Diego Corrales...

[kurtangle01]

Has died.

http://msn.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,1-1264538,00.html

A true warrior. R.I.P.

[Tee]

Shocking news. He was a great fighter and that comeback against Jose Luis Castillo will be remembered forever.

RIP.

[Howard_lfc]

Shocking news. He was a great fighter and that comeback against Jose Luis Castillo will be remembered forever.

RIP.

'Kinhell !

RIP.

[bazza76]

Has died.

http://msn.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,1-1264538,00.html

A true warrior. R.I.P.

that is a surprise.
RIP Diego YNWA

[kurtangle01]

It's terrible news, eh? He was without a doubt one of my favourite fighters. I always hoped that he and Hatton would fight one day or he would at least have given Witter the spanking he deserves when Junior started caling Corrales out a few months ago.

He gave so much to the sport and was never ever frightened to step in with top class fighters. He gave the fans the fights they wanted and gave 100% when he was in there no matter who it was against.

[Doc_Piptorious]

It was horrible news, he was around ringside on Saturday, giving interviews etc, then a couple of days later he was gone.


He was an exciting fighter, that answered whenever the bell rang. A loss to boxing and a devastating blow to a young family.

[kemm1]

Sad ****, what a fcuking loss

[spud_gun]

Taken from today's Sunday Herald newspaper. Excellent read.

Live fast, die young
By Budd Schulberg
Diego Corrales 1977-2007
A Tribute


I HAVE lost a dear friend, and the boxing world has lost one of its fiercest competitors with the violent passing of former-lightweight champion Diego "Chico"

Corrales.

While it is deeply painful, alas it is no surprise that Chico's death would be a violent one. Whether in the boxing ring, or in the larger ring of life, Chico was a man of action. He loved racing his motorcycle, and parachute jumping, and swimming with sharks. He put his great physical attributes and his heart into everything he did.
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In the ring, setbacks that would discourage 99 out of 100 fighters seemed instead only to inspire him to still one more effort. He was like a race horse that comes on in the stretch, all the way from last place to win the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont.

We - my son Benn and I - first became friends with him when he fought the Brazilian idol Acelino Freitas three years ago. We were in his dressing room before the fight, and then watched the South American seemingly have his way with Chico round after round until suddenly in the eighth, the kid from Sacramento dug down deep with that stubborn fighting heart of his to turn the tables and put his oppressor on the canvas. He then repeated the feat in the ninth and 10th rounds, at which point the stylish lightweight champion did a Duran - "No mas!"

Those words of surrender would never be heard from Corrales. In his memorable fight with No 1 pound-for-pounder Floyd Mayweather, even when he went down for the fifth time and his corner elected to stop the fight - something a Freitas, or indeed most badly beaten fighters would have welcomed - he turned furiously on his handlers.

There would never be any easy way out for this lightweight warrior. Over all the years I've been ringsiding prize fights I've seen some memorable stalwarts - Paolino Uzcudun, Ace Hudkins and Rocky Marciano come to mind - but no one ever fought with more pride, or a stouter heart than Corrales.

As gentle as he could be with his friends, and with his wife and children, he fought at his best (a variable condition), with that fierce pride that boxing guru Cus D'Amato called "fistic character". His height and reach may have given him a physical advantage over shorter, more compact opponents, while in the gym I had seen him display real boxing ability, but in the ring his pure love of combat took over. He couldn't resist closing and trading punches, even when savvy trainer Joe Goossen or friendly advisors provided a road map for a more scientific, more effective way to go. He would cast his shield aside and prevail, or go out on his shield - there were never any subtle in-betweens for Chico.

Speaking last week with his estranged but still loving wife Michelle, who's expecting their next child in July, I found her surprisingly philosophical, or should one say resigned. He could be very caring, she said, but he had come from the streets, and there was always that side of him that was reckless, as if he always had to test himself, and push himself. What the Mexicans call machismo. It was machismo that pushed the speedometer on his motorcycle to 100 miles an hour.

When I invited him to visit me this summer on Martha's Vineyard, the island off Massachusetts famous for great deep-sea fishing, Chico's first question was in character: "What's the biggest fish that was ever caught up there?" I could see the glint in his competitive eye. He was going to go out there and set a record.

Alas there'll be no fishing on the Vineyard this summer. Or any summer. No more unforgettable Corrales/ Castillo fights. Corrales has lost his last fight, when he was overmatched against a motorcycle with an open throttle. The police report described his hitting a Mercedes-Benz so hard that he was catapulted almost the length of a football field.

Corrales had become famous for getting up from devastating blows. But this time he had met a force against which even he was unable to rise again. Sad to say, he had run out of miracles.

So, it's a sad goodbye to our beloved Chico. The body of this champion is gone, all too soon for his legion of friends who honour him, miss him and love him.

But his spirit will live on as long as fight fans remember his get-up-and-fight-on, indomitable fistic character. Hail and farewell! as the Roman citizens saluted their prized gladiators.

For us it will always be the 10th round of the first Jose Luis Castillo fight when you went down so hard the second time everybody thought it was over. Everybody but you. You reached down for what the British bare-knucklers of the 18th century called "bottom" and what you came up with stopped your tormentor in what boxing historians called one of the most dramatic turn-arounds of all time. That should get you to the Hall Of Fame.

When it comes to pure unadulterated guts, this writer who's been covering fights for 80 years, has never seen your equal. And that involves thousands of courageous battlers. When it comes to heart, the intrepid fighting heart, Corrales will always be up there with the fistic gods we cherish, from 18th century Daniel Mendoza, "The Jew", to Joe Louis, "The Brown Bomber", to the little giant Henry Armstrong and "The Greatest" Muhammed Ali.

To rearrange Shakespeare if we dare, there's nothing sweet about this parting. To leave us at 29 is much too young and much too soon. I don't know if there's an afterlife, but if there is, you deserve to go un-defeated up there. Until we meet again, keep punching. And going on being our lion-hearted, irrepressible, unforgettable Diego "Chico" Corrales.

[bazza76]

nice read mate, thanks for posting it.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Enjoyed that, thanks for putting it up Spud.

[bazza76]

and to another sad and yet brave man of boxing, Johnny Tapia is doing an interview tomorow, may be worth scanning the net for it, heard him in a live interview on newstalk a few months back before his overdose, was well worth a listen, i expect this to be the same.

Johnny to Appear on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" This Monday

This Monday, May 14, "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" correspondent James Brown will interview Johnny Tapia. The last time Tapia appeared on the HBO show was in 2003 after recovering from a coma that followed a confrontation with Arizona police. This time, the show will check in with him after his recent cocaine overdose and the death of his brother-in-law and nephew.

Real Sports has won 19 Sports Emmy awards in 12 years. This Monday's show is its 122 edition.

[Doc_Piptorious]

and to another sad and yet brave man of boxing, Johnny Tapia is doing an interview tomorow, may be worth scanning the net for it, heard him in a live interview on newstalk a few months back before his overdose, was well worth a listen, i expect this to be the same.

Tapia has always been one of my modern favourites. He has overcome so much, mainly self inflicted, and has given himself more mountains to climb in recent times. His self destructive nature coupled with his unquestionable courage makes uncomfortable watching at times, but he also draws admiration for the head on and honest way he deals with his problems.


Hell, given the way Johnny was born into this world, it would be difficult to imagine him as anything else other than a warrior.

[bazza76]

Tapia has always been one of my modern favourites. He has overcome so much, mainly self inflicted, and has given himself more mountains to climb in recent times. His self destructive nature coupled with his unquestionable courage makes uncomfortable watching at times, but he also draws admiration for the head on and honest way he deals with his problems.


Hell, given the way Johnny was born into this world, it would be difficult to imagine him as anything else other than a warrior.

Sparta would have been proud to have him

[Doc_Piptorious]

Sparta would have been proud to have him

He will be another that when his time comes, will be welcomed into Valhalla.