Diego Corrales
Diego Corrales (born August 25, 1977, Sacramento, CA) is the current WBC and WBO Lightweight champion. "Chico" has a professional record of 40-2-0, with 33 wins coming by way of knockout.
Corrales' early life was filled with violence. He was a gang member from an early age. At age 13, he witnessed his best friend's death via a drive-by shooting.
Corrales was victorious in his pro boxing debut on March 19, 1996. On October 23, 1999, Corrales won the IBF Super Featherweight title by defeating the previously unbeaten Roberto Garcia via TKO in the seventh round. After defeating Angel Manfredy on September 2, 2000, Corrales' managers vacated his title.
On January 20, 2001, Corrales challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the WBC Super Featherweight title. In the bout, Mayweather knocked down Corrales five times (three times in the seventh round and twice in the tenth round). After the fifth knockdown, Corrales' corner stopped the fight, despite Corrales' protests. This fight was the first one in which Corrales was knocked down, and was his first loss.
After the Mayweather Jr. bout, Corrales had to deal with personal issues. Accused of violence against his pregnant ex-wife, Corrales accepted a plea bargain. He spent 14 months in prison.
In 2003, Corrales returned to the ring. After easily winning four fights, Corrales fought against Joel Casamayor. After the sixth round, the fight was stopped because of a deep cut inside of Corrales' mouth. On March 6, 2004, there was a rematch for the vacant WBO Super Featherweight title that Corrales won by close split decision.
On August 7, 2004, Corrales won the WBO Lightweight title from Acelino Freitas via TKO in the tenth round. Freitas was a celebrated fighter, and a national hero in Brazil. Freitas won the early rounds of the fight by hitting and running. But he expended too much energy, and was battered by the power punching of Corrales. After being knocked down three times Freitas quit.
On May 7, 2005, Corrales defeated Jose Luis Castillo for the WBC Lightweight title, also via TKO in the tenth round. The fight is universally regarded as the best fight of 2005 while many have called it one of the best fights of all time, if not the single best fight of all time. Both men stood in front of each other, battering each other with hard combinations and power punches throughout the entire fight. Finally, in the tenth round, Castillo knocked Corrales down twice. Corrales was put in further jeopardy when he was penalized a point for spitting out his mouthpiece. After the point was taken away, Corrales immediately started pounding Castillo with power punches, causing the referee to stop the fight in a questionably rapid manner.
A rematch between Corrales and Castillo is scheduled for October 8.