fight of the year and maybe the decade. Corrales was knocked down twice in the 10th round only to get up and hit Castillo with a huge left hook followed up with a flurry of punches staggering Castillo and causing referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight. Both boxers took a tremendous amount of punishment during the fight that was named the Ring Magazine fight of the Year in 2005.
In a rematch on October 8, 2005 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas Castillo beat Corrales by a 4th round KO. It was a fight that should have been cancelled. Castillo failed to make weight at the 135 pound limit 3 times. A member of his team was caught tampering with the scale. The night of the fight Castillo weighted 147 pounds. Gary Shaw, Corrales promoter agreed to let the fight go on despite Castillo failing to make weight. He said he would never do that again. Gary Shaw stuck to his word. On May 3, 2006 Castillo-Corrales III was cancelled for safety concerns when Castillo failed to make weight again coming in 5 pounds over weight. Castillo was fined $250,000 by Nevada State Athletic Commission, had his boxing licensed suspended for the rest of 2006, and can't fight at less than 140 lbs.
Corrales pulled a devja vu of the Castillo fiasco by failing to make weight for his rubber match with Casamayor. In a tactical fight Corrales lost to Casamayor who did just enough to score a split decision on October 7, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Corrales' WBC lightweight title was not on the line because he lost his title on the scales when he failed to make the 135 pound weight limit for the fight.
Diego Corrales moved up two weight classes and lost by unanimous decision to welterweight contender Joshua Clottey at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri on April 7, 2007. There was good two way action in the fourth through seventh rounds but Corrales was hurt by Clottey in the eighth round and floored in the ninth and tenth. Corrales had a point deducted by the referee for spitting out his mouthpiece in the tenth round. After the bout Corrales said he wasn't able to bit down on his mouthpiece due to a possbile broken jaw.
Update June 12, 2007: More than a month after Corrales death toxicology tests revealed that Corrales blood alcohol level was 0.25 percent at the time of the accident. Thats more than 3 times the legal limit. Unfortunately drinking was one of Corrales demons. Las Vegas police found none of the other drivers involved at fault. Had Corrales not been drunk and speeding he could have quite possibly prevented his accident. He basically killed himself two years to the day after his most memorable fight against Jose Luis Castillo.
2007 CBHOF inductions: On September 22 2007 in Studio City, California, Diego Corrales was enshrined into the posthumous category of the 2007 Californa Boxing Hall of Fame.