The referee who took charge of Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo remained haunted by his stoppage decision for years.
Tony Weeks was the third man in the ring for the first bout from the unforgettable two-fight series between the late Corrales and Castillo.
Speaking to Brian Campbell on Morning Combat about his job for the contest, Weeks recalled the action from what was later named Fight of the Decade.
Taking place eighteen years ago, nobody had a closer view of the non-stop action than Weeks.
Boxing Referee Tony Weeks on Corrales vs Castillo I
“Never did I dream the fight would elevate to the level that it did,” said the experienced official to Campbell.
On his split-second decision to step in and stop the fight in the tenth round, Weeks added: “Years later, I still think about this fight every day.
“What an honor to be a part of history. The two fighters put in all the work, and I just did what I was trained to do.
“It really hit me when I went home. I’m getting all these phone calls for interviews or people congratulating me on a great job.
“It was like, ‘What happened?’ When I had the chance to really sit down and look at it and see it, it was like, ‘Wow! What a fight.'”
Steve Albert for Showtime wailed: “The fight is over! – Corrales with a remarkable, dramatic turnaround to win this fight! Unbelievable!”
Next to him from ringside, commentator Al Bernstein famously shouted: “That might be the single most extraordinary comeback within a round to win a fight that has ever happened!”
Boxing writer Bert Sugar was asked if the contest was one of the best he’d seen in his long tenure, and he replied: “No. It is the greatest fight I’ve ever seen.”
Rematch
Corrales and Castillo met again just five months later. They rounded up the series at 1-1. In a shock, Castillo scored an unpredicted four-round stoppage at the Thomas & Mack Center.
A rubber match was never agreed upon as Corrales took a year out and then struggled even to make 140 pounds.
In his last outing, Corrales scaled 149 pounds when facing Joshua Clottey. He fought just three times in two years following the first contest with Castillo.
Tragically, Corrales died one month after the Clottey defeat and exactly two years to the day he stopped Castillo in his most famous triumph.
