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Pictures by Naoki Fakuda
CORRALES LIVES ON
Corralles died from the multiple injuries he sustained after the motor cycle he was riding crashed into the rear of a car ahead of him. He was pronounced dead at the scene, never rising up as he would have in the ring from any brutal knockdown. His eternal 45 fight professional record includes 40 wins which includes stopping 33 combatants inside the distance, he lost five fights and his dare devil aggression even in the face of defeat prevented any draws in his career. Mouths still widen in amazement when it was discovered that he was only 29 years old. One of the toughest fighters to ever lace up a pair of gloves, he first seized the IBA Continental Super Featherweight Title back in 1997 and went unbeaten in eleven successive fights before seizing the highly coveted IBF Super Featherweight Title from Roberto Garcia in 1999. He defended his IBA and IBF against Derrick Gainer and Angel Manfredo along the way before suffering a Waterloo to Floyd Mayweather in a battle for complete supremacy in the division. In that fight he had all his cannons loaded and ready to fire but his moving opponent launched the first strikes that crippled him five times to the canvas and forced his troops to pull him out to regroup to his utter disdain Undeterred he went unbeaten in his next four fights before his injuries forced a stoppage in hostilities with Joel Casamayor in the sixth round. He recovered and avenged that loss after a hard fought 12 round decision which was doubly rewarding as he captured the Vacant WBO and IBA Super Featherweight Titles. In his very next fight he stepped up in weight and brutalized the once invincible Acelino Freitas forcing the proud and reigning champion to quit his throne in the heat of battle thereby forfeiting the WBO Lightweight Champion crown which Corralles added to his sizeable collection of championship trophies. In his very next fight he engaged the dangerous WBA King Jose Luis Castillo in another battle for supremacy in the Lightweight Division. The Corralles vs Castillo war of 2003 was a slugfest of monumental proportions and will forever stand in the annals of the sweet science as an epic story of courage and dogged tenacity as Chico virtually snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after multiple flash knockdowns to return fire and savagely stop Castillo against the ropes in the 10th round. Boxing scribes, fans and historians declared that saga, the fight of the year and round of the year, and it will certainly rank as one of the top ten fights of the century. He is acknowledged to have lost the rematch because of his principled stand to fight after he had laced up his gloves even when he was at a severe weakened weight disadavantage for that battle. Seemingly drained from his bloody and brutal campaigns along with the lose of his trusted advisors he was unable to summon all his reserves in time to avoid losing his next two fights to the despair of his now teaming mass of his new boxing fans. He promised to go back to the drawing board for another campaign despite the rumbles for him to hang up his gloves for an extended vacation from the squared circle. His mind full of thoughts of another victorious return to the ring and the sound of his adoring fans clouded his vision for a split second before he collided with the vehicle ahead of him, and now we are mourning our departed warrior king. No matter what the coroners say Corralles lives on because I just hit the button to review the 10th round yet again. Punch in Peace Chico
JOHNSON PASSES ON
By Michael Amakor
The world of boxing was thrown into
mourning following the announcement that Leavander Johnson had died, he
expired at 4.23PM on September 22nd, 2005AD.
******************************************** On August 17th 2004 AD, Robert Quiroga was ambushed and stabbed multiple times, he died on the way to the hospital. Quiroga aka 'Little hot pepper' dethroned Juan Polo-Perez on April 21, 1990, in England to win the IBF Flyweight cCown, He survived five detronement attempts until his retirement in 1995. He recorded 20 conquests, lost two battles in his last years, and scored 11 of his conquests by way of KO. Quiroga will be best remembered for his unforgettable war against “Kid Akeem” (a.k.a. Akeem Anifowoshe) on June 15, 1991. That showdown between the two then-undefeated fighters was the “Fight of the Year” and one of the most memorable in the flyweight division. If only the had tried it in the ring.
PUNCH IN PEACE
WHO ELSE IS MISSING IN ACTION
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