ShowTime Boxing: May 7, 2005

[H2O Man]

Tonight is a good night for boxing fans who get ShowTime. There is a double-header featuring some of the best of the smaller weight classes.

In the undercard, IBF/WBA Featherweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez defends against #5 contender Victor Polo. Marquez is the favorite, and for good reason: he is a very talented fighter. But he may be tested by Polo, who despite being the the same weight (125 lbs) and only two inches taller at 5'9", has a huge reach advantage of 14". The champ, at 31, is three years younger than Polo.

The main event might be the best fight this year. Two-time WBC Lightweight Champion Jose Luis Castillo meets WBO Lightweight Champion Diego Corrales. Castillo, 31, is 5 years older than Corrales. Their weight and reach are about the same, but Corrales has a decided heighth advantage. Castillo is 5'8", while Corrales, listed as 5'10", is actually just under 6'.

Both have lost to the extremely gifted Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Both have won impressive victories over the tough Cuban Joel Casamayor. (Joel stopped Diego in their first fight on cuts; it was a war!) Corrales also recently stopped previously undefeated Acelino Freitas.

The boxing experts are calling this fight almost evenly, though they give a slight edge to Castillo. Both men have unreal power; Castillo takes a better punch. Yet tonight's fight will be decided, if I am right, by who is able to deliver the hardest blows. Corrales has better long range skills; Castillo is a master at setting distance in the ring.

Note: last night's main event on ShowBox ended in 22 seconds. The two undefeated guys scored a double knock-down with their first punches; the ref didn't control the situation, and on hit the other a second after they got up, knocking him flat. The poor fellow got up, fell to his left, got up again, and stumbled across the ring, falling again. After the fight was stopped, he couldn't remember anything after the ref's instructions! Stay glued to the tube for the main event tonight, as anything can happen!

[H2O Man]

1. Re: ShowBox on 5-6

Cornelius "K-9" Bundage, 21-0 with 13 knockouts, met Sechew Powell, 15-0, with 9 knockouts, in a scheduled 10-round Jr. Middleweight fight. Bundage was favored to beat the younger Powell; he predicted a big kayo to impress his hometown hero, Tommy "Hit Man" Hearns, who was ringside.

But it was not to be. Powell scored the devastating knockout. It seemed fitting to this old fan: it happened on the birthday of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who had a habit to scoring one round knockouts on Friday Night Fights!

[H2O Man]

2. Corrales by 10-round TKO ....

In what ranks as one of the most brutal fights in modern history, Diego Corrales was decked twice in the 10th round, had a point deducted for spitting out his mouthpiece, and landed a stunning combination at the end of the round, stopping Jose Luis Castillo.

One week to Trinidad vs Wright!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. That was a GREAT fight

The body shots these guys traded round-after-round in the center of the ring were just brutal. Body shots hurt more than anything. I've read a lot of posts at fight forums about how the Ref should have given Castillo a standing 8 count. But if I remember correctly, the pre-fight rules were that there would be no standing 8 count, nor 3 knockdown rule, nor saved by the bell rule. And despite Corrales being knocked down twice making for a dramatic moment, I think even more dramatic was the fact that it was Castillo who was badly hurt at least twice earlier in the fight, and yet kept coming forward.

This was one of the most relentlessly exciting fights I've seen in awhile. The recent Cruiserweight championship fight between Jean-Marc Mormeck vs. Wayne Braithwaite was good, but this one was even better.

[H2O Man]

4. My brother used to

tell guys to go to the body more. It's hard to defend yourself if you can't breath!