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Click Here For The Corrales Teleconference Audio (44
Min)
DuBuof:
I want to welcome everybody to the call and more importantly
want to thank all the press for the wonderful turnout that
we had this week. It was terrific and we appreciate it.
Obviously, the performance that Diego and Jose put on in the
first fight garnered the support that you gave them for
their terrific second fight. It was a pleasure working with
everybody and I think that our dreams of making the rematch
that we did come true came true. It was a terrific fight and
everyone -- the fans, hopefully everybody -- walked away
with a good feeling. We look forward to you guys watching
this once again on SHOWTIME this weekend. So it was
terrific working with everybody and I will throw it to Gary,
my partner on the show and let him make some comments.
Shaw:
I agree with everything that Todd said other than I did not
walk away with a good feeling. But I will reserve those
comments for another time. I would like to turn it over at
this time to Joe Goossen to say a few words.
Goossen:
The good feeling part is what I picked up on too. Todd, you
had it right except for that. But we walked away feeling
good on the last one. We did not walk away feeling so good
on this one. But I am looking forward to the third one and
that I hope comes about and I hope Castillo is able to fight
us at 135 because I think the rubber match will, like most
rubber matches, prove who the real top guy is in that
division and between these fighters in this series. So I am
really looking forward to that. I know last time I did not
want to hear about a rematch. This time I do. I want to get
back in the ring with Diego against Castillo and I want to
prove to the world that Diego is the No. 1 135-pounder out
there. Even though he still is champion, I want to fight
Castillo at 135 so it is a legitimate 135-pound championship
to decide who the real lightweight champion is.
Corrales:
Todd, everything you said was true except for the good
feeling part. I agree with Joe on that 100 percent. I also
feel exactly the same way. Everybody explained that the
last fight was shrouded in controversy and look at this one.
I believe this fight should happen again. I am looking
forward to this rematch. I think that everyone is again
going to have to prove who the best lightweight is because
it is not proven yet. So we have to go and do this again.
DuBuof:
I was referring to the good feeling of the fans. We are all
in this business and we all have our ups and downs.
Begin Press Questions.
Question:
Diego, did you feel like you had hurt him in any way at any
point along the way?
Corrales:
Absolutely. I was punching his body. I could hear him make
noise when we were in that ring and I knew at some point I
was going to be able to break him down. I came back at the
end of the third round and told Joe, ‘I have got him.’ I got
careless. I got caught and paid the price.
Question:
Gary, any second thoughts about allowing him to weigh in and
why did you arrive at a number like 147 pounds? Obviously,
that is two weight limits over where he should have been.
Shaw:
I tried for 45, but I spoke with Chico and Chico had trained
hard and he wanted to fight. The cancellation of this match
would be maybe one of the biggest black eyes in the history
of boxing and could forever ruin pay-per-view. We had an
obligation to the fans. Chico would not have made a dime,
but we would have owed money on a breach of contract. I
wanted in my own mind to mitigate as much damage as I could,
so I tried to make a deal. But I will tell you one thing: on
that night, Oct. 8, Castillo may be the best 147- or 154-
pounder in the world, but Chico is still the best 135
pounder in the world.
Question:
If there was a breach of contract, it was not on your side,
but on the other side. Diego made the 135 pounds, did he
not?
Shaw:
He did and to answer the question, we had a joint venture.
And whether I should be indemnified and Chico should be
indemnified because he weighed 135 pounds may be a question
for a little later on.
Question:
Diego, what was your take?
Corrales:
If they are going to put their foot on the scale, they had
absolutely no intentions of ever making the weight.
Secondly, I could have said I am not going to fight, but the
bottom line is if I do that, you have a lot of fans that
cannot get their money back. I had an obligation to fulfill
my end of the contract and make sure this fight happened and
I did that but it cost me. This is something now that our
sport cannot afford. This is a great game and I love my
job. I take my professionalism and my sport very seriously
and I handle myself exactly in that way.
Question:
If you have a third fight and a similar situation arises, do
you fight him again at whatever weight he comes in at?
Corrales:
The honest truth, I am not going to even give these guys an
opportunity to attempt anything like that again.
Question:
Do you think Castillo weighed in over the limit on purpose?
Corrales:
I respect the game and they knew that and they knew that I
would not let this game be battered or bruised by a big card
just being canceled.
Question:
(Forgetting what actually transpired), do you feel you were
ready for this fight again? Do you think it would have
helped if you had two or three more months to prepare?
Corrales:
No. Even when I fell for the bait, I will not say that.
Castillo landed a great shot. Time was no factor. I got
careless.
DuBuof:
To everyone saying that he had no intention on making the
weight, that to me is a hypothesis by people ringside. All
I can tell you is that after the initial weigh-in, about 20
minutes after the camp left, I actually went to the spa
myself at Caesars Palace and saw him and his trainer in the
spa, shadow boxing in the spa. So I do not know if that was
really the case. I saw with my own eyes.
Corrales:
My wife just happened to be down there with some of my
family and watched Castillo go up and watched Castillo come
down 20 minutes later. I have been in situations where I
have had to cut a lot of weight where I have actually had to
go in the sauna. I have never been able to cut two pounds
in 15-20 minutes. That is amazing and that is about how
long it was before he came back down to the scale.
Goossen:
If the roles were reversed and I had two hours to lose 3 1/2
pounds, I would have taken one hour and 50 minutes to lose
that weight. I would not have come back down in 20 minutes
and taken a shot in the dark. So that just tells you right
there, Todd, if the roles were reversed and guys like Diego,
who do their job, would have used that two hours to its
fullest extent to get down to 135. Face it, the kid gave
up.
Question:
Chico, how tough was it for you to make 135 and how big a
role did that have in your performance?
Corrales:
I am a big guy for this weight and it is not easy for me to
make the weight either. But that did not have any effect on
my performance. I was in great shape.
Goossen:
Diego is almost six feet tall. It is extremely hard to make
135. He is being very nice about it. He had to go a
couple, maybe three days, eating very meager sustenance.
Not much at all. If the playing field is even and the other
guy has to do it, then you say, OK. But when you have to
make 135 and the other guy does not, he has to work less
hard than you do. He does not have to sacrifice the same
amount of food you do. In those terms, it does affect your
performance because one guy does not and the other guy has
to. So it affects you just by the fact that the other guy
did not have to sacrifice.
Question:
Why is a third fight a good thing?
Goossen:
I can assure you that Todd will have a handle on that next
camp and I can assure you Top Rank will have a
representative inside that camp monitoring that guy’s weight
all the way through. If they do not do that, then we would
be hesitant to take a rematch.
DuBuof:
We are all on the same page here. What happened on the
night of the weigh-in is inexcusable in the sport of the
business.
Goossen:
Todd, would you or would you not monitor that camp very
closely if we were to do this a third time?
DuBuof:
You and I are saying the same thing. We are professionals.
You said to me, ‘if I have two hours, I would take 1 hour
and 55 minutes,’ but we have a bunch of amateurs running
around that think they are doctors and everything and they
are nothing but frauds and coming for a payday.
Goossen:
What would you do to assure the press that they would not
run into this again from your side?
DuBuof:
I was embarrassed. We would insist on having a much more
proactive role in all of our fighters in these situations
that have the same crew around them. It was horrible.
Question:
Is it going to be good for boxing to drag everything up
again in a rematch so soon?
Corrales:
You have to look at how it makes you feel. You do not see
back-to-back fights like me and Castillo are doing. You do
not see it anymore. Is it good for boxing? Absolutely.,
Absolutely! The controversy is what it is. But guess what?
For what Castillo and I are doing in that ring, it is good
for the sport. Everybody that came to that fight left
happy.
DuBuof:
The courage that both of these fighters put on the line
those two nights is what this sport is missing day in and
day out. The beauty of the sport is what these two warriors
put on those two nights. That is the old-time boxing and is
what makes the fans happy when they walked away.
Question:
But at the end of the day when people are calling the other
camp cheaters and disrespectful and criminals and things
like that, that clouds everything, doesn’t it?
Shaw:
There are two stories to this fight – what happened outside
the ring and what happened inside the ring. Inside the
ring, what everyone is telling you is exactly right. In two
fights, they have seen 14 spectacular rounds of boxing by
two real warriors. What happened outside the ring is a whole
different story altogether that needs to be told. It will
not happen again, not only the next time for these two, but
never again in the history of boxing. And the fans are
interested in seeing round 15.
Question:
Gary, did you actually feel before the fight that it was a
disadvantage that Castillo came in at that extra weight?
And also what do you think about how the odds did not change
significantly in light of the weigh-in?
Shaw:
My understanding is that the odds did change on the knockout
and the odds came down dramatically on Castillo after
weighing in and they realized that the fight was going to
take place at more than 135 pounds. Were we at a
disadvantage? I believe so. Our fighter made weight and
their fighter did not. I think if we would have said to
Chico, ‘you have got to go in at 175 pounds,’ he would have
done it. That is who Chico is. He was not going to not
fight and disappoint every one of those fans.
Question:
Diego, you said you felt you were hurting Castillo to the
body – do you think the added weight helped him or not?
Corrales:
I never thought about the weight and whether it was working
to my advantage or disadvantage. When I was landing my
shots, all I was thinking about was keep landing good shots,
beating the body. I think it pays off no matter what weight
you are at.
Question:
Gary, do you feel that this really should have been in the
hands of the commission to decide rather than you guys?
Shaw:
They made Diego weigh in when he came to the arena to see
where they were. I think if there would have been a 10- or
12-pound difference, probably (Marc) Ratner would have
called it off. I do not know how to answer your question.
Question:
It just seems unfair to put it on the fighter or the
trainer, doesn’t it?
Shaw:
Can you imagine if we had pulled out on this huge
pay-per-view event what the ramifications would have been
for boxing. We discussed it before and after the fight and
maybe Diego took one on the chin this time, not for
Castillo, but for all of boxing.
Question:
Gary, how can you protect the fighter from this happening in
a third fight?
Shaw:
Well, we will probably insist on some 30-day weigh-in,
20-day, 10-day, all the way down the line so we will know
where we are at. According to Bob Arum’s statement, they may
not fight at 135. So that would mean that Jay Prince and
myself and Diego and Joe would have to sit down and discuss
whether we want to fight a rematch at a different weight or
do we just want to pass on the rematch.
Question:
Diego, the next time you fight, if you fight, do you think
you are going to start training so quickly? Will you change
anything?
Corrales:
It is hard to tell with me, depends on my mood. I might not
start fast and I might start fast.
Question:
Looking back on the second fight, did Castillo seem more
powerful in the ring?
Corrales:
I would say the guy’s got a good shot, he made some
adjustments.
Question:
So it was the adjustments he made rather than the actual
power that he carried because of the weight?
Corrales:
I am not saying that either. I think they are all factors,
but I am not going to make an excuse. That is not what I
do.
Question:
Joe, weight issues aside, as Diego’s trainer, how would you
approach the next fight with Castillo?
Goossen:
I think you would have seen a little bit more versatility
out of Diego. I think they were both trying to set the pace
right off the bat and may have wanted to get some
frustrations out right off the bat. I think what you will
probably see is the blend of strategy we would have gotten
off the ground had it lasted longer, without giving too much
detail.
Question:
Todd, did you or Mr. Arum have any idea before the weigh-in
that Castillo was not going to be able to make weight?
DuBuof:
No.
Question:
And when you guys were negotiating the catch weight, why did
you object to 145?
DuBuof:
My understanding is that there were a bunch of them who were
down there. I had left there because we had another show
that night that I was headed to. So I was not involved in
that. I do not know.
Question:
Gary, do you have a contract for a third fight at 135?
Shaw:
We have a contract that says a rematch with the same terms
and conditions as fight two. So that would say, yes, 135.
Question:
Joe, if the weigh-ins for fights were the day of the fight,
what weight class would Corrales fight in?
Goossen:
135. That would not change and I will tell you why. Bringing
the weight down slowly is very professional. Not to crash
diet the last two or three days to make it. So Diego makes
135 the right way. I never crash diet him and I never starve
him. He just eats a lot less. So he can make 135 even on the
day of the fight because he, as a lightweight, should be at
135.
Shaw:
I would like to go back to weigh-ins the day of. I believe
the weights that the fighters are coming in the ring are
nowhere near the fights. It is much more dangerous.
Goossen:
They did it out of trying to make it less dangerous, but
what they have done is they have added an extra 10 pounds to
weight that fighters would never have brought in the ring
with them being they could not have eaten that much the day
of the fight.
Question:
If Bob Arum insists on a catch weight of 137-138 for the
rematch, will there be a third fight?
Shaw:
I have not had that discussion with James Prince, Diego’s
manager, or Diego or Joe. If Bob Arum says Castillo cannot
make 135 and if Diego is willing to vacate his titles to
fight at 138, that will be a decision ultimately that Diego
will make all by himself. But we will back Diego in whatever
decision he makes. If he says no, it will be no.
Corrales:
I am not going to answer that question because I am not
going to even give him an opportunity to do that. I will
cross that bridge when I come to it.
Goossen:
If they do that, it definitely proves that they never had
any intention of coming in in the last fight at 135 – never.
Question:
Diego, did you spit out the mouthpiece in the first fight?
Corrales:
First off, my jaw was sore. First time, it came out of my
mouth on its own. It was nothing deliberate. The second
time, I pulled it out and my intention was to get up with it
in my hand and catch my breath, put it back in my mouth and
then go on and go. It is not something uncommon. But
accidents happen. It slipped out of my hand.
Question:
Chico, ideally when would a rematch take place?
Corrales:
If we can do it tomorrow, I do not care. I do not need a
break. I am fortunate enough. I did not come out of the
fight with any major injuries. I am OK.
Shaw:
Todd, Bob and I will sit down and find out what dates are
available. Then we will go back to our fighters and camps
and tell them the date we are thinking about and make sure
they are both available and that will be the date.
DuBuof:
We are probably looking at the spring of ’06. You have the
Winter Olympics in February, so that really clouds up
February and then you are looking sometime in March or
something. No idea on the venue.
Question:
Who at Top Rank was monitoring his weight and who reported
it to the commission?
DuBuof:
We give that to the manager and to their people at Fernando
Beltran’s office because they are in touch with the camp. I
am not in contact with anybody at their camp other than his
promoter, Fernando Beltran, and his office.
Goossen:
For the guys that are professional and have a track record
of doing the right thing, we do not need a babysitter. It
is for the guys that are not doing it right, they need the
babysitter and once they have proven they can do it right,
then they can take the babysitter off of them.
DuBuof:
Joe, you are the professional. Unfortunately, you are a
dying breed in this business.
Shaw:
Word has leaked to me that both the WBC and the WBO are
thinking of vacating the title because they did not fight
for the title. Now, you in the press have to tell me how my
fighter could be penalized. He got on the scale at the
directed time with the supervisors there and weighed 135.
Is his 135 title now supposed to be switched to 149 or 150?
Question:
Chico, a third fight with Castillo – is it more for yourself
or do you feel that you still need to prove to the fans?
Corrales:
I think a third match is for both. You have a lot of people
who really admire what I did. But I am sure there are a lot
of people that also might be saying, “Hey, he did a great
job as well.” In that situation, it would be for me because
I would want confirmation as to who is the best lightweight
pound champion. For myself, there are a lot of things I
want to prove in this game still. I am trying to take
advantage of the time I have.
Shaw:
The one great thing about Chico is he is truly a throwback
to the old time fighters who really fought. I do not think
that the fighters need these breaks. I think Diego Corrales
and his legacy will be: he only fought the big fights. He
did not duck anybody, he took them all on one right after
another.
Question:
What do you prefer as a fighter – weighing in the day before
or the day of?
Goossen:
I prefer it the old way, the way that it worked forever. It
was a true test of a fighter and his trainer working in
conjunction, bringing that weight down scientifically. You
know, now you can starve yourself for three days and not eat
and then the day before the fight you can just start
gorging. That is dangerous for the body and is dangerous
for smaller guys in the same division that do not put on the
same type of weight.
DuBuof:
The IBF currently has a system which kind of blends both
systems. If you weigh in and make the weight, at 9:00 a.m.
the next day you cannot be more than 10 pounds above the
weight limit of which you just weighed in the day before.
Now, I do not know if that is a good way too.
Corrales:
Honestly, to me, it really does not matter. I am going to
be professional no matter what it is and if the rules are
that I weigh in on the day of the fight, then I will do
that.
Shaw:
I think if we went back to the day of the weigh-ins, we
might reclassify some of the fighters. We may push fighters
into different weight classes probably where they really
belong because they might not be able to make that weight
the day of.
Question:
Have you heard anything directly from the sanctioning bodies
regarding the vacating of the titles? This was just a
rumor, correct?
Shaw:
I have heard nothing directly from either sanctioning body.
Question:
Joe, what do those 3-4 pounds mean to a fighter like him
going into a fight? How much more work does he have to put
in?
Goossen:
If we would have been allotted 3 1/2 extra pounds, we would
have eaten more than slices of sushi at maybe 8:00 at
night. That would be the whole meal for the last three
days. You are cutting out almost all of your liquids. On
top of all of that while you are starving and not drinking,
you are also training to get that weight down with heavy
clothing on in a gym with the heat on. So it is a pretty
grueling thing. These guys do not walk around at 140-150.
They walk around at 160. It is the last 3-4 pounds that
really cuts to the bone. But that is the way it has always
been done and is the truth of a fighter’s courage,
discipline and work ethic.
Question:
Diego, if this third fight with Castillo does not go
through, would you be consider going up to 140 and going
after Mayweather?
Corrales:
Right now, I am 135-pound champ. As long as I am that, I am
going to fulfill my obligations to my sanctioning body first
because I do have an obligation to them based on what
happened with this last fight. I just feel that I do owe
them and I should go ahead and fulfill the obligation by
handling my mandatory and do stuff.
Question:
Gary, what is your opinion on that question?
Shaw:
I know we have a rematch clause. Diego wants it invoked. I
trust Todd. I believe that they will make the fight
according to the contract that we have at 135 pounds.
Hopefully, that will be totally done and finished within the
next two weeks.
Boxing2005:
Do you feel because of the circumstances of this fight that
the admiration is not going to be the same if you fight a
third time?
Corrales:
I try to live and let go. That is one of the things that I
really do try to do and right now, this has really been
bothering me. I will not lie to you. I fell for it and
that more than anything burns me.
Shaw:
In Castillo’s last remarks at the press conference, he said
a couple of nice things about Diego and some things about me
and James Prince. We will get through that. But I think
Castillo needs to be reminded that we were doing what was in
the best interest of our fighter. That is how we acted. But
we never acted illegally. I think he needs to look in the
mirror and be honest with the world and say, “I cheated and
my team cheated. We got caught.”
