Referee Tony Weeks holds back Joel Casamayor after he knocked Diego Corrales to the canvas in the fourth round of their IBF junior lightweight bout Oct. 4, 2003, at Mandalay Bay. Casamayor won by technical knockout in the sixth round, but Corrales avenged the loss with a unanimous decision over Casamayor on March 6, 2004. Review-Journal File Photo

There are many active boxers who are considered locks for the Hall of Fame who haven't fought the level of competition in their entire careers that Diego Corrales has faced in his past five fights.

Starting on Oct. 4, 2003, Corrales has faced Joel Casamayor twice, Acelino Freitas and Jose Luis Castillo twice without a break in between.

Each held a lightweight title at the time Corrales met them except for in the second Castillo fight, which was only because Corrales had won the belt from him in their previous bout.

They had a combined record of 203-15-2 at the time Corrales faced them.

Casamayor and Castillo are all but locks for the Hall of Fame and Freitas may yet do enough to make it. Despite that brutal workload, Corrales wanted the toughest fight available after his planned June 3 fight with Castillo was canceled when Castillo failed to make weight.

"You've heard the saying, 'Youth is wasted on the young,' " said Corrales, who will be 29 on Friday. "But I'm not wasting my youth. I'm taking advantage of the fact that I have a young body and a lot of resiliency while I'm young to make my mark in this sport. I don't want to slow it up. I say, 'Bring it on.' "

It didn't hurt that the opponent his promoter, Gary Shaw, was proposing for the Oct. 7 WBC lightweight title bout at Mandalay Bay was Casamayor, a man Corrales freely admits he despises.

Shaw had begun negotiations with interim IBF champion Julio Diaz when Casamayor, 35, went on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" and accused Corrales of ducking him.

It occurred to Shaw that Casamayor (33-3-1, 21 knockouts) would make a better match for Corrales (40-3, 33 KOs) than Diaz.

"I hadn't so much mentioned Casamayor's name before Diego said, 'Done,' " Shaw said.

The two split their first two fights, with Casamayor winning by sixth-round stoppage Oct. 4, 2003, when ringside physician Margaret Goodman ruled a cut on Corrales' lip was too severe and that the resulting loss of blood made it unsafe for him to continue.

Corrales rebounded to win a unanimous decision in Mashantucket, Conn., on March 6, 2004, but said he won't necessarily be looking for a knockout this time around.

"I want to punish this dude," Corrales said. "I want him to be there for some rounds so I can beat on him. I do not like this guy. I never have. He's got a big mouth and he likes to talk a lot. Well, I'm going to make him pay a price for talking. I want to make him hurt. I'm going to end his career."

Casamayor simply smiled upon hearing the words. He pointed out that in the 18 rounds he has shared a ring with Corrales, he has scored three knockdowns.

He's hardly intimidated by Corrales' bold talk.

"People already know who the real man is," said Casamayor, a gold-medal winner in the 1996 Olympics for Cuba. "But if I have to remind them, I'll do it on Oct. 7."