The next time your pants are a bit snug and you have to shell out $39.95 for a new pair of khakis, think of Jose Luis Castillo.

For weighing 4 1/2 pounds more than he should have June 2, the former lightweight champion was fined $250,000 and lost his right to work for the rest of the year.

Given that he would have likely made another $750,000 for fighting sometime in the second half of the year, that amounts to a $1 million fine Castillo was given Thursday by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

And it's inconceivable to think Castillo won't be forced to settle a lawsuit against him and pay damages to Diego Corrales, whom he was slated to fight June 3 at the Thomas & Mack Center, and promoter Gary Shaw.

He's going to be multiple millions in the hole before he makes another penny, so it's hard to perceive the future Hall of Famer as a winner in this mess.

But the commission didn't come out on top, either. It never got to the bottom of the blood-draining scheme that Castillo raised during the lengthy hearing at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

Castillo testified that a member of his camp suggested he have blood drawn, and later replaced, as a means to beat the scale.

The commissioners were all properly outraged, but none spent the time trying to identity that individual. It's clear that whoever it is doesn't belong in the entourage of any professional boxer.

But it's of less significance if it was just a freeloader or hanger-on, of which there are far too many in every major fighter's camp, than if it were a doctor or licensed cornerman who made the suggestion. At one point during the hearing, it was suggested that the person is a doctor.

But commissioner Dr. Tony Alamo, who questioned Castillo in Spanish, is adamant the person is not a doctor.

Fernando Beltran, Castillo's co-promoter along with the Las Vegas-based Top Rank, said Friday he doesn't know, either. Beltran promised a reporter he would call Castillo and find out. However, despite seven subsequent telephone messages, Beltran didn't return the call and reveal the identity of the person.

A reporter can't compel Beltran to find out, but the commission can. If Beltran won't volunteer the person's name and telephone number, the commission should summon him to Las Vegas.

Beltran, who has been licensed as a second in the past, does not currently hold a Nevada license, so he would not be forced to comply with the request. But given that he is Erik Morales' co-promoter and Morales will meet Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 18 at the Thomas & Mack in a lucrative super featherweight bout, you can be sure he'll do whatever the commission asks.

It once was a common practice in Thailand and the Philippines to drain a fighter's blood to help him make weight, and it is still used by some in those areas, a veteran trainer who declined to be identified said Friday.

But it's a gruesome practice that must be halted. If Nevada wants to consider itself the leader in boxing regulation, it ought to take forceful, aggressive steps to stop this inhumane practice.

The first step would be to find the person who made the suggestion.

It's inconceivable that a physician could make such a suggestion, but Castillo's physician tried to cheat the scales when he failed to make weight in October for his second fight with Corrales.

Dr. Armando Barak was caught putting his foot under the scale in an attempt to make it appear as if Castillo weighed less than he did.

The commission justifiably revoked Barak's license on Jan. 5.

But the commission failed Thursday by blindly approving Shaw's request to stage an Oct. 7 lightweight title fight between Corrales and Joel Casamayor at Mandalay Bay without so much as asking Corrales a question.

Alamo said during the hearing that Corrales was in worse clinical shape at the June 2 weigh-in than Castillo. Given that he's a physician and was consulting with the doctors who examined Corrales, Alamo should know.

If that's true, it would seem to be common sense for the commission to have sought Corrales to discuss his weight-loss plan and make certain he would do it safely before approving the date.

Castillo provided boxing with one of its great moments ever on May 7, 2005, when he engaged Corrales in an epic battle at Mandalay Bay.

It's too bad that so much of what he's done in the subsequent 15 months has tarnished the memory of that great night.

Kevin Iole's boxing column is published Saturday. He can be reached at 396-4428 or kiole@reviewjournal.com.