Updated: June 27, 2007, 11:40 AM ET
Scorecard: Hatton makes quick work of Castillo
Ricky Hatton's perfect body punch put Jose Luis Castillo on his knees. Check out what Dan Rafael says about that fight and others in this week's scorecard.
A roundup of last week's notable boxing results from around the world:
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Ricky Hatton KO4 Jose Luis Castillo Retains world junior welterweight title. |
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Records: Hatton, 43-0, 31 KOs; Castillo, 55-8-1, 47 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Boxing could use 100 Ricky Hattons. He elicits such passion and excitement in his loyal fans that an estimated 10,000 (out of a crowd of 13,044) of them traveled from England to Las Vegas and turned the Thomas & Mack Center into the ultimate pep rally. What an incredible scene it was as thousands of Brits sang songs, chanted and generally had the time of their lives watching and celebrating as their hero took apart Castillo, the former two-time lightweight champ who showed that all the wars finally had caught up with him. Hatton's strength and speed advantage was clear from the moment the fight started and Castillo seemed like a shot fighter at age 33. Instead of getting the possible fight of the year that many thought this one had the chance to be, Hatton, who still held a little too much for our taste, dominated. He ruthlessly attacked Castillo with uppercuts and left hooks to the body. Castillo's best punch is also the left hook to the body, which he learned as a longtime sparring partner for the great Julio Cesar Chavez. However, Castillo didn't have the same kind of success with his body attack as Hatton did. While Castillo lost a point in the fourth round for hitting Hatton below the belt, Hatton landed a perfect body shot moments after the deduction. He creamed Castillo directly on the liver. Castillo spun around and finally went down to a knee on a delayed reaction, unable to move as he took the full count from referee Joe Cortez. For those who think Castillo simply quit, you're all crazy. This was a picture-perfect blow that would have knocked out just about anyone. Ask any fighter who has ever been hit with the perfect body punch and they will tell you that it paralyzes you and that you can't breathe for about 30 seconds. The problem is that in boxing you only have 10 seconds to get up. For Hatton, it was a resounding victory and the best of his three-fight run in the United States as an HBO headliner. Hatton's two best career victories -- this one and his defining 2005 TKO of long-reigning 140-pound champ Kostya Tszyu -- came against the two best opponents of his career. There are many money fights for Hatton, 28, on the horizon, especially if he moves back up to welterweight, where the likes of Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Kermit Cintron and Zab Judah all reside. And then there is also Floyd Mayweather Jr., the pound-for-pound king Hatton has been calling out. That would be a massive fight. Castillo, on the other hand, is near the end of an outstanding career, but count on seeing him continue to fight. He needs the money. |
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Fulgencio Zuniga W10 Antwun Echols Scores: 98-88, 97-89 and 97-90 |
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Records: Zuniga, 19-2-1, 16 KOs; Echols, 31-7-3, 27 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Echols, 35, has been involved in many good fights in his career, but he also has taken a lot of punishment. Zuniga, 29, a wild-swinger from Colombia, also has been involved in many hard-hitting fights, but hasn't taken nearly the punishment Echols has. That was the difference in this brawl as the fresher Zuniga punished Echols, knocked him down in the seventh round and ended the former three-time title challenger's run as a legitimate contender. Echols dropped to 0-2-2 in his past four bouts. Zuniga, who knocked down middleweight star Kelly Pavlik three fights ago but lost, overcame a cut eyelid in the eighth round. Because of his relentless style and power, Zuniga, who lost a 2003 junior middleweight title bout to Daniel Santos, certainly is capable of pulling off an upset here or there. |
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Matthew Hatton W10 Edwin Vazquez Scores: 117-111, 115-113, 115-112 |
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Records: Hatton, 31-3-1, 12 KOs; Vazquez, 22-10-2, 8 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Matthew Hatton is the younger brother of Ricky Hatton and a staple of his brother's undercards. He's not nearly as talented as his brother, but he fights with the same kind of brawling style, which was enough to get past journeyman Vazquez, who took the fight on a few days' notice after several other opponents fell out. Hatton was a lot busier than Vazquez, which the judges obviously favored. Vazquez was credited with an 11th-round knockdown, but it looked more like a shove on video replays and should have been ruled a slip. As long as Ricky keeps fighting, his brother probably will be around, but don't expect to see him in a big-time fight. |
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Sebastian Sylvester TKO11 Amin Asikainen Regains European middleweight title. |
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Records: Sylvester, 26-2, 13 KOs; Asikainen, 21-1, 15 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Besides regaining the European middleweight title, Sylvester avenged an eighth-round knockout loss to Asikainen in June 2006. The German is now 5-0 since that loss. He scored three knockdowns against Asikainen, Finland's No. 1 fighter, flooring him in the seventh and twice more in the 11th of what had been a competitive fight most of the way. Asikainen, who was making his third defense, knocked Sylvester down in the first round. |
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Bernard Dunne W12 Reidar Walstad Retains European junior featherweight title. Scores:118-111, 116-112, 115-113 |
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Records: Dunne, 24-0, 14 KOs; Walstad, 16-2-1, 10 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Dunne, 27, of Ireland, made the second defense of his European title after winning the vacant belt via unanimous decision against Esham Pickering in November. Dunne cut Walstad, 30, of Norway over the left eye in the second round. It was a deep gash that got worse throughout the fight, but Walstad showed heart to make it to the final bell. Dunne now owes mandatory challenger Kiko Martinez of Spain a fight before the end of the year. |
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Juan Carlos Reveco TKO8 Nethra Sasiprapa Wins a vacant junior flyweight title. |
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Records: Reveco, 16-0, 7 KOs; Sasiprapa, 17-1, 7 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: In front of his hometown fans, Reveco, 23, stopped Thailand's Sasiprapa, 24, to win the 108-pound belt that Japanese star Koki Kameda vacated in order to move up to flyweight. The victory made Reveco the 29th world title holder in Argentina history, according to the WBA. Reveco scored a knockdown in the eighth round with a three-punch combination. Sasiprapa made it to his feet, but didn't survive Reveco's next barrage. Reveco led on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage, aided in part by a point deduction from Sasiprapa for low blows. |
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Troy Browning W10 Julio Cesar Garcia Scores: 97-93, 96-94, 95-95 |
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Records: Browning, 20-0-1, 8 KOs; Garcia, 40-3, 34 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Whoa! Browning was not supposed to win, nor come anywhere close to it. Despite Browning's undefeated record, this ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" main event was all about showcasing Garcia, the 20-year-old rising Mexican prospect with a ton of fights, but little exposure, and the backing of promoter Roberto Duran. Browning, 39, turned pro in 1991 and retired in 1998 because of a knee injury. He returned in 2006 and won two in a row before being matched with Garcia. It turned out to be a bad move for Garcia, who looked woeful in the lethargic majority decision loss. It was almost as if he had been drugged, he showed that little energy in the fight. Garcia's status as a serious prospect has to be questioned after this awful, awful loss, which is one of the upsets of the year. |
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Richard Gutierrez W10 Luciano Perez Scores: 100-89, 98-91, 96-93 |
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Records: Gutierrez, 21-1, 13 KOs; Perez, 15-6-1, 13 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: In the ESPN2 co-feature, Gutierrez used a steady left jab to cruise to a lopsided decision against Perez, who had some early success but couldn't maintain it. He also was penalized a point in the fourth round for low blows. It wasn't Gutierrez's most impressive performance, but chalk up another win for the Colombian, who was coming off an impressive fourth-round destruction of Teddy Reid on ESPN2 in January. Gutierrez's only defeat was majority decision to top contender Joshua Clottey.
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Juan Manuel Lopez TKO1 Giovanni Andrade |
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Records: Lopez, 18-0, 16 KOs; Andrade, 55-11, 44 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Lopez, 23, a 2004 Puerto Rico Olympian, continued to cruise along in a flawless pro career by dispatching late substitute Andrade in just 2 minutes, 59 seconds. Lopez dropped him with a combination, and although Andrade, 37, got to his feet, he complained that one of the blows was illegal and indicated that he couldn't continue. It was an easy win for one of the brightest prospects in the sport. With the victory in the bank, Lopez will next fight on the Aug. 4 David Diaz-Erik Morales pay-per-view undercard against former title challenger Ricardo Castillo, the younger brother of Jose Luis Castillo and a substantial step up in opposition for the prospect. |
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Vincenzo Cantatore W12 Alexander Gurov Wins vacant European cruiserweight title. Scores:116-114 (twice), 114-114 |
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Records: Cantatore, 33-4-1, 27 KOs; Gurov, 39-6-1, 33 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Cantatore, of Italy, edged a majority decision against Ukraine's Gurov in a meeting of 36-year-old former European champions and former world title challengers. Although Cantatore did a lot of clinching and holding, he was awarded the close decision in his home country. The title was vacant because Britain's David Haye relinquished it in anticipation of a mandatory title shot against world champion Jean-Marc Mormeck. Haye had knocked Gurov out in one round in a December 2005 European defense. Gurov also has lost two world title shots, to Mormeck in 2003 and Nate Miller in 1997. Cantatore also has failed in two world title shots, both coming in Italy: a split decision to Johnny Nelson in 2005 and a 10th-round TKO against Wayne Braithwaite for a vacant belt in 2002. |
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Peter Manfredo W10 David Banks Scores: 97-93 (three times) |
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Records: Manfredo, 28-4, 13 KOs; Banks, 14-2-1, 2 KOs |
| Rafael's remark: Fighting for the third time in three months, Manfredo showed true grit to outpoint Banks in a performance that was certainly not Manfredo's best, even though it was an entertaining bout. The star of the first season of "The Contender" ate right hands all night -- way too many -- and had a big bruise on his left eye to show for it. But Manfredo still was able to keep Banks on the defensive and backed him up for much of the "Wednesday Night Fights" main event. After being so busy in the past few months, including a TKO loss to world champ Joe Calzaghe in Wales in April, Manfredo said he wants a break, which he will get. He might come back and fight again in August, but the more important date to focus on is Oct. 16, the date ESPN has set aside for Manfredo to fight Allan Green in what will represent another big test for the pride of Providence, R.I. |
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
