Joel Casamayor vs Diego Corrales

A torn mouth rather than a conventional knockout ended one of the most fiercely contested bouts on the Mandalay Bay programme of October 4, 2003. Joel Casamayor defeated Diego Corrales when referee Tony Weeks stopped the contest after the sixth round on medical advice. Corrales had suffered two deep lacerations inside his mouth and was swallowing considerable quantities of blood. The official result was a technical knockout at three minutes of the sixth.

The 12-round super-featherweight contest supported the James Toney–Evander Holyfield heavyweight bout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The vacant IBA title and a high position in the IBF rankings were at stake. Casamayor, a former WBA champion and Olympic gold medallist, weighed 130 pounds and entered with one defeat in 30 contests. Corrales weighed 128½ pounds and brought a record of 37-1. He had returned to boxing earlier that year after a long absence and won four consecutive bouts.

Casamayor began in his customary southpaw stance, using movement and straight punches to disrupt the taller Corrales. He was quicker to the mark during the opening rounds and prevented Corrales from establishing the measured, long-range attack his height suggested. Corrales nevertheless sought close exchanges, where his hooks and uppercuts could be brought into use. Casamayor was willing to meet him there, making the contest rougher and more direct than expected from a boxer noted for his footwork.

The first knockdown came in the third round. Casamayor struck Corrales with a sharp counter and put him on the canvas, although Corrales rose without appearing seriously distressed. The Cuban then surrendered the advantage gained from the knockdown when a point was deducted for striking after the referee had ordered a break. Corrales pressed forward upon the resumption, attempting to deny Casamayor the room required for his straight left hand.

Corrales answered in the fourth. He forced Casamayor into heavier exchanges and dropped him, bringing the contest back towards equality. Both men had now demonstrated that the other could be hurt. Corrales tried to impose his greater height and punching strength, while Casamayor continued to step outside the orthodox fighter’s lead foot and counter from angles. Their contrasting methods became less distinct as the action intensified, with both remaining in range after delivering rather than moving clear.

The fifth and sixth rounds were fought largely at close and middle distance. Casamayor’s quicker hands allowed him to place punches between Corrales’s wider blows, but Corrales continued advancing and landed forcefully when he could set his feet. The damage inside Corrales’s mouth had become severe, however. Blood repeatedly filled his mouth and interfered with his breathing. Between rounds, his corner attempted to control injuries which could not be treated in the usual manner because they were internal.

After examining Corrales at the completion of the sixth, the ringside physician decided that he could not safely continue. Weeks accepted the recommendation and stopped the bout. Corrales objected, believing he remained capable of fighting, but the nature and position of the cuts made the decision unavoidable. Unlike an external wound, the injuries could not be closed with pressure or medication between rounds, and the continual loss of blood presented a risk beyond the punches themselves.

Casamayor’s victory was recorded as a sixth-round technical knockout and improved his standing after the disputed points defeat by Acelino Freitas the previous year. Corrales suffered only the second loss of his career, his first having come against Floyd Mayweather Jr. The finish left neither man fully satisfied, as the exchanges and shared knockdowns produced no decisive superiority. A return was arranged for March 2004, when Corrales reversed the result by a close split decision after 12 rounds. Their rivalry eventually required a third contest, but the first meeting was remembered for its abrupt medical ending after six rounds of rapidly shifting control.

I always thought Joel Casamayor was one of the most awkward and underappreciated fighters of his generation. The Cuban could box beautifully when he wanted, but he was also quite happy to make a contest untidy, use his head and forearms, and test how much the referee would allow. Diego Corrales was the opposite in temperament. He possessed the height and reach to box from distance, yet invariably chose to stand close and exchange.

That contrast made this a fascinating fight. Casamayor’s southpaw angles and sharper counters troubled Corrales early, and he put him down in the third. The point deduction for striking after the break reduced that advantage, before Corrales answered by flooring Casamayor in the fourth. From there, neither man established complete control.

The ending was unsatisfactory but entirely correct. Corrales had suffered deep cuts inside his mouth and was swallowing blood. Those injuries could not be controlled between rounds, so allowing him to continue would have been irresponsible. It was not a surrender, and it was not a lucky win. Casamayor’s accurate punching caused the damage, and he deserved the result.

What the stoppage denied us was a proper conclusion to a closely balanced contest. Fortunately, they settled matters over two further fights. This first meeting showed exactly why both men appealed to serious boxing followers: Casamayor had craft and cunning, while Corrales possessed uncommon power and a willingness to walk through punishment to deliver it.