Castillo hurdles weight issue

It was one small step for Jose Luis Castillo, but one giant leap for his confidence and credibility.

When Castillo stepped on the scale in the Palace ballroom at Caesars Palace on Friday afternoon, he weighed in right on the mark at 140 pounds for tonight’s International Boxing Organization junior-welterweight title fight against the champion, Ricky Hatton, at the Thomas & Mack Center.

A bit more than a year ago, Castillo stepped on a scale in the same hotel and weighed half a pound less.

Unfortunately for Castillo, that was a 135-pound match. The result was a firestorm of protest and anger. The fight, a lightweight title fight against Diego Corrales, was canceled, and Castillo was suspended until the end of 2006 and fined $250,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Castillo has finally put all that behind, having used part of his $1.5-million purse for tonight to pay off the last portion of his fine, but an even bigger test looms when he takes a few more steps up into the ring to face the undefeated Hatton (42-0, 30 knockouts), nearly a 2-1 favorite.

Hatton, who also weighed in at 140, figures to be the darling of the crowd. An estimated 10,000 of his countrymen have journeyed across the pond to root for the favorite son of Manchester, England.

Some of those fans packed the ballroom for the weigh-in, turning it into a Hatton rally. They sang songs ranging from “God Save the Queen” to their version of a familiar tune, renamed “Walking Through a Hatton Wonderland.” They clicked away on their cellphone cameras and cheered Hatton’s every gesture.

The oddsmakers are a little more discerning in picking their favorite. They like Hatton because of his aggressiveness, power and effective body punching.

But while Hatton may have songs sung about him back home, he’s largely a one-note fighter in this country. His reputation here is based largely on one match, a stunning, 11th-round technical knockout of Kostya Tszyu in June 2005. Other than that, the majority of Hatton’s opponents are little known except among boxing aficionados.

Castillo claims to see a noticeable flaw in Hatton’s style.

“He comes out and attacks,” Castillo said through an interpreter, “but when he does that, he’s off balance, leaving him open.”

Castillo (55-7-1, 47) has his own doubters. After sitting out his suspension, he came back in January to face Herman Ngoudjo. Castillo struggled to win a split decision over an opponent he was expected to dominate. Castillo acknowledges he took Ngoudjo lightly. Castillo’s Mexican promoter, Fernando Beltran, blames the mediocre performance on Castillo’s obsession with making weight after his embarrassing moment on the scales in his previous fight.

Nevertheless, Castillo’s performance has caused some to question whether, at 33, the Mexican fighter, five years older than Hatton, is past his prime.

Hatton, however, refuses to disparage his opponent.

“When you fight people like Jose Luis Castillo,” Hatton said, “they make you what you are as much as you make yourself.”

While Castillo will attempt to prove he still belongs in the ring, Hatton hopes to prove he belongs in the ring with the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. An impressive Hatton performance tonight could provide a springboard for a Hatton-Floyd Mayweather Jr. match.

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steve.springer@latimes.com