Negotiations between promoter Gary Shaw and Diego Corrales went on for months prior to Corrales' first fight with Jose Luis Castillo.

Corrales was suspicious of Shaw and there was a lot of angst before the bout was signed.

But going into tonight's pay-per-view rematch at the Thomas & Mack Center, all of the problems are ancient history.

"Gary has been great for Diego and Diego and I recognize what he's done," Corrales manager James Prince said.

Corrales will make a guaranteed $2 million for tonight's lightweight fight and said he has an upside in the pay-per-view sales.

Castillo will make $1.2 million, though he was fined $120,000 by the Nevada Athletic Commission when he failed to make the 135-pound lightweight limit.

Shaw's company, Gary Shaw Productions, is responsible for paying Corrales, while Top Rank is responsible for paying Castillo.

"I don't know, maybe I'm a shmuck, but I paid the fighter what I believe he was worth for this fight," Shaw said. "What (Top Rank chairman) Bob Arum does is between him and Castillo.

"Maybe Arum doesn't pay as much as Shaw. Maybe they think they can take advantage of a Mexican fighter. I have no idea. You'll have to ask him."

Arum said Castillo's pay "will be very similar" once his pay-per-view money and money from Mexico is counted.

Shaw blamed Corrales' former co-promoter Artie Pelullo and Shane Mosley's wife, Jin, for trying to turn Corrales against him.

"You know my nemesis is Jin Mosley -- I don't mind saying this on the record -- and she poisoned the water against me," Shaw said. "But Chico has seen the light. Michelle (Corrales' wife) came up to me and apologized, and said she was wrong, so that's all behind us now, thankfully."

j MOUTHPIECE WOES -- Castillo said he had no problems with referee Tony Weeks' handling of their first fight. Weeks stopped the bout in the 10th as Corrales was pummeling Castillo.

"Tony took one in the back," when he jumped in to stop it," a grinning Corrales said.

Castillo had complained the night of the fight about the stoppage, but now agrees that Weeks did the right thing in that regard.

He is not as happy about how Weeks handled the mouthpiece issue.

Corrales' mouthpiece came out after each of the 10th round knockdowns, buying him extra time.

He said he was taking them out to breathe and not in an attempt to cheat.

"I'm fine with the stoppage and I don't think it was a bad call," Castillo said. "I only had an issue with the mouthpiece and all the time that was given to Corrales to recover. It should never have gotten to the point of the knockout."

The commission has changed its rule. If the referee beleives a fighter intentionally spits a mouthpiece, it's now an automatic two-point deduction.

Executive director Marc Ratner said he'll require each corner to have a back-up mouthpiece washed and available as soon as the fighter is brought to the corner.

j OFFICIALS -- Joe Cortez will referee Corrales-Castillo II. The judges are Jerry Roth, Clark Sammartino and Nobuaki Uratani.

Ratner said Uratani is regarded as the top judge in Japan.

Uratani recently scored the Hasim Rahman-Monte Barrett heavyweight fight.