Title Hopes Will Have to Weight

Up and down the Las Vegas Strip Friday afternoon, one could almost sense the life drain out of tonight’s Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo rematch.

After Castillo weighed in 3 1/2 pounds over the 135-pound limit, one could certainly see the disappointment in the face of Bob Arum, Castillo’s promoter, the chagrined expression of Fernando Beltran, Castillo’s manager, and the despair exhibited by Castillo himself. The fight is on for tonight at the Thomas & Mack Arena, but no longer for a title because of the weight violation.

It will be preceded by a second weigh-in for Castillo at 3 p.m. If he weighs more than 147 pounds, he will be fined $75,000 per pound. Corrales, who weighed in at 135 Friday, is not required to undergo a second weigh-in.

Not only won’t the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization lightweight titles won by Corrales (40-2 with 33 knockouts) in their first meeting last May be on the line, but the chances the match could equal the ferocity of their first meeting have dropped considerably in light of Castillo’s weight problem.

It may not even have the drama exhibited in two hours Friday at the weigh-in on a special outdoor platform at Caesars Palace in a public setting designed to give this match one last bit of prefight hype.

While Arum ranted and raved about Castillo’s conditioning, Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, banished Castillo’s personal physician, Armando Barak, from the fighter’s corner tonight for tampering with the scale during the weigh-in.

Beltran also pointed a finger at Barak, saying it was he who had caused Castillo’s weight problem by firing the fighter’s trainer, Tiburcio Garcia, two weeks ago.

“I’m going bananas,” Arum said. “What were they doing all week when they were supposed to be training?”

At 2:35, Castillo got on the scale and Ratner announced the weight at 137.

By commission rules, Castillo then had two hours to get down to the maximum allowed.

At 3:36, Castillo returned and got back on the scale, surrounded by his handlers. It was then Ratner noticed Barak jamming his foot under the scale to lift it up in an attempt to take a pound or two off the reading.

Ratner angrily ordered Barak to back off, then announced Castillo’s weight at 138 1/2 , acknowledging he may have misread the scale the previous time. Castillo again departed.

At 4:12, he returned, got back on the scale one more time and again weighed 138 1/2 .

“I am very sorry,” Beltran said. “I want to apologize to all the fans. It is a sign of disrespect for my fighter to show up overweight.”

Asked about how much Barak knows in terms of conditioning, Beltran said, “He knows where all the buffets are.”

There was amazement in the Corrales camp.

“How do you come in overweight for a fight of this magnitude?” said Gary Shaw, Corrales’ promoter. “There is no excuse for this.”

Castillo has been fined 10% of his $1.2 million purse. Half of that $120,000 will go to Corrales, who is already earning $2 million tonight. The other half will go to the state of Nevada.

Five months ago at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Corrales and Castillo (52-7-1, 46) waged one of the great fistic wars in memory. In the 10th, Corrales was knocked down twice by Castillo. But, with his left eye swollen shut and his right eye threatening to do the same, Corrales got up, cleared his head and reached into reserves that only great fighters possess to launch a counterattack that left Castillo helpless on the ropes. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in at the 2:06 mark to end the fight.