JESUS " CHUCHO " CASTILLO ; A Forgotten Champion
By Jim Amato
Amato Boxing
He lost his professional debut in 1962 but he would go on to later win the bantamweight title and be a major force for several years. Jesus “Chucho” Castillo rebounded from that initial loss to win fourteen straight.
As he moved up in competition he suffered an occasional loss but he was also beating some good fighters like Jesus Hernandez and Lenny Brice.
In 1967 Castillo challenged and defeated Jose Medel for the Mexican title. He then defeated the rugged Bernardo Caraballo. In 1968 he continued his march to a title shot with wins over Joe Valdez, Jesus Pimentel and a
two round kayo of Evan Armstrong. On December 6th at the Forum in Inglewood, California Chucho finally got his title shot. He met the slick boxing Lionel Rose. After fifteen rounds Rose, who was knocked down in the tenth round was awarded a split decision. The verdict sparked a full scale riot in protest of Castillo not being proclaimed the new champion.
Chucho would go on a solid campaign in 1969 to earn another shot at the title. He knocked out future champion Rafael Herrera. He drew with Ushiwakamaru Harada and Jose Medel. He also split a pair of bouts with Raul Cruz. On April 18, 1970 Castillo would meet the new champion, Ruben Olivares. ” Rockabye ” Ruben had stopped Rose in impressive fashion to win the crown. Although Castillo knocked Ruben down, Olivares did enough to earn the decision and retain his title. Still Chucho’s game effort warranted a rematch. They met again on October 16th and Castillo finally became world champion as a severe cut forced Olivares out in the fourteenth round.
Chucho’s tenure as champion did not last long. On April 2, 1971 Ruben regained his crown with a decisive decision. Once again though Chuchu put Ruben on the canvas.In his next bout Castillo lost a rematch to Rafael Herrera with the NABF title at stake. Herrera would go on to dethrone Olivares but then lost the title to Enrique Pinder. Castillo would then meet Pinder in a non-title bout losing a decision.
In 1973 Chucho would lose to Jose Luis Soto and then be stopped by Bobby Chacon. In his last attempt to remain in the limelight he was stopped in two rounds by Danny ” Little Red ” Lopez in 1975. Chucho would lose one more fight and then call it quits.
Castillo had 66 fights in his illustrious career, winning 46 of them. Many of his 18 losses came early and late in his career. Castillo’s record from 1967 through his second loss to Olivares was 17-5-2 and that was against top level opposition. He was a warrior and a true champion.
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