Controversial Fight Series: Mayweather-Castillo I

"Which Champion is the Best?" - WBC Lightweight Title

JOSE LUIS CASTILLO (45-4-1, 41 KO, WBC Titleholder)
vs.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. (27-0, 20 KO)
April 20, 2002 | MGM Grand - Las Vegas, NV

by Dafs117/Damon/Richiemerc

April 20th, 2002

After defeating Stevie Johnston in the upset of the year, followed up with a defence against former champ Cesar Bazan, Jose Luis Castillo still came into the ring as an underdog as he defended his WBC lightweight crown in Las Vegas against the highly backed Floyd Mayweather Jr., who had vacated his WBC super featherweight title after eight one-sided defences to fight at lightweight.

Nobody predicted that this fight would be the most debated in Mayweather’s undefeated career, and when Mayweather goes on and on about his spotless record, the haters have an asterisk next to the first contest between the two, touting is at the toughest contest the Pretty Boy has ever been involved in.

Mayweather controlled the first half of the bout with his slickness and skills, which earned him a lead over the opening half of the bout. But did Castillo stage enough of a comeback to scrape a decision? Or did he fall short? Should he have gotten the nod in a bout where he dominated the punch stat numbers?

The Boxing Tribune have replaced the judges with our own balanced panel. The three judges will be Dafs117, Damon and Richimerc, and they'll give their round-by-round opinion, with a quest to find if Castillo was robbed at ringside.

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Holyfield vs. Botha: The Real Deal's Chance To Take A Real Stance

by Damon Ealy

As early as New Year’s Day, during the bowl games, ESPN had the item on its crawl, helpfully led off by “BOXING”: “Evander Holyfield will fight Francois Botha for WBF world heavyweight title in Uganda on January 16.”

Anyone who follows the sport knew of this proposed matchup well before the waning days of 2009. Boxingwise, it’d have been one of the last things in a fan’s mind. But the network, seemingly determined to get this “news” item to as wide an audience as possible, kept it crawlin’ on through the day and into the night. Thanks, ESPN, but, as they say, boxing can do bad by its damn self. Paging Uncle Roger.

Within days, the fight was pushed back. The Associated Press is catching up with it today, January 5:

KAMPALA, Uganda -- Evander Holyfield's return to the ring against Francois Botha has been postponed to late February to give the fighters more time to prepare.

(Well, I guess not everyone got the memo. As recently as today, ESPN’s Cam Martin had this madcap item in his “Weekly Best” column:

Best country to see a boxing match on January 16: Uganda, where Evander Holyfield challenges Francois Botha for the WBF title. Hardy har. Way to stay on top of things, “worldwide leader.”)

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