Chucho Castillo

Background

Castillo was born in Nuevo Valle de Moreno, a small town in the municipality of León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Career

Castillo and Rubén Olivares sustained one of the most important rivalries in the history of Mexican boxing. Castillo was described by the boxing book The Ring: Boxing In The 20th Century as quiet and sullen, while Olivares was more of an outgoing partygoer, according to the book The personality contrast made fans very interested in their matches.

He made his professional debut on 26 April 1962 against Carlos Navarrete, suffering his first loss by a decision after six rounds.

Castillo built a record of 24 wins and 7 losses, with 11 knockout wins, before facing José Medel for the Mexican Bantamweight title on 29 April 1967. Among the fighters he beat during that streak were Jesus Pimentel and Memo Tellez, who had beaten Castillo twice before.

WBC & WBA Bantamweight Championship

Castillo had eight bouts in 1969, going 5-1-2 during that period. Castillo versus Olivares

In 1970, Castillo was given a second world title chance when he and Olivares clashed to begin their three fight rivalry, with all three fights taking place at the Forum in Inglewood.

On 18 April, Olivares retained the crown by outpointing over Castillo.

However, a rematch between the two fighters took place on 16 October. = Later in career Castillo went on fighting until 1975, but his record from the Olivares fight until his retirement was a rather ordinary one of 5 wins and 7 losses. He lost to former or future world champions Enrique Pinder, Bobby Chacon, and Danny "Little Red" Lopez.

After losing to Ernesto Herrera on 12 December 1975, he retired.

Achievements

• Better known as Chucho Castillo, he was WBA and WBC Bantamweight champion in 1970. His next bout was his first win, outpointing Arnulfo Daza in eight rounds. He won the title on points after the twelve rounds, retaining it twice and also winning an additional seven non-title bouts before his first world title challenge. Castillo made his first world title attempt against Australia"s Lionel Rose, the first Aborigine ever to win a world title. The fight was held on 6 December 1968 at the Forum in Inglewood, where Rose won a very unpopular fifteen-round decision in front of a decidedly pro-Castillo crowd, causing a riot. He beat future world champion Rafael Herrera to defend his Mexican title, had a ten-round draw in Tokyo with Ushiwakamaru Harada, drew with Medel, and split two decisions with Raul Cruz. Castillo cut Olivares in round one, and when it was determined that Olivares could not continue in Round 14, Castillo was declared winner by a technical knockout. After one non-title win, Castillo met Olivares for a third time on 3 April 1971, when Olivares recovered the crown by outpointing Castillo despite suffering an early knockdown.