Diego "Chico" Corrales
(August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was a former super featherweight and lightweight world boxing champion. He is most noted for his series of bouts with José Luis Castillo.
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DIEGO CORRALES TICKETS
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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 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. He trained at Sac Pal Boxing Gym with Manny Fernandez
[2]
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.
Professional career
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.
On January 20, 2001, Corrales challenged
Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the WBC super featherweight title and recorded his first knockdown and first loss. In the bout, Mayweather knocked down Corrales five times (three times in the seventh round and twice in the tenth). After the fifth knockdown, Corrales'
corner stopped the fight, despite Corrales' protests.
Shortly after the Mayweather fight, Corrales served 14 months in prison after opting for a plea bargain on charges he faced for abusing his pregnant wife, Maria.
[4]
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. 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 won the early rounds, but by the later rounds he was visibly tired and began to be caught by Corrales. After rising from his third knockdown, Freitas walked away from the referee and quit.
Corrales vs. Castillo I, II, and III
On May 7, 2005, Corrales defeated
José Luis Castillo for the
WBC lightweight title via TKO in the tenth round. The fight is almost universally regarded as the best fight of 2005.
[5] [6] [7] 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 some extra recovery time for Corrales while it was cleaned and put back in. Seconds later, Castillo knocked Corrales down again. Once on the ground, Corrales again spat his mouthpiece out, allowing him yet more recovery time. Corrales managed to beat the count, and, after a point was taken away for excessive spitting out of the mouthpiece, Corrales connected with a punch that Castillo later called "a perfect right hand."
[8] Corrales then trapped Castillo against the ropes and landed numerous punches, causing the
referee, Tony Weeks, to stop the fight.
A rematch between Corrales and Castillo occurred on October 8, 2005. On the day before the fight, Castillo weighed-in 3½
lb over the 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 lightweight limit whereas Castillo weighed 139½ lb—causing the fight to be cancelled. Corrales later sued Castillo for punitive damages.
After Castillo
Corrales was scheduled to defend his lightweight title in a third bout against Joel Casamayor on October 7, 2006. However, Corrales weighed in 5 pounds over the limit. He was given two hours to shed five pounds, but came back at 139 pounds. 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.
On April 7, 2007, fighting in the welterweight division, Corrales lost a unanimous decision to
Joshua Clottey.
[9] Corrales was dropped in rounds 9 and 10 and lost by the scores of 97-90, 98-89
and 100-87.
Death
On May 7, 2007, exactly two years to the day after his first fight with Castillo, Corrales was killed in a three-vehicle accident near his Las Vegas home. 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 an oncoming car, 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. Corrales' blood alcohol content was 0.25 at the time of the crash, approximately 3 times the legal limit for Nevada.
[10]
References
- Diego Corrales
- Press release. "Showtime Championship Boxing to feature WBO lightweight championship." 2 June 2004. Showtime. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
- Boxing-Records editors. Boxing-Records: Diego Corrales 1 March 2006. GFAX. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
- Diego Corrales Looks Ahead
- Eisele, Andrew. "Ring Magazine Fight of the Year." About.com. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- Gregg, John. HIS main goal was to beat castillo."2005 Boxing Year in Review." 3 January 2006. ''The Boxing Times.'.' Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- "Corrales vs. Castillo I- Fight of the Year 2005." 5 January 2006. ''TigerBoxing.com.'.' Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- Castillo, José Luis. "Showtime Conference Call Quotes: Corrales, Castillo & Their Teams." 5 December 2005. ''East Side Boxing.'' His main goal was to beat Castillo. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- ESPN - Fight lasts 10 rounds, but Clottey dominates throughout - Boxing
- {{cite news|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2902353 |Title=Corrales blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit |publisher=Sports.espn.go.com |agency=Associated Press