A Class Act, Ruben Castillo, Four-Time WBC Featherweight Title Challenger, Dies at 68
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Bakersfield, CA (February 27th, 2026)– Featherweight great Ruben Castillo, who challenged four times for the World Boxing Council Featherweight and Super Featherweight titles in a career spanning between 1975 and 1997, but who never won a world title, has died in Bakersfield, California, at age 68.
Castillo fought off and on between 1975 and 1997, reaching 42-0, and finishing his career 67-10-2 with 35 knockouts. His world title efforts against Alexis Arguello, Salvador Sanchez, Juan LaPorte, and Julio Cesar Chavez were unsuccessful. Castillo held the USBA Featherweight and WBO NABO Lightweight regional titles at different points in his boxing career. After getting stopped in the third round in a junior welterweight bout by Rudy Zavala, Castillo retired from the ring for good at age 39 in 1997.
Castillo also worked for many years as a sports broadcaster for the Western United States sports channel ASPN, until the network was sold. Castillo is survived by wife, Cindy, and his five children. Castillo remained friends with former world Featherweight champion Juan LaPorte. Perhaps Castillo’s brilliant but losing efforts against LaPorte and the late Salvador Sanchez, in which Castillo went the distance in both world title bouts in a valiant effort, were his best career performances.
World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman, in an official statement, stated “It is with deep sadness I have learned of the passing of my dear friend and champion Ruben Castillo. Now he is in the hands of God. May his wife, Cindy, family, and friends find comfort with the support of so many who loved Ruben.”
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Robert Brizel – Head Boxing Correspondent