Lujan Dominates Castillo

By Boxing News - 08/01/2008 - Comments

castillo63575.jpgBy Scott Gilfoid: Just as I thought would happen, former WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo (56-9-1, 48 KOs) was dominated over 10-rounds on Wednesday night, losing by a lopsided 10-round unanimous decision to Sebastian Andres Lujan (30-5-2, 20 KOs) at the Sycuan Resort & Casino, in El Cajon, California. The final judges scores were 98-92, 99-91 and 99-91. Castillo, 34, has said previously that he would retire if beaten by Lujan, now has some tough decisions that he needs to face about what options he has left in his once-great boxing career.

Lujan, a sparring partner for Antonio Margarito, pounded Castillo without mercy, appearing to win every round easily except the 2nd round. Lujan threw over 1000 punches, and averaged over a 100 thrown in every round of the fight. In hindsight, this would appear to have been the worst possible opponent for the 34 year-old Castillo to take for his first bout at welterweight, for he was making a significant jump up in weight, and had been stopped by Ricky Hatton as early as last year in a 4th round TKO. Lujan, a decent by not great fighter, looked like a champion next to Castillo, hitting him often and without stop with one shot after another. The punches weren’t all that hard, but due to the sheer number of them, Castillo simply couldn’t match the volume and didn’t have the energy or power to hurt Lujan with any return fire.

Lujan’s time with Margarito seems to have had a big effect on his style, turning him from just a hard pressure fighter to a nonstop puncher like Margarito. The change seems to have benefited Lujan immensely, as he was throwing a lot of constant leather, never letting Castillo a moment to breath and start his own offense. A lot of the punches were slaps, while others looked almost like backhands due to the weird angles that they were coming in.

But, whatever the case, they were far more than what Castillo had expected, and he found himself in an un-winnable fight very early on. By the 5th round, they perhaps should have considered stopping the fight because Castillo didn’t have the power, or the work rate to stay competitive with Lujan. Though Castillo’s shots were cleaner landing, he was getting out-punched more than two to one in the fight and he couldn’t keep up with him.

Castillo began bleeding from the nose in the 5th round, his face also swelling up and turning red from the constant shots that were being rained on him. In the 6th rounds, Lujan, who had been averaging 100 punches thrown in every round, out did himself by landing a whopping 139 punches and giving Castillo sheer hell. It was an ugly round, for at the end of the round Lujan had him against the ropes and was hitting him with nonstop punches one after another.

Castillo, to his credit, was punching in between the shots, but he was getting nailed because the shots were coming in two quickly and without stop. In rounds seven through ten, Lujan continued to pour in the rain of punches, hitting Castillo as if there was no tomorrow. If it wasn’t bad enough, Lujan began to urge Castillo to come forward, taunting him, and making him look bad. It wasn’t necessary because the fight was in his complete control at this stage.

It was sad, for Castillo would have probably wiped the deck with Lujan five years ago, but not now at 34. In the final two rounds, Lujan pounded Castillo without stop, beating him badly.