Ricky Hatton vs Jose Luis Castillo: A Look Back
The Hitman Thrills His Fans with a Perfect Left Hook
Dec 18, 2008
Ricky Hatton 43-0 (31) and Jose Luis Castillo 55-8-1 (47) had been throwing at one another for eight minutes and six seconds at the Thomas and Mack arena in Las Vegas when Hatton landed the right shot in the right spot. A perfect hook to Castillo’s ribs buckled the Mexican brawler’s legs as he spun to his right and grabbed his side. Finding nowhere to hide, he fell to one knee near the ropes and took a ten count from referee Joe Cortez as the largely British crowd shouted its approval. With that, Hatton retained his WBO light-welterweight belt.
Hatton opened the fight with a left jab as both men reached the center of the ring, then settled into a pattern of beating Castillo to the punch and quickly clinching once he got inside. At one point early in the first, Hatton threw Castillo to the canvas with surprising ease as the referee signaled that Castillo had slipped.
The crowd, heavily stacked in Hatton’s favor, as over 7,000 rabid fans flew across the pond from the U.K. to Las Vegas to see their Manchester idol go to work, roared with every Hatton punch. They had much to roar about with Hatton beating Castillo to the punch in nearly every exchange, though towards the end of the second round Castillo’s jab was finding its mark with ramping frequency.
By the third round, both fighters were standing inside, trading left hooks to the body and uppercuts to the jaw. Hatton’s shots were coming a little quicker and in slightly greater numbers than Castillo’s, but the pride of Hermosillo was hardly fading, if anything he appeared to be getting stronger. After three rounds, Hatton was ahead 30-27 on this writer's unofficial scorecard and the war that boxing fans predicted slowly materialized before us.
A stray hook below Hatton’s belt cost Castillo a point early in the fourth. Castillo took it in stride. No surprise, really. It’s the least of his problems. He is being sued by the family of the late Diego Corrales for Corrales’ share of a fight contract (a rubber match) that Castillo didn’t honor because he couldn’t make the weight. Castillo was also suspended for a year, so he couldn’t earn money to pay the fine stemming from the same breach of contract. Moreover, earlier this year Castillo’s brother, Caesar Castillo, died suddenly of an aneurism. The referee took a point from Castillo and the poker-faced 33-year-old shrugged and went back to work.
Until 2:16 of the round.
Hatton managed to back Castillo up during an exchange of punches. Seeing a small target behind Castillo’s right elbow, and a split-second window of opportunity, Hatton executed one of the most physiologically complex punches in a boxer’s arsenal. Moments later, Castillo, his knee to the canvas and his mouth guard hanging out so he could breathe, listened stoically to Joe Cortez count to ten.
A perfect left hook changed two lives and, perhaps, our perspectives on them. Those who doubted Hatton’s prowess may be forced to rethink their unwillingness to praise his abilities and must now consider acknowledging his accomplishments. Those who believed that Castillo still had much to give in the ring shake their heads and consider that maybe time and punishment have indeed conspired against him.
But for the Hatton faithful, the thousands that took the plane ride to Vegas so they could sing “Blue Moon” as their hero strode to the ring, the ones who love to watch Hatton, not because they count on seeing a great fighter, but because they know they will get a great fight, for those fans, the story unfolded just as it ought.
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