The referee who took cost of Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo remained haunted by his stoppage choice for years.
Tony Weeks was the third man within the ring for the primary bout from the unforgettable two-fight collection between the late Corrales and Castillo.
Chatting with Brian Campbell on Morning Fight about his job for the competition, Weeks recalled the motion from what was later named Battle of the Decade.
Happening eighteen years in the past, no one had a more in-depth view of the continuous motion than Weeks.
Boxing Referee Tony Weeks on Corrales vs Castillo I
“By no means did I dream the battle would elevate to the extent that it did,” mentioned the skilled official to Campbell.
On his split-second choice to step in and cease the battle within the tenth spherical, Weeks added: “Years later, I nonetheless take into consideration this battle daily.
“What an honor to be part of historical past. The 2 fighters put in all of the work, and I simply did what I used to be skilled to do.
“It actually hit me once I went dwelling. I’m getting all these telephone requires interviews or folks congratulating me on an amazing job.
“It was like, ‘What occurred?’ After I had the prospect to essentially sit down and have a look at it and see it, it was like, ‘Wow! What a battle.’”
Steve Albert for Showtime wailed: “The battle is over! – Corrales with a outstanding, dramatic turnaround to win this battle! Unbelievable!”
Subsequent to him from ringside, commentator Al Bernstein famously shouted: “That is perhaps the one most extraordinary comeback inside a spherical to win a battle that has ever occurred!”
Boxing author Bert Sugar was requested if the competition was among the best he’d seen in his lengthy tenure, and he replied: “No. It’s the biggest battle I’ve ever seen.”
Rematch
Corrales and Castillo met once more simply 5 months later. They rounded up the collection at 1-1. In a shock, Castillo scored an unpredicted four-round stoppage on the Thomas & Mack Heart.
A rubber match was by no means agreed upon as Corrales took a 12 months out after which struggled even to make 140 kilos.
In his final outing, Corrales scaled 149 kilos when dealing with Joshua Clottey. He fought simply thrice in two years following the primary contest with Castillo.
Tragically, Corrales died one month after the Clottey defeat and precisely two years to the day he stopped Castillo in his most well-known triumph.
