Corrales Sues Castillo For Canceled June 3 Bout

[Matt Boone]

The following is off the AP Newswire:

Corrales sues Castillo for canceled June 3 bout
June 13, 2006

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The lawyer for boxer Diego Corrales has sued Jose Luis Castillo and his promoter Top Rank Inc. over a scheduled June 3 lightweight title fight that was canceled when Castillo failed to make weight.

The suit, filed in Supreme Court in Manhattan on Monday, alleges that Castillo "was not training in a manner that would result in his weighing 135 pounds or less" the day before the fight, and that he "kept this fact secret."

Castillo weighed in four times but could never get any closer than 139.5 pounds and the WBC title fight was called off.

The suit is asking for the payment of Corrales' $1.2 million purse, another $750,000 for promoter Gary Shaw Productions LLC, and $10 million in punitive damages.

In a separate letter, lawyer Judd Burstein called on the Nevada State Athletic Commission to suspend Castillo for two years and open an investigation into whether Castillo was being taken advantage of by his promoters and managers.

Top Rank lawyer Lawrence Epstein told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the allegations were "wild and baseless."

Spokesman Lee Samuels of Top Rank told The Associated Press the company had not yet seen the suit but would likely try to have the case moved to a Nevada court.

Corrales gave up a hefty payday by declining to fight Castillo for the third time.

He fought Castillo and lost in a fourth round knockout when Castillo first didn't make the 135-pound weight limit last October, but the fight continued anyway after negotiations between the two camps.