At 39, Castillo Still Shopping for a Belt That Fits Him

Ruben Castillo has never been a world champion and he’s hungry for a title fight.

He should feel right at home tonight at the Reseda Country Club, where he will fight Rudy Zavala in a 10-round lightweight bout.

However, unlike the unheralded fighters on the card he will headline, Castillo, 39, has had his shot at glory. A few shots, in fact.

Castillo, 69-9-2 with 37 knockouts, suggests he might be the best fighter never to have won a world title. He makes a strong case.

Among the most formidable lightweights of the 1980s, Castillo spent the decade exchanging blows with the likes of Alexis Arguello, Julio Cesar Chavez and the late Salvador Sanchez.

Four times Castillo fought for a world title. Four times he lost.

But there is no reason to give up.

“I’ve been around the block a couple of times, but I feel really good,” Castillo said. “People always want to ask me: How old are you? I tell them, ‘Hey, I was a busboy at the Last Supper, so who [cares]?’ ”

Castillo, a native of Lubbock, Tex., turned pro at 17 and was 48-0 when he met Arguello in 1980 for the World Boxing Council junior lightweight title. He was knocked out in the 11th round of a close fight.

That same year he lost a 15-round split-decision to Sanchez.

“I know I beat him,” Castillo said.

Castillo lost to Juan LaPorte in 1983 in a WBC featherweight title fight. In 1985, Castillo was knocked out in the sixth round by Chavez, the WBC junior lightweight champion.

Castillo says his best opportunities lay ahead.

“They didn’t have so many world titles [during the ‘80s],” Castillo said. “Now there are so many, I know that I can win one.”

Zavala, 24-6-2 with 20 knockouts, is a former North American Boxing Federation champion.

The undercard of the six-bout program includes an eight-round welterweight bout between Horatio Garcia (8-0, seven knockouts) and Yoani Cervantes (10-10).

Heavyweight Jimmy “The Stump” Buffo of North Hollywood, victorious in two fights at the Country Club since turning pro in December, was scratched from the card Tuesday after suffering a hand injury while sparring.

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Fight Night

Tonight’s card at Reseda Country Club

* First bell, 7:30 p.m.

* Ruben Castillo (69-9-2, 37 KOs) vs. Rudy Zavala (24-6-2, 20 KOs), 10 rounds, lightweights.

* Horatio Garcia (8-0, seven KOs) vs. Yoani Cervantes (10-10), eight rounds, welterweights.

* Effi Schneider (7-1) vs. Octavio Suarez (3-1), six rounds, lightweights.

* Robert Galstyan (5-2) vs. Julio Garcia (5-0-2), six rounds, middleweights.

* Hamlet Babakhanloo (0-0) vs. James Brock (2-0-1), four rounds, light heavyweights.

* Leonel Larios (0-0) vs. Fred Simmons (4-7), four rounds, cruiserweights.

Tickets: $25 to $75, available at box office. Information: (818) 881-2568 or 881-2988.