José Martín Castillo (born 13 January 1977) is a Mexican former professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. He represented his native country of Mexico at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, and is a former

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

(WBA) Super Flyweight champion.

Amateur career

Castillo had an amateur record of 160-20 (90 KOs). He represented Mexico as a Flyweight at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He lost in the opening round to Zoltan Lunka of Germany 13-7 on points. It is one of the few foreign fighters who have won a medal (bronze) in the prestigious international boxing tournament Giraldo Cordoba Cardin, which every year is celebrated in Cuba by invitation, Martin Castillo won the bronze in 1996 in Camaguey, losing in semifinals with Cuban Hector Barrientos.

Professional career

Castillo,

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d "Gallo" (Rooster), first fought for a world title on March 30, 2002, against Felix Machado. Castillo suffered a cut due to a headbutt, and the fight was stopped in the 6th round. By rule when a headbutt is ruled to be unintentional, the fight went to the scorecards. All three judges ruled against Castillo, although many thought he was winning the fight.

Championship Reign

After winning the WBA interim title, Castillo fought the full WBA champion,

Alexander Muñoz Alexander Muñoz (born February 8, 1979) is a Venezuelan professional boxer who has held the WBA super flyweight title twice; from 2002 to 2004, and from 2007 to 2008. He also challenged for the WBA bantamweight title in 2010. Muñoz's strong p ...

, on December 3, 2004 in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the flag of th ...

. At the time, Muñoz was a widely respected and feared power puncher, with an undefeated record in 25 fights, with 24 wins by way of knock-out. Castillo frustrated Muñoz with slick boxing skills and expert use of angles. Castillo dropped Muñoz twice on the way to a fairly easy unanimous decision victory. Castillo defended his title in a unanimous decision victory over former WBA flyweight champion

Eric Morel Eric Arturo Morel (born October 10, 1975 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He is a former World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight (112 lb) champion. Amateur career Morel had an outstanding amateur career, and w ...

on March 19, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Castillo received some exposure in this fight, as it was the first televised bout on the Pay-Per-View (PPV) fight card featuring the first match between boxing superstars

Érik Morales Erik Isaac Morales Elvira (; born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to win world titles in four different weight classes, having held the WBC ...

and

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Phil ...

. However, Castillo's victory was a workman-like effort, largely because Morel employed a very defensive style. Castillo followed this victory with another unanimous decision defense of his belt over Hideyasu Ishihara on June 26, 2005 in a fight held in

Nagoya, Japan is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

. The rematch between

Erik Morales Erik Isaac Morales Elvira (; born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to win world titles in four different weight classes, having held the WBC ...

and

on January 21, 2006 in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

provided another opportunity to feature Castillo on the PPV undercard, this time as the chief supporting bout to the main event. Castillo was rematched with Muñoz, who had won three fights since losing his belt. This time Muñoz came much better prepared, applying pressure from the opening bell and dropping Castillo in the first round. Castillo also suffered bad cuts over both eyes as the fight progressed. The aggressiveness of Muñoz and his heavy punches won him the early rounds. However, Castillo rallied in the later rounds, using better technique and counter-punches, but also exhibiting aggressiveness. The last three rounds featured furious exchanges between the fighters, with Muñoz growing increasingly tired, but still launching dangerous power punches. Castillo won a split decision victory, but perhaps more importantly, he demonstrated a crowd-pleasing style to a wide audience. Although hard-core boxing fans appreciate his use of boxing skills, "blood and guts" battles lead to larger purses.

Title Loss to Nashiro

On July 22, 2006, Castillo lost his title to

Nobuo Nashiro is a Japanese professional boxer in the super flyweight (115 lb) division as well as the WBA super flyweight champion. Early life Nashiro took an interest in boxing during elementary school, when his father took him to a boxing match fo ...

in Japan. The fight was stopped in the 10th round because Castillo was bleeding heavily from cuts. Given that the cuts were caused by punches, Nashiro won the fight by technical knock-out. Nashiro, a young boxer with only 7 professional fights, surprised Castillo with an effective aggressive style in the early rounds. Castillo was winning later rounds - had the fight gone to the scorecards after the 9th round, it would have been a draw, as one judge had Nashiro winning, one had Castillo winning, and one had it even. After the Nashiro fight, Castillo underwent surgery to fix the scar tissue over his eyes. As Castillo had always been susceptible to cuts, the surgeons also shaved down Castillo's prominent brow ridges, a procedure sometimes performed on boxers who cut a lot. Therefore, he was out of action for almost a year. Castillo had two unremarkable wins after losing his title, and as of September 2007, is continuing his comeback. Castillo is trained by Manuel Robles, managed by Frank Espinoza, and promoted by

Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...

's Top Rank.

Professional record

, - style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;" , align="center" colspan=8, 35 Wins (18 knockouts), 4 Losses, 0 Draw , - style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;" , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Res. , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Record , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opponent , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Type , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Rd., Time , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Date , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Location , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Notes , -align=center , Loss , , 35-4 , , align=left,

Jorge Arce Jorge Armando Arce Armenta (; born July 27, 1979), best known as Jorge Arce, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2014. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the second boxer from Mexico to win world titles in ...

, , , 1 (10) , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 35-3 , , align=left, German Meraz , , , 6 (8) , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 34-3 , , align=left, Alfredo Montano , , , 1 (8) , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Loss , , 33-3 , , align=left, Fernando Montiel , , , 4 (12) , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center

External links