Javier Castillejo

Francisco Javier Castillejo (born 22 March 1968) is a Spanish former professional boxer. He is a former WBC light middleweight champion and former WBA middleweight champion. He has fought against Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Sturm, Fernando Vargas, Julio César Vásquez, and Mariano Natalio Carrera. Castillejo is considered to be the best Spanish boxer in history.

Biography

Nicknamed "El Lince de Parla" ("Parla's Lynx", in English), Castillejo is a native of the Parla area of Madrid. He currently resides and trains in Madrid.

Professional career

Castillejo made his professional debut on 22 July 1988, when he outpointed Ángel Díez over six rounds in Madrid. He had an immediate rematch with Díez, on 2 September of the same year. Their second fight resulted in Castillejo's first knockout win, when he beat Diez in the fourth round. On 4 November, he had his first fight outside Madrid, and his first knockout win in the first round, when he beat Juan Perez in Torrejón.

Castillejo had four more wins, before he was defeated for the first time. On 19 August 1989, he lost an eight-round decision to Del Bryan, in Benidorm. But he followed that loss with a streak of twenty two victories in a row.

Among the most notable wins during that streak were a fourth-round knockout on 19 October 1990, of Alfonzo Redondo, which gave Castillejo the Spanish Welterweight Championship, at Leganés. On 5 July 1991, he retained that national championship, with another fourth-round knockout victory, this time against Domingo Sanchez, in Lugo. On 10 April 1992, Castillejo got his first win when he knocked out former IBF lightweight champion, Puerto Rican Harry Arroyo, in three rounds at Leganes. He followed that victory with another win against former WBC light welterweight champion Saoul Mamby of Jamaica, by an eight-round decision on 15 May, at Bilbao. On 12 December of that year, Castillejo added the WBC's Mundo Hispano light middleweight title, when he defeated Enrique Areco by a twelve-round decision in Oviedo.

First title shot

Despite the fact that he had not fought outside Spain as a professional yet and thus he had little international fan recognition as a boxer, Castillejo received his first world title try, when he challenged Julio César Vásquez of Argentina, for Vazquez's WBA light middleweight title, on 24 April 1993, also in Leganes. Vazquez outpointed him over 12 rounds, ending his 22 fight winning streak.

After defending his Mundo Hispano regional title with success in a rematch with Victor Hugo Sclarandi on 29 October of that year by a knockout in five rounds, Castillejo finally had his first fight abroad when he beat Bernard Razzano by a knockout in six rounds, at Dijon, France, to conquer the European light middleweight title. He defended the title successfully four times, then lost it, on 3 January 1995 to the then WBA light middleweight champion Laurent Boudouani, in Épernay, France, by knockout in the ninth round.

His next fight was a victory by disqualification in six rounds on 14 July against Carlos Rocha Tovar in Seville. The victory against Tovar was followed by a rematch with Boudouani, who would once again defeat Castillejo, this time around by a twelve-round decision, at Levallois, 6 January 1996.

Castillejo then won six more fights in a row before fighting for a world title again. He regained the EBU light middleweight title by knocking out the former WBA welterweight title challenger, Ahmed Dottuev, in round twelve at Suffolk, England, on 2 July 1998.

First world title

On 29 January 1999, Castijello got his second chance at becoming a world champion. He outpointed WBC light middleweight champion Keith Mullings over twelve rounds to join a handful of world champions to come from Spain. Despite some protests from Mullings' management team, the judges' decision remained, and Castillejo held the WBC title.

Losing the title to De La Hoya

After five defenses, where Castillejo retained the title, a fight was set between him and Oscar De La Hoya. It was Castillejo's first big time, Pay Per View event. Many fans, perhaps ignoring Castillejo's achievements in Europe and as defendind world champion, regarded Castillejo as another stepping stone in De La Hoya's career. Castillejo commented to this regard, saying on a press conference before the fight, which was held in Las Vegas, that "(he) didn't come to Las Vegas to do tourism, but to defend (his) title". Castillejo lasted the twelve round distance with De La Hoya, but was sent to the canvas seconds before the fight ended, and lost a unanimous twelve round decision and his world title, on 23 June 2001.

After six months, Castillejo returned to the boxing ring, beating the well regarded Xavier Moya by a knockout in five rounds, On 11 January 2002, to win the vacant European Community's Junior Middleweight title, in Barcelona.

On 12 July 2002, he partially regained the WBC light middleweight title, when he beat Roman Karmazin by a twelve-round unanimous decision in Madrid, for the WBC's "Interim" title. This interim recognition was later retired from him, however, because he did not fight the WBC's recognized champion, which at the time was Shane Mosley, who had suffered an injury and was unable to box for the period being.

Castillejo then won four fights in a row, all by knockout.

He fought Fernando Vargas, in a fight that was supposed to be for the WBA's vacant light middleweight title, on 20 August 2005, in Chicago. It was decided ultimately to make the bout a ten-round affair instead of a world championship fight. Despite being dropped in round three, Castillejo was able to last ten rounds with fellow former world light middleweight champion Vargas, but he lost a ten-round decision to the Mexican-American.

Winning a middleweight title

On 15 July 2006, Castillejo sprang back on the boxing scene by defeating younger Felix Sturm of Germany to seize the WBA middleweight belt in an exiting fight. Sturm, making his first title defense, was headed to a one-sided win until Castillejo (61–6, 41 knockouts) caught him with a left hook against the ropes with 13 seconds left in the 10th Round.

Castillejo, then hit Sturm (27–2, 11 knockouts) with three uppercuts before the referee called the fight, making Castillejo, 38 at the time of his upset victory, the oldest man to win a recognized version on the World Middleweight Championship. He lost his title in his first defence against Argentine Mariano Natalio Carrera via a disputed 11th-round TKO. Later on, Carrera tested positive for Clenbuterol and was suspended for 6 months by the WBA, thus Castillejo regained his title on 23 February. . He lost the title 28 April 2007 in a rematch against Felix Sturm. He fought Mariano Natalio Carrera again on 13 November 2007, this time winning by KO in the 6th round.

Professional boxing record

62 Wins (43 knockouts, 18 decisions, 1 disqualification), 8 Loss, 1 Draws
Result	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Draw	Pablo Navascues	Decision (points)	10	4 April 2009	Leganés, ESP
Loss	Sebastian Sylvester	KO	12 (12)	12 April 2008	Neubrandenburg, GER	For EBU light middleweight title
Win	Mariano Natalio Carrera	KO	6 (12)	13 November 2007	Göppingen, GER
Loss	Felix Sturm	Decision (unanimous)	12	28 April 2007	Oberhausen, GER	Lost WBA Light Middleweight title
Desc.	Mariano Natalio Carrera	NC	12	2 December 2006	Neukoelln, GER	Retain WBA Light Middleweight title
Win	Felix Sturm	TKO	10 (12)	15 July 2006	Hamburg, GER	Won WBA Light Middleweight title
Win	Luis Carmona	TKO	2 (10)	3 February 2006	Santa Cruz de Tenerife, ESP
Win	Presente Brito	Decision (points)	8	4 November 2005	Leganés, ESP
Loss	Fernando Vargas	Decision (unanimous)	10	20 August 2005	Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Win	Enrique Campos	TKO	5 (8)	11 June 2004	Leganés, ESP
Win	Genaro Rios	TKO	3 (10)	16 April 2004	Leganés, ESP
Win	Ignacio Solar	TKO	2 (10)	12 September 2003	Leganés, ESP
Win	Diego Castillo	TKO	1 (12)	9 May 2003	Leganés, ESP	Won interim WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Roman Karmazin	Decision (unanimous)	12	12 July 2002	Parla, ESP	Won interim WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Pierre Moreno	TKO	7 (10)	26 April 2002	Barcelona, ESP	Retain EBU light middleweight title
Win	Xavier Moya	TKO	5 (10)	11 January 2002	Barcelona, ESP	Won EBU light middleweight title
Loss	Oscar De La Hoya	Decision (unanimous)	12 (12)	23 June 2001	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Lost WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Javier Martinez Rodriguez	KO	4 (12)	21 October 2000	Salon 21 (Mexico City), MEX	Retain WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Tony Marshall	Decision (unanimous)	12	21 July 2000	Leganés, ESP	Retain WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Juan Rondon	TKO	3 (10)	14 April 2000	Leganés, ESP	Friendly Fight
Win	Mohamed Boualleg	KO	8 (10)	17 March 2000	Ciudad Real, ESP	Friendly Fight
Win	Michael Rask	TKO	7 (12)	17 December 1999	Leganés, ESP	Retain WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Paolo Roberto	TKO	7 (12)	10 September 1999	Leganés, ESP	Retain WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Humberto Aranda	TKO	4 (12)	14 May 1999	Leganés, ESP	Retain WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Keith Mullings	Decision (points)	12	29 January 1999	Leganés, ESP	Won WBC Light Middleweight title
Win	Cristinel Acatrinei	TKO	2 (8)	16 October 1998	Leganés, ESP
Win	Ahmet Dottuev	TKO	12 (12)	2 July 1998	Corn Exchange (Ipswich), UK	Won EBU light middleweight title
Win	Fernando Jose Riera	Decision (points)	10	18 March 1997	Valencia, ESP	Won Spanish light middleweight title
Win	Juan Ramón Medina	TKO	8 (12)	12 July 1996	Hernani, ESP	Won WBC Mundo Hispano light middleweight title
Win	Tibor Horvath	TKO	4 (6)	16 May 1996	Madrid, ESP
Win	Stefan Driscu	TKO	2 (8)	7 March 1996	Madrid, ESP
Loss	Laurent Boudouani	Decision (unanimous)	12	6 January 1996	Levallois-Perret, FRA	For EBU light middleweight title
Win	Carlos Rocha Tomar	Disqualification	6	14 July 1995	Seville, ESP
Loss	Laurent Boudouani	TKO	9 (12)	3 January 1995	Épernay, FRA	Lost EBU light middleweight title
Win	Ludovic Proto	Decision (points)	6	23 July 1994	Boiro, ESP	Retain EBU light middleweight title
Win	Patrick Vungbo	Decision (points)	12	29 May 1994	Leganés, ESP	Retain EBU light middleweight title
Win	Valentino Manca	KO	3 (12)	25 March 1994	Córdoba, ESP	Retain EBU light middleweight title
Win	Santo Colombo	TKO	3 (12)	19 February 1994	Madrid, ESP	Retain EBU light middleweight title
Win	Bernard Razzano	RTD	6 (12)	11 January 1994	Dijon, FRA	Won EBU light middleweight title
Win	Hugo Daniel Sclarandi	KO	5 (12)	29 October 1993	Leganés, ESP	Retain WBC Mundo Hispano light middleweight title
Win	Javier Rivera	tKO	4 (8)	25 June 1993	Leganés, ESP
Loss	Julio César Vásquez	Decision (unanimous)	12	24 April 1993	La Ermita Parque Sur (Leganés), ESP	For WBA World light middleweight title
Win	Jesus Carlos Velez	Decision (points)	8	26 March 1993	Leganés, ESP
Win	Enrique Areco	Decision (points)	12	12 December 1992	Oviedo, ESP	Won WBC Mundo Hispano light middleweight title
Win	Antonio Campbell	KO	3 (8)	13 October 1992	Leganés, ESP
Win	Vasile Citea	Decision (points)	8	17 July 1992	Leganés, ESP
Win	Jorge Sclarandi	Decision (unanimous)	8	19 June 1992	Leganés, ESP
Win	Saoul Mamby	Decision (points)	8	15 May 1992	Bilbao, ESP
Win	Harry Arroyo	TKO	3 (8)	10 April 1992	Leganés, ESP
Win	Edison Martínez	KO	3 (8)	14 March 1992	Leganés, ESP
Win	Lindon Scarlett	Decision (points)	8	8 February 1992	Leganés, ESP
Win	Gejza Stipak	TKO	5 (8)	17 January 1992	Leganés, ESP
Win	Patrick Vungbo	TKO	5 (8)	6 December 1991	Leganés, ESP
Win	Domingo Sánchez	TKO	4 (10), 0:51	5 July 1991	Lugo, ESP	Retain Spanish welterweight title
Win	Juan Rosario	TKO	6 (8)	18 May 1991	Madrid, ESP
Win	Eric Dindaine	Decision (points)	8	21 December 1990	Leganés, ESP
Win	Alfonso Redondo	TKO	4 (10)	19 October 1990	Leganés, ESP	Won Spanish welterweight title
Win	José Salinas	KO	1 (8)	17 August 1990	Almería, ESP
Win	Claudio Salgado	TKO	1 (6)	14 July 1990	Parla, ESP
Win	Mateo Valdez	TKO	2 (8)	31 May 1990	Madrid, ESP
Win	Felix Rodríguez	TKO	5 (8)	5 May 1990	Zaragoza, ESP
Win	Carlos Tavarez	TKO	2 (6)	16 February 1990	Bilbao, ESP
Win	Louie Antuna	Decision (points)	6	30 December 1989	Santoña, ESP
Win	Jimmy Bartes	TKO	2 (6)	16 November 1989	Madrid, ESP
Loss	Del Bryan	Decision (points)	8	19 August 1989	Benidorm, ESP
Win	Victor Carvalho	Decision (points)	6	29 July 1989	Madrid, ESP
Win	Juan Antonio López	Decision (points)	8	14 June 1989	Madrid, ESP
Win	Modesto Villardell	TKO	1 (6)	23 February 1989	Madrid, ESP
Win	Santiago Vasquez	Decision (points)	6	19 November 1988	Irún ESP
Win	Juan Pérez	TKO	1 (4)	4 November 1988	Torrejón de Ardoz, ESP
Win	Angel Diez	TKO	4 (6)	2 September 1988	San Martín de Valdeiglesias, ESP
Win	Angel Diez	Decision (points)	6	22 July 1988	Madrid, ESP

See also

• List of WBC world champions

External links

• Professional boxing record for Javier Castillejo from BoxRec