[Flea Man]

Jesus 'Chucho' Castillo, is IMO, one of the most underrated Mexican greats of all time, and undoubtedly one of the most skilled fighters the country, as well as the historically stacked 118lb division, has ever seen.

In terms of opposition faced,'maybe Medel scrapes above him. But Castillo dropped Olivares twice in their trilogy, and picked up a win in their second fight to claim THE bantamweight championship.

He also sparked Rafael Herrera and had another very close bout with him.

IMO, he deserved to shade Lionel Rose for the title.

That bout, as well as a few others, can be found on YouTube, some uploaded by mr. I implore you all to investigate and give this tiny Warrior the kudos in death that he rarely received in life.

 

[Chatty]

RIP - only seen a few fights but he looked quality, fought a high caliber of competition and won a world championship when it was a lot harder to win a world championship

 

[Flea Man]

Yeah; when the champion was an undefeated K.O machine and is still regarded as one of the greats of the division.

 

[scribbs]

RIP Champ - Will look more into his career as don't know a great deal

Former champ Chucho Castillo passes
By Gabriel F. Cordero

Former WBA/WBC bantamweight world champion Jesus “Chucho” Castillo passed away at the age of 68 on Tuesday afternoon in Mexico City after suffering a heart attack. Castillo had a career record of 47-18-2 with 22 KOs and fought the best of his era including Jose Medel, Bernardo Caraballo, Jesus Pimentel, Lionel Rose, Rafael Herrera, Ruben Olivares, Enrique Pinder, Bobby Chacon, Rafael Ortega and Danny Lopez among others. On October 16, 1970 at the Forum in Inglewood, California, he snatched the WBA and WBC bantamweight crowns from Ruben Olivares by TKO in 14 rounds. He was currently working at the Metro Workers Union in Mexico City and was known as a kind and decent man.

 

[scribbs]

A Brief Bio

JESUS " CHUCHO " CASTILLO; A Forgotten Champion
By Jim Amato

He lost his professional debut in 1962 but he would go on to later win the bantamweight title and be a major force for several years. Jesus " Chucho " Castillo rebounded from that initial loss to win fourteen straight.

As he moved up in competition he suffered an occasional loss but he was also beating some good fighters like Jesus Hernandez and Lenny Brice.

In 1967 Castillo challenged and defeated Jose Medel for the Mexican title. He then defeated the rugged Bernardo Caraballo. In 1968 he continued his march to a title shot with wins over Joe Valdez, Jesus Pimentel and a two round kayo of Evan Armstrong. On December 6th at the Forum in Inglewood,

California Chucho finally got his title shot. He met the slick boxing Lionel Rose. After fifteen rounds Rose, who was knocked down in the tenth round was awarded a split decision. The verdict sparked a full-scale riot in protest of Castillo not being proclaimed the new champion.

Chucho would go on a solid campaign in 1969 to earn another shot at the title. He knocked out future champion Rafael Herrera. He drew with Ushiwakamaru Harada and Jose Medel. He also split a pair of bouts with Raul Cruz. On April 18, 1970 Castillo would meet the new champion, Ruben Olivares. " Rockabye " Ruben had stopped Rose in impressive fashion to win the crown. Although Castillo knocked Ruben down, Olivares did enough to earn the decision and retain his title. Still Chucho's game effort warranted a rematch. They met again on October 16th and Castillo finally became world champion as a severe cut forced Olivares out in the fourteenth round.

Chucho's tenure as champion did not last long. On April 2, 1971 Ruben regained his crown with a decisive decision. Once again though Chuchu put Ruben on the canvas. In his next bout Castillo lost a rematch to Rafael Herrera with the NABF title at stake. Herrera would go on to dethrone Olivares but then lost the title to Enrique Pinder. Castillo would then meet Pinder in a non-title bout losing a decision.

In 1973 Chucho would lose to Jose Luis Soto and then be stopped by Bobby Chacon. In his last attempt to remain in the limelight Danny "Little Red" Lopez stopped him in two rounds in 1975. Chucho would lose one more fight and then call it quits.

Castillo had 66 fights in his illustrious career, winning 46 of them. Many of his 18 losses came early and late in his career. Castillo's record from 1967 through his second loss to Olivares was 17-5-2 and that was against top-level opposition. He was a warrior and a true champion.

 

[BoxingAnalyst]

I'll be honest, first time I've heard of him, will have a look at some of his fights.

RIP

 

[Flea Man]

@BoxingAnalayst

Will try and get an obit' together for him this evening; then y'all can see what he was all about :good

 

[BoxingAnalyst]

@Flea Man Much appreciated.

 

[Bryn]

RIP.

 

[Flea Man]

I'll be honest, first time I've heard of him, will have a look at some of his fights.

RIP

@scribbs @Wallet

Sorry didn't get the obit done. Check out next weeks BN

Matt McGrain did a superb piece on Chucho on boxing.com btw

 

[Michael]

RIP Chucho. He's not a fighter ive seen much of, but im going to check out his fights with olivares soon, since ive been looking at Ruebne's career.

 

[Teeto]

I didn't know about this til I saw this thread now. RIP.

 

[084]

R.I.P.

 

[McGrain]

Cheers Flea. For anyone who is interested:

http://www.boxing.com/rest_in_peace_jesus_chucho_castillo.html

Lower hits than anything i've done for that site. Shame.

 

[Flea Man]

Cheers Flea. For anyone who is interested:

http://www.boxing.com/rest_in_peace_jesus_chucho_castillo.html

Lower hits than anything i've done for that site. Shame.

That is a shame. Maybe peeps just thought it was a basic obit (like mine) and not a proper article.

 

[McGrain]

Name recognition bro, which is a real shame. But it'll do about 1000 before it gets done so it's hardly the end of the world.

 

[scribbs]

Arguello vs. Castillo: Thirty-Three Years Later

Link

 

[McGrain]

That's a different Castillo.

 

[scribbs]

That's a different Castillo.

Yeah your right, I bookmarked it, just read it & realised. Will have to stop going online when just got up before had brekky & coffee! atsch