Five of Mexico’s biggest names in boxing converge for the first time, headlining the same boxing card! Top Rank presents “Latin Fury 8 — Tijuana Thunder,” broadcast Live on Pay-Per-View from Tijuana, Mexico on March 28. The five-bout pay-per-view extravaganza will feature undefeated super welterweight sensation JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ, Jr., WBC super featherweight champion HUMBERTO SOTO, WBO junior bantamweight champion FERNANDO MONTIEL, two-time WBC lightweight champion JOSE LUIS CASTILLO, and top-rated junior flyweight contender GIOVANI SEGURA in separate bouts. Combined, these five warriors have a combined record of 198-19-6 (150 KOs) — a winning percentage of 89% and a victory by knockout ratio of 79%.
José Luis Castillo
Castillo Annihilates Wayka
By Manuel Perez: Former two-time WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo (57-9-1, 49 KOs) destroyed journeyman James Wayka (16-8, 8 KOs) in a 2nd round TKO on Saturday night at the Palenque del FEX, Mexicali, in Baja California, Mexico. Castillo, 35, knocked Wayka down with a left uppercut to the head followed quickly by a left to the midsection in the 2nd round. Wayka, 30, rolled around on the canvas in visible pain and was unable to beat the count. The fight was stopped at 1:13 of the round.
Castillo vs. Wayka On Janaury 17th
By Dave Lahr: Former WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo (56-9-1, 48 KOs), now fighting as a welterweight, will face James Wayka (16-7, 8 KOs) on January 17th in a scheduled 10-round bout at the Palenque del FEX, in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. Castillo, 35, seems ill-suited for the welterweight division, both too small at 5’8″ and far too weak to compete against the larger more powerful welterweights in the division.
Lujan Dominates Castillo
By 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.
Castillo vs. Lujan Tonight, Jose Makes His Welterweight Debut
By Scott Gilfoid: No longer able to comfortably make either the lightweight or the light welterweight weight limit, former WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo (56-8, 48 KOs) will be moving up to the welterweight division tonight to go up against hard puncher Sebastian Lujan (29-5-2, 20 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout at the Sycuan Resort & Casino, in El Cajon, California. Castillo, now 34, has been in countless ring wars with fighters such as Floyd Mayweather Jr, Joel Casamayor, Julio Diaz, Diego Corrales and Herman Ngoudjo, and yet his boxing career has been more than a little hurt in recent years with his increasing weight.
Growing out of the lightweight division doesn’t appear to have helped Castillo any, as he was overpowered against Ricky Hatton at light welterweight, losing a 4th round TKO on June 23, 2007. Though Castillo was able to defeat Ngoudjo, now a top light welterweight, by a narrow 12-round unanimous decision in January 2007, the fight was very close and perhaps should have been scored a draw or given to Ngoudjo. With Castillo’s recent decision to move up one more time to the welterweight class, it seems ultimately like a recipe for failure.