Jose Luis Castillo wins by knockout

Overweight or not, Jose Luis Castillo was still dangerous. With one vicious left hook he stopped Diego Corrales in the fourth round Saturday night to win the rematch of a fight for the ages.

The second fight didn't last as long, but it was nearly as entertaining as Castillo wobbled Corrales in the third round with a right hand and put him to the canvas in the fourth round with a punch that ended the fight.

Castillo landed the left hook flush on the side of Corrales' face and immediately raised his hands in victory as Corrales went to the canvas. Corrales tried to get up and finally did at the count of nine but was wobbly and referee Joe Cortez waved the fight to a close at 47 seconds of the fourth round.

The fight was a rematch of one of the most thrilling fights in years, a bruising battle that ended only after Corrales came off the canvas twice in the dramatic 10th round May 8 to stop Castillo with a flurry of punches along the ropes.

Both fighters vowed the second fight would be even better, and they went after each other from the opening bell like five months had never elapsed from the first fight. Blood was already flowing in the second round when Corrales was cut above the right eye, and Castillo wobbled him in the third with a right hand.

Castillo nearly missed his chance for revenge the day before by weighing in at 138Ѕ pounds, well over the lightweight limit of 135 pounds. But the fight went on anyway, title or not, and some 15,000 fans came to cheer their favorite on.

Corrales had vowed to die in the ring if necessary to win, and he tried to fight the same way as he did in the first fight, toe-to-toe with the Mexican challenger. It was a mistake he paid for as he was on the receiving end of harder punches and finally the punch that finished it.

Castillo went over to Corrales after the fight and said the two could fight again after avenging the defeat in a fight he appeared to have won the first time around. Castillo was forced to come and weigh-in one more time Saturday afternoon, and got into an argument with Corrales' promoter, Gary Shaw, and bet him $100,000 he would knock out his fighter.

The fight was originally going to be for the WBC and WBO titles held by Corrales until Castillo weighed in 3Ѕ over the 135-pound lightweight limit Friday. By the time the two fighters stepped into the ring, though, they were full-fledged welterweights.

Because he missed the weight, Castillo had to weigh in again Saturday afternoon and make 147 pounds, or pay Corrales $75,000 for each pound over. He weighed in on the mark, while Corrales unofficially was weighed at 149 pounds two hours before the fight by Nevada boxing officials.

Though promoters attempted to still bill the fight as a title fight, the executive director of the Nevada commission said he did not consider it one, AP reports.

А. А.