On April 20, 2002, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Floyd Mayweather Jr. stepped up from super featherweight to challenge Jose Luis Castillo for the WBC and The Ring lightweight titles. He left with the belts and a dented reputation.
Mayweather won by unanimous decision — 116-111 and 115-111 x2. Castillo outlanded him 203 punches to 157 over twelve rounds, per CompuBox, and dominated the power-punch count 173 to 66. HBO’s unofficial scorer Harold Lederman had it 115-111 for Castillo.
Floyd Mayweather vs Jose Luis Castillo I remains the most hotly debated decision of Mayweather’s 50-fight career.
Floyd Mayweather vs Luis Castillo I: The fight
Castillo (45-4-1, 41 KOs) was the champion going in. He had held the WBC lightweight title since defeating Stevie Johnston on June 17, 2000. Mayweather (27-0) was moving up to 135 lbs for the first time and had looked untouchable at super featherweight.
The early rounds suggested Mayweather would cruise. He boxed off the back foot, picked his moments, and made Castillo miss. Then the Mexican started walking him down. Castillo cut off the ring, worked to the body, and dragged Mayweather into the kind of rough-and-tumble exchange Floyd rarely got dragged into.
Mayweather won the jab exchanges, but he looked exposed whenever Castillo closed the distance, and the punch stats backed what the crowd was seeing.
The aftermath of Floyd Mayweather vs Luis Castillo I
Ringside reaction was not kind. The Associated Press had Mayweather by a single round. Plenty of neutral observers called it outright for Castillo.
Mayweather, for his part, pointed to an injury. He said in the post-fight interview that he had hurt his rotator cuff on the final day of training and could not use his left hand the way he wanted. He underwent shoulder surgery shortly afterwards and agreed to an immediate rematch.
The two met again on December 7, 2002, also at the MGM Grand. A healthy Mayweather boxed smarter, held Castillo to a 23 per cent connect rate per CompuBox, and won 115-113, 115-113 and 116-113. The rematch removed most of the doubt from the first night — but not all of it.
The historical impact
Mayweather vs Castillo I is the fight every subsequent Mayweather opponent studied. The blueprint was there in black and white: walk him down, don’t let him set, work the body, make him fight inside. Over the next two decades, nobody executed it over twelve rounds the way Castillo did that night in April.
It is also the fight that complicates the 50-0 case. Plenty of ringside observers and credentialled media had Castillo winning; the record book did not. Only Marcos Maidana in 2014 came close to the same standard.
For Castillo, it was the start of a rough stretch with the judges. He had already drawn with Stevie Johnston in their rematch, and the loss to Mayweather stung for years. He rebuilt with wins over Juan Lazcano and Joel Casamayor, then produced the 2005 Fight of the Year in his war with Diego Corrales.
Twenty-four years on, Floyd Mayweather vs Jose Luis Castillo I is still the night that tells you most about both men.