Diego Corrales

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Diego Corrales

Statistics
Real name Diego Corrales
Nickname(s) Chico
Rated at Lightweight
Nationality Flag of the United States American
Birth date August 25, 1977(1977-08-25)
Birth place Columbia, SC, U.S.
Death date May 7, 2007 (aged 29)
Death place Las Vegas, Nevada
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 45
Wins 40
Wins by KO 33
Losses 5

Diego "Chico" Corrales (August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was a former super featherweight and lightweight world boxing champion. "Chico" had a professional record of 40-5-0, with 33 wins coming by way of knockout. Many enthusiasts believe his first confrontation with Jose Luis Castillo on May 7 2005 will go down as one of the greatest fights, and that this was the fight that sealed his legacy as one of the greatest lower division fighters ever.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Corrales was born to a Colombian father and a Mexican mother.[1] Corrales' early life was filled with violence. He was raised in the Oak Park section of Sacramento, where he was involved with street gangs since age 13. He witnessed his best friend's death via drive-by shooting. Diego had a degree in culinary arts. [2]

[edit] Amateur career

Corrales compiled an amateur boxing record of 105-12.[3] In 1994, he took second place at the United States Amateur Championships—losing to Frankie Carmona on points in the featherweight final. He was a bronze medalist at featherweight in the 1995 Pan American Games. At lightweight, he lost in the 1995 World Championships in Berlin, Germany to Marco Rudolph.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Early success

Corrales was victorious in his pro boxing debut on March 19, 1996. On October 23, 1999, Corrales won the IBF super featherweight title by defeating the previously unbeaten Roberto Garcia via TKO in the seventh round. After defeating Angel Manfredy on September 2, 2000, Corrales' managers vacated his title. Corrales had a record of 33-0 at this point.

[edit] Corrales vs. Mayweather

On January 20, 2001, Corrales challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the WBC super featherweight title. In the bout, Mayweather knocked down Corrales five times (three times in the seventh round and twice in the tenth round). After the fifth knockdown, Corrales' corner stopped the fight, despite Corrales' protests. This fight was the first one in which Corrales was knocked down and was his first loss.

After the Mayweather Jr. bout, Corrales had to deal with personal issues. Upon beating his wife he was sent to prison for spousal abuse where he spent 14 months.

[edit] Return to boxing

In 2003, Corrales returned to the ring. After easily winning four fights, Corrales fought against Joel Casamayor. After the sixth round, the fight was stopped because of a deep cut inside of Corrales' mouth. On March 6, 2004, there was a rematch for the vacant WBO super featherweight title that Corrales won by close split decision.

On August 7, 2004, Corrales won the WBO lightweight title from Acelino Freitas via TKO in the tenth round. Freitas was a celebrated fighter and a national hero in Brazil. Freitas won the early rounds of the fight by sticking and moving. But by the later rounds he was visibly tired and began to be caught by Corrales. After rising from the third knockdown, Freitas walked away from the referee and quit.

[edit] Corrales vs. Castillo I, II, and III

On May 7, 2005, Corrales defeated José Luis Castillo for the WBC lightweight title, also via TKO in the tenth round. The fight is almost universally regarded as the best fight of 2005.[4][5][6] Both men stood in front of each other, battering each other with hard combinations and power punches throughout the entire fight. Finally, in the tenth round, Castillo knocked Corrales down, causing Corrales to spit out his mouthpiece. This allowed him some extra recovery time while getting another one put in. Seconds later, Castillo knocked Corrales down again. Once on the ground, Corrales took his mouthpiece out, allowing him more recovery time. This caused the referee to deduct one point from Corrales. After the point was taken away, Corrales connected with a punch that Castillo later called "a perfect right hand."[7] Corrales then trapped Castillo against the ropes and landed numerous punches, causing the referee, Tony Weeks, to stop the fight. Whether the stoppage was premature has been debated by boxing fans and analysts. On one hand, Castillo was not given the same chance to recover that Corrales had had. (The rules did not include a standing 8 count.) On the other hand, Castillo was trapped against the ropes with his hands at his sides, apparently knocked out on his feet—a potentially life-threatening position. However, the larger controversy in the fight was the fact that Diego Corrales had both spat and taken out his mouthpiece in the final round, causing boxing fans to wonder if Castillo would have won had Corrales not had the extra time to recover.

A rematch between Corrales and Castillo occurred on October 8, 2005. On the day before the fight, Castillo weighed-in 3½ lb over the 135 lb lightweight limit. Since Castillo did not make the weight, the fight became a non-title bout. The two fighters continued with the same fighting style that they had used in the first fight, trading inside punches throughout the first three rounds. Early in the fourth round, Castillo knocked down Corrales with a left hook to his chin. Corrales wobbled to his feet at the referee's count of ten, causing the fight to end.

Corrales vs. Castillo III, dubbed "The War to Settle the Score," had been scheduled for February 4, 2006, but it was postponed because of a rib injury that Corrales suffered while training. The fight was rescheduled for June 3, 2006. At the weigh-in, however, Corrales weighed the 135 lb lightweight limit whereas Castillo weighed 139½ lb—causing the fight to be cancelled. Corrales later sued Castillo for punitive damages.

[edit] Staying at lightweight

Corrales was scheduled to defend his lightweight title in a third bout against Joel Casamayor on October 7, 2006. However, in an extremely ironic case, Corrales weighed in 5 pounds over the lightweight limit of 135 pounds for the Casamayor fight. He was given two hours to shed five pounds, but came back at 139 pounds, still four pounds over the limit. Corrales would have been stripped of the title if he had won the bout, but Casamayor defeated him by split decision for the WBC and The Ring lightweight titles.

[edit] Welterweight

On April 7, 2007, fighting in the welterweight division, Corrales lost a unanimous decision to Joshua Clottey. [1] Corrales was dropped in rounds 9 and 10 and lost by the scores of 97-90, 98-89 and 100-87.

[edit] Death

On May 7, 2007, exactly two years to the day after his legendary fight with Castillo, Corrales was killed in a three-vehicle accident near his Las Vegas home. He was 29 years old. Corrales was riding a 2007 Suzuki GSXR 1000 motorcycle, traveling northbound on Fort Apache Road in the southwest part of the city, when he attempted to pass another vehicle at high speed. Corrales struck the back of a 1997 Honda Accord, Las Vegas police spokesman Sgt. Tracy McDonald said: "The accident occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. PDT." McDonald said there was no outward evidence of drugs or alcohol involved. He could not say how fast the motorcycle was traveling. However, Corrales was indeed legally drunk, with a blood alcohol level of 0.25, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 in Nevada.[8] Promoter Gary Shaw said, "He's laying there as we speak with a helmet on his head under a sheet. It appears he was thrown a great distance".[9] Reports say that he was thrown almost the length of a football field.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Diego Corrales | Boxing | guardian.co.uk Sport
  2. ^ Press release. "Showtime Championship Boxing to feature WBO lightweight championship." 2 June 2004. Showtime. URL accessed 28 August 2006.
  3. ^ Boxing-Records editors. Boxing-Records: Diego Corrales 1 March 2006. GFAX. URL accessed 28 August 2006.
  4. ^ Eisele, Andrew. "Ring Magazine Fight of the Year." About.com URL accessed 23 July 2006.
  5. ^ Gregg, John. HIS main goal was to beat castillo."2005 Boxing Year in Review." 3 January 2006. The Boxing Times. URL accessed 23 July 2006.
  6. ^ "Corrales vs. Castillo I- Fight of the Year 2005." 5 January 2006. TigerBoxing.com. URL accessed 23 July 2006.
  7. ^ Castillo, José Luis. "Showtime Conference Call Quotes: Corrales, Castillo & Their Teams." 5 December 2005. East Side Boxing. His main goal was to beat Castillo. URL accessed 23 July 2006.
  8. ^ Boxer Diego Corrales dies in motorcycle crash in Las Vegas, Ken Ritter, Associated Press, May 8, 2007
  9. ^ www.doghouseboxing.com/dhb/dhb050807.htm. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Roberto Garcia		 Super featherweight boxing champion (IBF)
1999–2000		 Vacant
Title next held by
Steve Forbes
Vacant
Title last held by
Acelino Freitas		 Super featherweight boxing champion (WBO)
2004		 Vacant
Title next held by
Mike Anchondo
Preceded by
Acelino Freitas		 Lightweight boxing champion (WBO)
2004-2006		 Vacant
Title next held by
Acelino Freitas
Preceded by
José Luis Castillo		 Lightweight boxing champion (The Ring)
2005–2006		 Succeeded by
Joel Casamayor
Preceded by
José Luis Castillo		 Lightweight boxing champion (WBC)
2005–2006		 Succeeded by
Joel Casamayor
Persondata
NAME Corrales, Diego
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chico
SHORT DESCRIPTION American professional boxer
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1977
PLACE OF BIRTH Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH May 7, 2007
PLACE OF DEATH Las Vegas, Nevada, USA