By Tom Donelson

Photo © Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages.com

 

A few weeks ago, we may have witnessed the end of a career.  Diego Corrales beat some of the great fighters of his generation including Acelino Freitas, Jose Luis Castillo and Joel Casamayor.  Of course, many great fighters also beat him, including Castillo, Casamayor and Floyd Mayweather.  He was not afraid of any one and he was never embarrassed by a defeat. 

Whatever you want to say about Diego Corrales, he understood the business side of the business and was perfectly willing to give the fans what they wanted- great fights.  Often, he sided with the fans over his own self when it came to his selection of opponents.

In his two bouts against Jose Luis Castillo, Corrales gave up his height and boxing skills to engage in tough toe-to-toe fights.  While he managed to win one of his two fights against Castillo, his choice to fight Castillo in the trenches threw away all of his advantages.  He nearly lost the first fight, but a miracle left hook saved the day. When they met for the second time, it was Castillo's left hook that broke Corrales. 

His most recent fight against Joshua Clottey showed his undeniable courage.   Corrales attempted to box Clottey, but he found a fighter that was not only bigger, but just as quick.  Clottey was an underrated fighter who fought Antonio Margarito tough in previous fight.  Clottey easily won the early rounds against Margarito, but hand injuries prevented him from being competitive in the later rounds and allowed Margarito to escape with a victory

When he met Corrales, his hands were healed and they often found their target.  Fighting as a welterweight for the first time, Corrales’ punches failed to move Clottey but every Clottey punch swung Corrales' head back. 

This was a fight that had inevitability written all over it. From the first round on, it was obvious that Corrales did not have the power or speed to compete with Clottey.  The only thing that Corrales had was guts.  He drew his strength from his heart and simple found a way to compete round after round despite Clottey having the edge in almost every round.

Showtime's Al Bernstein summed up the scoring when he said, “This did not have the feel of a route.  Despite the scoring, the scoring did not properly reflect Corrales’ competitiveness.”  Al Bernstein, like others, agreed that the scoring was correct but it did not tell the whole story about Corrales effectiveness.  Every round, Corrales found a way to land accurate punches and force Clottey to fight every second of every round. Clottey got the better of every exchange and by the ninth, the fight’s obvious nature came through.

Corrales went down in the last minute of the ninth and barely beat the count.  As he struggled, he did what he could to survive the final thirty seconds.  The tenth and final round was not much better for Corrales as he was nailed often by Clottey’s right hand.  Again, Corrales struggled to get up and like he did in the ninth, he spit out his mouthpiece. This was Corrales’ trick to gain more time, but it only delayed the inevitable. (And it cost Corrales one point in the tenth.)

When the scorecards were announced, there were no major surprises. Now Corrales has a decision to make.  Even though he is only 29-years-old, the amount of punishment that he takes in almost every fight has made him a very old 29.  The hand speed is slowing down and the body is showing the wear and tear of his many wars.  Corrales is paying the price of being a crowd pleaser.

Corrales is not physically able to compete with the top welterweights and he is unable to make the 140-pound weight limit.  Bottom line, Corrales is close to the end of his career, or at the very least he will soon be written off an elite fighter.  Corrales has given his sport everything and as Showtime ringside announcer Steve Albert noticed, “There is never a boring Corrales fight.”  

Corrales has made his imprint on the sport and there is no doubt that he is deserving of some Hall of Fame immortality in the future.  The time has come for Corrales to say good bye.