Javier Castillejo

Francisco Javier Castillejo (born February 3, 1968) is a boxer from Spain. He is the former WBA World Middleweight Champion, and has also previously held the WBC World Light-Middleweight Championship, giving him recognition as one of the few currently active fighters to have held highly-regarded World Championships in two different weight classes.

Biography

Nicknamed "El Lince de Parla" ("Parla's Lynx", in English), Castillejo is a native of the Parla area of Madrid. He currently resides and trains in Madrid.

Professional career

Castillejo made his professional debut on July 22 of 1988, when he outpointed Ángel Díez over six rounds in Madrid. He had an immediate rematch with Díez, on September 2 of the same year. Their second fight resulted in Castillejo's first knockout win, when he beat Diez in the fourth round. On November 4, he had his first fight outside Madrid, and his first knockout win in the first round, when he beat Juan Perez in Torrejon.

Castillejo had four more wins, before he was defeated for the first time. On August 19, 1989, he lost an eight round decision to Del Bryan, in Benidorm. But he followed that loss with a streak of twenty two victories in a row. Among the most notable wins during that streak were a fourth round knockout on October 19, 1990, of Alfonzo Redondo, which gave Castillejo the Spanish Welterweight Championship, at Leganes. On July 5, 1991, he retained that national championship, with another fourth round knockout victory, this time against Domingo Sanchez, in Lugo. On April 10, 1992, Castillejo got his first win against a former or future world champion, when he knocked out former IBF world Lightweight champion, Puerto Rican Harry Arroyo, in three rounds at Leganes. He followed that victory with another win versus a former world champion, the former WBC world Jr. Welterweight champion Saoul Mamby of Jamaica, by an eight round decision on May 15, at Bilbao. On December 12 of that year, Castillejo added the WBC's Mundo Hispano Jr. Middleweight title, when he defeated Enrique Areco by a twelve round decision in Areco.

First Title Shot

Despite the fact that he had not fought outside Spain as a professional yet and thus he had little international fan recognition as a boxer, Castillejo received his first world title try, when he challenged Julio Cesar Vazquez of Argentina, for Vazquez's WBA world Jr. Middleweight title, on April 24 of 1993, also in Leganes. Vazquez outpointed him over 12 rounds, ending his 22 fight winning streak.

After defending his Mundo Hispano regional title with success in a rematch with Victor Hugo Sclarandi on October 29 of that year by a knockout in five rounds, Castillejo finally had his first fight abroad, when he beat Bernard Razzano by a knockout in six rounds, at Dijon, France, to conquer the European Boxing Union's Jr. Middleweight title. He defended that title successfully four times, then lost it, on January 3, 1995 to the then future WBA world Jr. Middleweight champion Laurent Boudoani, in Epernay, France, by knockout in round nine.

His next fight was a victory by disqualification in six rounds on July 14 against Carlos Rocha Tovar in Sevilla. The victory against Tovar was followed by a rematch with Boudoani, who would once again defeat Castillejo, this time around by a twelve round decision, on Levallois, January 6, 1996.

Castillejo then won six more fights in a row before fighting for a world title again. He regained the EBU Jr. Middleweight title by knocking out the former WBA world Welterweight title challenger, Ahmed Dottuev, in round twelve at Suffolk, England, on July 2, 1998.

Winning His First World Title

On January 29, 1999, Castijello got his second chance at becoming a world champion. That night, he outpointed WBC world Jr. Middleweight champion Keith Mullings over twelve rounds to join a handful of world champions to come from Spain. Despite some protests from Mullings' management team, the judges' decision remained, and Castillejo got the WBC belt.

On October 21, Castillejo defended his title for the first time, knocking out Javier Manuel Martinez in the fourth round, in a fight that was celebrated as part of the WBC's annual convention, which was held in Mexico City, Mexico that year.

Losing the title to de la Hoya

After one more defense, where Castillejo retained the title with a seventh round knockout, a fight was set between him and Oscar de la Hoya. It was Castillejo's first big time, Pay Per View event. Many fans, perhaps ignoring Castillejo's achievements in Europe and as defendind world champion, regarded Castillejo as another stepping stone in de la Hoya's career. Castillejo commented to this regard, saying on a press conference before the fight, which was held in Las Vegas, that "(he) didn't come to Las Vegas to do tourism, but to defend (his) title". Castillejo lasted the twelve round distance with de la Hoya, but was sent to the canvas seconds before the fight ended, and lost a unanimous twelve round decision and his world Jr. Middleweight championship, on June 23, 2001.

After six months, Castillejo returned to the boxing ring, beating the well regarded Xavier Moya by a knockout in five rounds, On January 11, 2002, to win the vacant European Community's Jr. Middleweight title, in Barcelona.

On July 12 of 2002, he partially regained the WBC world Jr. Middleweight title, when he beat Roman Karmazin by a twelve round unanimous decision in Madrid, for the WBC's "interim" title. This interim recognition was later retired from him, however, because he did not fight the WBC's recognized champion, which at the time was Shane Mosley, who had suffered an injury and was unable to box for the period being.

Castillejo then won four fights in a row, all by knockout.

He fought Fernando Vargas, in a fight that was supposed to be for the WBA's vacant world Jr. Middleweight title, on August 20, 2005, in Chicago, Illinois. It was decided ultimately to make the bout a ten round affair instead of a world championship fight. Despite being dropped in round three, Castillejo was able to last ten rounds with fellow former world Jr, Middleweight champion Vargas, but he lost a ten round decision to the Mexican.

Winning a Middleweight Title

On July 15th 2006, Castillejo sprang back on the boxing scene by defeating younger Felix Sturm of Germany to seize the "regular" WBA middleweight belt in an exiting fight. Sturm, making his first title defense, was headed to a one-sided win until Castillejo (61-6, 41 knockouts) caught him with a left hook against the ropes with 13 seconds left in the 10th Round.

Castillejo, a former WBC junior middleweight champ, then hit Sturm (27-2, 11 knockouts) with three uppercuts before the referee called the fight, making Castillejo, 38 at the time of his upset victory, the oldest man to win a recognised version on the World Middleweight Championship. He lost his title in his first defence against Argentine Mariano Natalio Carrera via a disputed 11th round TKO. Later on, Carrera tested positive for Clenbuterol and was suspended for 6 months by the WBA, thus Castillejo regained his title on February, 23rd. [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2684144] . He lost the title April 28, 2007 in a rematch against Felix Sturm.He fought Mariano Natalio Carrera again on November 13, 2007, this time winning by KO in the 6th round, thus setting up a third bout against Sturm for his WBA middleweight belt.

See also

* List of WBC world champions

External links

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