Thursday, March 04, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Corrales looking for quality win vs. Casamayor

Super featherweight says he's ready for rematch

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Diego Corrales admitted it has been a long time since he had what could be considered a quality win.

The Las Vegas resident will get another shot at it Saturday in a rematch against Joel Casamayor at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Conn., in a significant super featherweight bout.

Corrales said his last significant win was Sept. 2, 2000, when he stopped Angel Manfredy. He has lost two of his six fights since then, getting bombed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Jan. 20, 2001, and getting stopped on cuts by Casamayor last Oct. 4.

And Corrales' four wins were over less-than-stellar opponents. However, he remains confident.

He scoffed at critics who say he has a bad chin and said for them to watch him Saturday.

"People have a right to their opinion, but the fact is, a lot of people have an opinion without having facts," Corrales said. "But I understand how things are. Boxing is one of those `what have you done for me lately' kind of businesses. I need to win. And I will."

Corrales is now being trained by Joe Goossen, who trained Casamayor before his first fight with Corrales. Casamayor had Corrales down twice in that fight before a severe cut forced the stoppage.

Corrales had difficulty getting along with former trainer Ken Adams and said Goossen has been a good addition. But he said sparring with 140-pound contender Sharmba Mitchell, a left-hander like Casamayor, was the most significant change.

"I got great, great sparring with Sharmba," Corrales said. "I've pretty much spent the last year fighting southpaws, so you'll see the difference on Saturday."

The fight is on Showtime and will be televised locally at 9 p.m. Viewers with satellite dishes can see the card live beginning at 6 p.m.

• HARSH WORDS -- Shane Mosley and Winky Wright will meet for the undisputed 154-pound championship March 13 at Mandalay Bay.

Each boxer, though, found time to take a shot at Oscar De La Hoya after De La Hoya's news conference Tuesday to announce his fight with Bernard Hopkins.

Mosley, who has two wins over De La Hoya, said a third fight against De La Hoya would mean little more than a payday.

"After beating Oscar twice, he is no longer a challenge to me. He's just a payday," Mosley said. "If he accepted a fair deal to fight me again, I would do it. But there are bigger challenges and more lucrative fights out there for me, and Oscar's decisions have zero impact on my career."

Wright took a shot at De La Hoya's middleweight tuneup against Felix Sturm on June 5, as well as De La Hoya's "Boxeo de Oro" series on HBO Latino.

"Leave it to Oscar to find the only world middleweight champion with less than 10 knockout victories for his next career-defining fight," Wright said. "They can call this fight `Boxeo de Snoro.' "

• HOPKINS' LINES -- Hopkins will face Robert Allen on June 5 in his tuneup for De La Hoya. He told Allen at a news conference Tuesday to be sure to dress well that night.

"You better have a suit because men always wear a suit when they get buried," Hopkins said.